Palin: Obama birth certificate ‘a fair question’  —  Speaking to the conservative talker Rusty Humphries today, Sarah Palin left the door open to speculation about President Obama's birth certificate.  —  “Would you make the birth certificate an issue if you ran?” she was asked (around 9 minutes into the video above).

Jobs Report Is the Strongest Since the Start of the Slump  —  The sudden and unexpected improvement in job losses in November surprised even the most optimistic forecasters, as employers all but stopped shedding jobs.

Nelson amendment expected to fall short even with GOP support  —  An amendment restricting abortions does not appear to have enough support to be attached to the Senate healthcare bill.  —  Senate Republican Whip Jon Kyl (Ariz.) said he expected that all but a few Republicans would support …

On the Employment Situation in November  —  Today's employment report was the most hopeful sign yet that the stabilization of financial markets and the recovery in economic growth may be leading to improvements in the labor market.  —  Payroll employment declined 11,000 in November.

SENATE RACE: Reid in a battle, poll reveals  —  Nine Republicans running for seat  —  Nevadans aren't warming up to Sen. Harry Reid, despite plenty of early advertising designed to boost his image, a new poll shows.  —  Just 38 percent of respondents said they had a favorable opinion …

CNN Poll: Obama approval under 50 percent  —  Washington (CNN) - Support for President Barack Obama's Afghanistan policy is fairly high, but that hasn't stopped his approval rating from dropping below 50 percent for the first time in a CNN poll.  —  According to a CNN/Opinion Research …

Reform or Else  —  Health care reform hangs in the balance.  Its fate rests with a handful of “centrist” senators — senators who claim to be mainly worried about whether the proposed legislation is fiscally responsible.  —  But if they're really concerned with fiscal responsibility …

Prostitutes Offer Free Climate Summit Sex  —  Copenhagen Mayor Ritt Bjerregaard sent postcards to city hotels warning summit guests not to patronize Danish sex workers during the upcoming conference.  Now, the prostitutes have struck back, offering free sex to anyone who produces one of the warnings.

Brown: Vitter, Coburn won't let me join amendment  —  Sens. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) and David Vitter (R-La.) are preparing an amendment to force members of Congress into any public option health plan that becomes law, frustrating at least one Senate Democrat who wants to join the effort.

Take back Al Gore's Oscar, 2 Academy members demand in light of Climategate  —  No, it wouldn't do anything for the environment.  —  But two Hollywood conservatives (yes, there are some) have called upon the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to rescind the prestigious …

The Analytic Mode  —  Many Democrats are nostalgic for Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign — for the passion, the clarity, the bliss-to-be-alive fervor.  They argue that these things are missing in a cautious and emotionless White House.  —  But, of course, the Obama campaign …

C.I.A. to Expand Use of Drones in Pakistan  —  WASHINGTON — Two weeks ago in Pakistan, Central Intelligence Agency sharpshooters killed eight people suspected of being militants of the Taliban and Al Qaeda, and wounded two others in a compound that was said to be used for terrorist training.

Good news is bad news  —  Today's unemployment report was good news.  But in a real sense good news is bad news, because this month's not-too-bad number deflates the sense of urgency.  —  The fact remains that realistic projections show unemployment staying disastrously high for many years.

Breaking: Obama's “Safe Schools Czar” Is Promoting Child Porn in the Classroom- Kevin Jennings and the GLSEN Reading List  —  Scott Baker from Breitbart-TV.com and Co-Host of ‘The B-Cast’ submitted this shocking report today on Obama's deviant Safe Schools Czar Kevin Jennings.

Obama's hollow speech on Afghanistan  —  We shall fight in the air, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields, we shall fight in the hills — for 18 months.  Then we start packing for home.  —  We shall never surrender — unless the war gets too expensive …

Homeland Security panel faces ethics scrutiny after credit card hearing  —  At a hearing in late March, the nation's credit card companies faced the threat of expensive new rules from an unlikely regulator: the House Committee on Homeland Security, chaired by Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.).

Who's Afraid of a 4 Story Building?  —  Courtesy of Google StreetView, here's 1242 H Street NE in the District of Columbia:  —  The owners of this vacant lot in this economically depressed retail corridor currently undergoing a bit of a renaissance would like to build a building here.

My theory of the public option fight, and of health care  —  Digby has a great post on the politics of the public option: … I'm a policy guy, arguably to the point of myopia.  The public option compromises that are on the table at this point aren't really compromises worth having.