Exclusive: Obama Stands By Criticism of Cambridge Police  —  ABC EXCLUSIVE: Obama Says ‘Cooler Heads Should Have Prevailed’  —  President Obama today stood by his comments that the Cambridge, Mass., police department acted “stupidly” in its arrest of Henry Louis Gates …

Public option “dead,” Scott predicts  —  Rick Scott, the former hospital exec who has been leading a conservative counterattack on health care reform is emailing supporters to predict that the Democrats' public option will die if no bill is passed before recess.  —  The blast [h/t Marty Kady]:

N.J. officials, N.Y. rabbis caught in federal money laundering, corruption sweep  —  NEWARK — A New Jersey assemblyman and the mayors of Hoboken and Secaucus were among public officials arrested this morning by FBI agents in an international money laundering and corruption probe that includes rabbis …

Inside Bush and Cheney's Final Days  —  Hours before they were to leave office after eight troubled years, George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney had one final and painful piece of business to conclude.  For over a month Cheney had been pleading, cajoling, even pestering Bush to pardon …

Conservative Activist Forwards Racist Pic Showing Obama As Witch Doctor  —  The election of our first black president has brought with it a strange proliferation of online racism among conservatives.  —  And we've got the latest example.  —  On Sunday night, Dr. David McKalip forwarded …

Confidence in Obama Lifts U.S. Image Around the World  —  Most Muslim Publics Not So Easily Moved  —  Overview  —  View Slideshow (w/Andrew Kohut commentary)  —  The image of the United States has improved markedly in most parts of the world, reflecting global confidence in Barack Obama.

Democrats Block GOP Health Care Mailing  —  Democrats are preventing Republican House Members from sending their constituents a mailing that is critical of the majority's health care reform plan, blocking the mailing by alleging that it is inaccurate.  —  House Republicans are crying foul …

Dems raise concerns about Boxer  —  A big chunk of the House climate change bill is in the hands of Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairwoman Barbara Boxer — and some of its supporters are worried that she's not up to the task.  —  In private conversations …

This is not going to end well for CBS  —  Just a note about Dan Rather's lawsuit over his firing from CBS in connection with the so-called Memogate story and how it continues to haunt the network.  As the New York Times reported, Rather and his lawyers just won a key victory and were given permission …

Experts Dispute Some Points in Health Talk  —  WASHINGTON — President Obama showed great fluency in the intricate details of health policy at his news conference on Wednesday night, but experts said some of his points were debatable.  —  Mr. Obama said doctors, nurses, hospitals …

GOP: Going Over the Precipice  —  Because of a quirk in California's Constitution, the minority Republicans have managed to push through a budget that makes the state sicker and dumber.  Where is the Democrats' white knight?  —  The most basic principle of any democracy is that of majority rule …

DeMint fires back at ‘false’ DNC ad  —  (CNN) - Sen. Jim DeMint sharply responded to a Democratic National Committee ad Wednesday that criticized the South Carolina Republican for stating that defeating President Obama's health care plan “will be his Waterloo.”