Sarah Palin: Why She Resigned  —  Sarah Palin Talks to ABC News About Why She Resigned  —  After her bombshell announcement Friday that she was resigning as governor of Alaska 18 months before the end of her first term, and questions about her political future ricocheting from Alaska to Washington D.C. …

U.S. Open to Deal on Health Plan  —  WASHINGTON — The White House signaled a willingness Monday to compromise on details of a public plan to compete with private insurance companies as negotiators sought ways to advance health-care legislation.  —  A senior administration official …

South Carolina GOP censures Sanford  —  The South Carolina Republican Party voted late Monday to censure embattled Gov. Mark Sanford (R) but stopped short of calling on him to resign.  —  The committee, which met for nearly four hours on Monday, opted for a non-binding resolution censuring Sanford …

Obama to ABC News: U.S.-Russia Ties ‘Reset’ but Now Comes ‘Hard Work’  —  In Russia, the Obama Expresses Confidence in His Foreign Policy and Economic Stimulus, Says He Understands the Attention on Michael Jackson and Explains Why He Called His Daughter “Agent 99”

The Establishment's Palin Panic  —  I like Sarah Palin (though I don't know her well).  I respect her (though I'm aware of some of her limitations).  I wish her well (though I'm not convinced she should be the 2012 Republican presidential nominee).  —  I am convinced, though …

Big Banks Don't Want California's IOUs  —  A group of the biggest U.S. banks said they would stop accepting California's IOUs on Friday, adding pressure on the state to close its $26.3 billion annual budget gap.  —  The development is the latest twist in California's struggle to deal with the effects of the recession.

A drop in Ohio  —  Obama's political operation always cared more about state numbers than national polls, and with good reason; so this has to be slightly alarming:  —  President Barack Obama gets a lackluster 49 - 44 percent approval rating in Ohio, considered by many to be the most important swing state …

New climate strategy: track the world's wealthiest  —  Source: Reuters  —  * World's richest emit about half of Earth's carbon  —  * Tracking the wealthy could break climate impasse  —  * New method would follow individual greenhouse emissions  —  To fairly divide the climate change …

Obama trips up over Russian leadership tandem  —  MOSCOW (Reuters) - In a slip of the tongue, U.S. President Barack Obama described Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Monday as president, echoing the widely held view that he remains Russia's most powerful man.

Commentary: Galloway on McNamara: Reading an obit with great pleasure  —  “I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure.”  —Clarence Darrow (1857-1938)  —  Well, the aptly named Robert Strange McNamara has finally shuffled off to join LBJ and Dick Nixon in the 7th level of Hell.

Dan Froomkin hired by The Huffington Post  —  In yet another sign of how online media outlets are strengthening as their older establishment predecessors are struggling to survive, The Huffington Post has hired Dan Froomkin to be its Washington Bureau Chief and regular columnist/blogger.

In Russia, President Obama Explains His Support for Ousted President of Honduras  —  MOSCOW - Facing criticism for having backed the “wrong” side in the recent coup in Honduras, President Obama Tuesday tried to explain his advocacy on behalf of ousted President Manuel Zelaya.

Obama: ‘Absolutely’ no green light for Israel to attack Iran  —  Article's topics: Binyamin Netanyahu, Barack Obama, Iranian Threat  —  US President Barack Obama on Tuesday strongly denied that the United States had given Israel an approval to strike Iran's nuclear facilities.

Democrats Admit That Their Cap and Trade Bill Is a Job Killer  —  By Peter Roff, Thomas Jefferson Street blog  —  In her remarks bringing the debate over the climate bill to a close, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California urged her colleagues to vote in favor of the cap and trade bill …

Having It Both Ways  —  This Radley Balko's post is being used to defend Ross:  —  It is possible that Sarah Palin was both unfairly mistreated and personally attacked by the media and many on the left, and that her family was rather ruthlessly and mercilessly run through the [ringer] …

‘Obama Is Like a Chess Player’  —  Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, 86, discusses the painful lessons of the Treaty of Versailles, idealism in politics and Obama's opportunity to forge a peaceful American foreign policy.  —  SPIEGEL: Dr. Kissinger, 90 years ago …

Republican report puts blame for housing on Fannie, Freddie  —  Republicans on the House Oversight panel are trying to re-energize debate over the role Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac played in causing the housing crisis continuing to ripple through the U.S. economy.

We The Common Trash  —  Michael Shaw, publisher of the visual politics blog, BAGnewsNotes, posted an article at The Huffington Post entitled, “Reading The Pictures: Palin Proud To Be Trash”.  —  Mr. Shaw's bio indicates he is a clinical psychologist—an analyst of visual journalism—an interpreter of political images.

WaPo Finally Begins to Admit Pay2Play Details  —  The WaPo is finally beginning to reveal the true details of the pay to play dinner Katharine Weymouth was throwing.  Surprise surprise, the dinner was pretty far down the road of selling access to their pay to play event.

Michael Jackson Fans Raise Money To Defeat Peter King  —  There is, it turns out, a political price to pay when you make bold statements calling out Michael Jackson for some of the nefarious moments of his personal history.  —  Fans of Jackson are mobilizing to raise money for an opponent …