Anger Over Firm Depletes Obama's Political Capital  —  President Obama's apparent inability to block executive bonuses at insurance giant AIG has dealt a sharp blow to his young administration and is threatening to derail both public and congressional support for his ambitious political agenda.

Amid AIG Furor, Dodd Tries to Undo Bonus Protections He Put In  —  Senator Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) on Monday night floated the idea of taxing American International Group (AIG) bonus recipients so the government could recoup the $450 million the company is paying to employees in its financial products unit.

JournoList: Inside the echo chamber  —  For the past two years, several hundred left-leaning bloggers, political reporters, magazine writers, policy wonks and academics have talked stories and compared notes in an off-the-record online meeting space called JournoList.  —  Proof of a vast liberal media conspiracy?

Don't Blame Jim Cramer  —  What Jon Stewart needs is Jon Stewart.  He could use a droll comedian to temper his ferocity and correct him when he's wrong, as he was about the financial media, particularly CNBC and its excitable analyst Jim Cramer.  They didn't cover up the story of financial shenanigans.

Majority Receptive to Law Making Union Organizing Easier  —  But most Americans not closely following news about union bill in Congress  —  PRINCETON, NJ — A new Gallup Poll finds just over half of Americans, 53%, favoring a new law that would make it easier for labor unions to organize workers; 39% oppose it.

Moderate Is Said to Be Pick for Court  —  WASHINGTON — President Obama is expected to name his first candidate to an appeals court seat this week, officials said, choosing David F. Hamilton, a highly regarded federal trial court judge from Indiana, for the appeals court in Chicago.

Why tax problems have plagued Team Obama  —  Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner speaks at the Treasury Department in Washington, detailing the Obama Administrations plans for the economic recovery.  It's been a recurring question about the young Obama administration: Why have so many of its nominees come down with tax problems?

WHAT IS GOING ON AT FOX NEWS?  —  What the hell is going on at Fox News?  —  On Friday evening, Fox viewers were treated to an hour-long televangelical special starring Glenn Beck.  (The opening of the show can be seen in our Watch Now window, at right.)  —  Watching Beck cry for the cameras …

The Lieberman Disaster  —  Not this Lieberman, this Lieberman.  It's not a disaster for the reasons some people think; I know Avigdor Lieberman a little bit, and he's actually a person interested in a cold compromise with the Palestinians.  It's a disaster because he's made himself into a racist.

EXCLUSIVE: Israel's national security aide barred from U.S.  —  Former Israeli spy linked to Pentagon leak  —  Uzi Arad, who is expected to serve as national security adviser in the next Israeli government, has been barred from entering the United States for nearly two years on the grounds that he is an intelligence risk.

Gates readies big cuts in weapons  —  Battle looms with Congress  —  Aides said Defense Secretary Robert Gates's decisions will be guided by what he learns while spending time with troops.  —  WASHINGTON - As the Bush administration was drawing to a close, Robert M. Gates …

The Commercial Republic  —  Over the centuries, the United States has been most conspicuous for one trait: manic energy.  Americans work longer hours than any other people.  We switch jobs more frequently, move more often, earn more and consume more.  —  This energy was first aroused by abundance …

AIG  —  Maybe this is stupid, but couldn't the administration just . . . not pay the AIG bonuses?  As in, rather than direct Tim Geithner to find a way to not pay them, just order AIG to not pay them.  Order first.  Let the AIGsters sue.  Then while the suit is playing out …

Grassley Calls for Contrition, Not Suicide  —  I thought Senator Chuck Grassley's initial impulse to suggest that AIG-folk ought to kill themselves, samurai-style, was a bit over the top.  But there was a ray of truth in what he was saying.  And I think he found the way …

Poll: More view Afghan war as ‘mistake’  —  WASHINGTON — American support for the war in Afghanistan has ebbed to new a low, as attacks on U.S. troops and their allies have hit record levels and commanders are pleading for reinforcements, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll shows.

Sociopathic Scribes  —  I wrote a little bit about the Chandra Levy case apparently being resolved a while back, but I hadn't heard about Chief Inquisitor and slavering witch hunter Lisa DePaulo's thoroughly disgusting revisit of the case.  Charles Pierce writes: … Lameass is far too kind.

GOP says Palin will star at dinner; she says she hasn't yet agreed  —  OR MAYBE NOT: She didn't know about keynoting, aide says.  —  Gov. Sarah Palin's spokesman said Monday that congressional Republicans were mistaken in announcing the governor would headline one of the biggest Republican gatherings …

A Hand in the Health Care Debate  —  The last thing the surgeon said to me before they rolled me into the operating room was, “You know, if you and Obama had your way with health care, it wouldn't be me doing this operation.  It would just be some guy.”  —  I tried to tell him …