The media's giftgate  —  I know, my head hurts, too, reading the ‘coverage.’ (I'm waiting for some reporter to combine the gift ‘story’ with a detailed description of what Michelle Obama was wearing when she gave the Queen of England the gift.)  —  Aside from the fact that key facts …

The President Is ‘Keeping Score’  —  Chicago politics has moved into the White House.  —  “Don't think we're not keeping score, brother.”  That's what President Barack Obama said to Rep. Peter DeFazio in a closed-door meeting of the House Democratic Caucus last week, according to the Associated Press.

Dodd Falls Way Behind As Approval Drops To Lowest Ever, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Voters Are Angry At AIG Bonuses And Blame Dodd  —  Connecticut Sen. Christopher Dodd trails former U.S. Rep. Rob Simmons, a possible Republican challenger, 50 - 34 percent in the 2010 Senate race …

Cantor: Dems ‘overreacting’ to crisis  —  GOP Whip Eric Cantor thinks his party can retake the House in next year's midterm elections — and accused Democrats of “overreacting” to the economic crisis by embarking on a federal spending spree.  —  UPDATED: I cleaned up the transcript and transcribed his full quote from the tape.

Indictment in Blagojevich case coming later today  —  The U.S. Attorney's office said this morning it plans to make an announcement about a “significant criminal matter” later today, which sources said is the indictment of ex-governor Rod Blagojevich.  The indictment will likely be handed down within the next several hours.

The Naive Opposition  —  Ezra Klein, on Paul Ryan's alternative budget: … I understand what he's getting at, but this phrasing makes it sound like the House Republicans' budget is an exercise in cynicism and partisan political calculation - which is exactly the wrong way to look at what's going on with the House GOP.

Romney breaks with GOP on the issue of deregulation  —  Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) said Wednesday that his party needs to take a fresh approach to government regulations in the wake of the economic crisis that has rattled the U.S. and world economies.

Obama bows down to Saudi King (updated)  —  I am quite certain that this is not the protocol, and is most unbecoming a President of the United States.  —  Update: See Miss Manners on the protocol.  Americans do not bow to foreign monarchs because that act signified the monarch's power over his subjects.

Sen. Stevens ‘got screwed’ by Justice  —  The Justice Department's stunning decision to drop all charges against former Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) had GOP senators hailing the news as a vindication while government watchdogs fretted over the impact on other corruption cases against public officials.

Gingrich warns of third party in 2012  —  (CNN) — Former House speaker Newt Gingrich is warning of a third party mutiny in 2012 if Republicans don't figure out a way to shape up.  —  “If the Republicans can't break out of being the right wing party of big government, then I think you would …

Ed Schultz To Be MSNBC 6 PM Host  —  The #1 story on Countdown was Keith Olbermann introducing Ed Schultz as the new host of “The Ed Show” on MNSBC weeknights at 6PM ET.  —  Olbermann joked that the qualifications for MSNBC hosts are being “an ex-sportscaster born on the 27th of January” …

The Myth of 90 Percent: Only a Small Fraction of Guns in Mexico Come From U.S.  —  While 90 percent of the guns traced to the U.S. actually originated in the United States, the percent traced to the U.S. is only about 17 percent of the total number of guns reaching Mexico.  —  FOXNews.com

U.S. Military to Request More Troops for Afghanistan  —  Request for 10,000 Not Yet Submitted To White House  —  Gen. David H. Petraeus disclosed yesterday that American commanders have requested the deployment of an additional 10,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan next year …

How to Fight a Smear  —  Dahlia Lithwick has a really good piece lamenting the fact that the mainstream media has failed to take on the right-wing smear campaign against Yale Law prof—and Obama's nominee to serve as the State Department's top lawyer—Harold Koh:

Former AIG chief says bailout ‘failed’  —  Former AIG CEO Maurice “Hank” Greenberg says the bailout has “failed” and he's proposing a 10-point alternative focused on saving, not breaking apart, the mega-insurer.  —  Greenberg will reveal his plan during a hearing before the House Oversight …

Franken puts Pawlenty in a jam  —  The legal fight between Al Franken and Norm Coleman is headed to the desk of Gov. Tim Pawlenty — a no-win predicament for a Minnesota Republican with his eye on a White House run in 2012.  —  Franken won big Tuesday when a three-judge panel allowed …

Police were attacked as they helped dying man at G20 protests in City  —  Police officers came under attack while they tried to help a dying man at the G20 protests in the City last night.  —  The victim was found by a member of the public unconscious in the street near the Bank of England just before 7.30pm yesterday.

Department of awful statistics  —  Every time you find yourself saying that there must be some causal relationship between two strongly correlated variables, you should go back and look at this graph:  —  As Atlantic Business contributor Derek Lowe, from whom I stole that graph, notes,