BREAKING FROM NBC: White House official calls gays part of “Internet left fringe”  —  UPDATE FROM PAM: … And let me just add that if we're all insignificant children who don't understand politics, and who the White House doesn't worry about, then why did a White House official feel the need …

Insurance Group Says Health Bill Will Mean Higher Premiums  —  Report Issued Before Key Committee Vote  —  After months of collaboration on President Obama's attempt to overhaul the nation's health-care system, the insurance industry plans to strike out against the effort on Monday …

Cable News Irony Alert: CNN, Fox and The Disappearing General Audience  —  White House Communications Director Anita Dunn appeared Sunday morning on Howard Kurtz's CNN show Reliable Sources to discuss her comments in my TIME magazine story this week.  She continued her criticism of Fox News:

Heckuva Job, Barack  —  This was Barack Obama's chance.  —  Here was an opportunity to cut himself free, in a stroke, from the baggage that's weighed his presidency down — the implausible expectations, the utopian dreams, the messianic hoo-ha.  —  Here was a place to draw …

The Real Afghan Lessons From Vietnam  —  The ‘clear and hold’ strategy of Gen. Creighton Abrams was working in South Vietnam.  Then Congress pulled the plug on funding.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  More than 30 years have passed since North Vietnam, in gross violation of the 1973 Paris Peace Accords, conquered South Vietnam.

Civilian Goals Largely Unmet in Afghanistan  —  WASHINGTON — Even as President Obama leads an intense debate over whether to send more troops to Afghanistan, administration officials say the United States is falling far short of his goals to fight the country's endemic corruption …

Smith sends e-mail detailing opposition  —  NFL Players executive director DeMaurice Smith on Saturday made a move to solidify the union against a bid by conservative talk show radio host Rush Limbaugh as part of a group that aims to purchase the St. Louis Rams.

Tea partiers turn on GOP leadership  —  While the energy of the anti-tax and anti-Big Government tea party movement may yet haunt Democrats in 2010, the first order of business appears to be remaking the Republican Party.  —  Whether it's the loose confederation of Washington-oriented groups …

Feinstein: Obama Should Approve McChrystal's Recommendations  —  Senator Dianne Feinstein told me this morning that President Obama must approve General McChrystal's recommendations for an additional 40,000 troops on the ground in Afghanistan.  —  “I don't know how you put somebody in …

IF IT'S SUNDAY, IT'S PRESIDENT MCCAIN.... A couple of days ago, Atrios tweeted, “Huzzah!  President John McCain will be on my teevee on Sunday.”  I hoped he was kidding.  He wasn't.  —  On today's episode of CNN's “State of the Union,” viewers can tune in to find yet another Sunday interview …