Text: Obama's State of the Union Address  —  Following is the prepared text of President Obama's State of the Union address, delivered Jan. 27, 2010, as released by the White House:  —  Madame Speaker, Vice President Biden, Members of Congress, distinguished guests, and fellow Americans:

Justice Alito mouths ‘not true’  —  POLITICO's Kasie Hunt, who's in the House chamber, reports that Justice Samuel Alito mouthed the words “not true” when President Barack Obama criticized the Supreme Court's campaign finance decision.  —  “Last week, the Supreme Court reversed a century …

The Landrieu Phone Case: Not A Bugging After All?  —  While initial media reports (including on TPM) described the episode at Sen. Mary Landrieu's New Orleans office as an attempted bugging, that term does not appear in the affidavit and the lawyer for one of the charged men tells TPMmuckraker, “the complaint is not about a wiretap.”

Howard Zinn, historian who challenged status quo, dies at 87  —  Howard Zinn, the Boston University historian and political activist who was an early opponent of US involvement in Vietnam and a leading faculty critic of BU president John Silber, died of a heart attack today in Santa Monica …

Bob McDonnell's GOP Response: Full Text  —  Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell's Republican Address to the Nation Following Obama's State of the Union Address  —  (CBS) Immediately following President Obama's State of the Union address, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell will deliver the Republican response.

Waiting for Barack  —  Every Hill office I've spoken to in the past week has had the same complaint.  “Where,” they ask, “is the White House?”  —  There's been no clear message on the way forward for health-care reform.  No clear articulation of preferences.  No public leadership to speak of.

Obama to call for repealing 'don't ask, don't tell'  —  Washington (CNN) — President Obama will ask Congress Wednesday night to repeal the military's “Don't Ask, Don't Tell” policy that bars gays and lesbians from openly serving in, White House Senior Adviser David Axelrod told CNN.

The audacity of nope  —  The state of the union is obstreperous.  Dyspepsia is the new equilibrium.  All the passion in American politics is oppositional.  The American people know what they don't like, which is: everything.  —  That sounds like nihilism, but they're against that, too.

Pelosi floats two-track health reform  —  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday floated the idea of a two-track plan for health care reform — with Congress pursuing easier-to-pass incremental changes now and comprehensive reform later.  —  “We believe that it's possible …

John and Elizabeth Edwards Legally Separated  —  In Tell-All-Book, Ex-Edwards Aide Says Couple Discussed How Cancer Would Help in the Polls  —  With John Edwards' electrifying U.S. Senate win in 1998, it was his wife Elizabeth Edwards who captivated the nation.

McCain objects on 'Don't Ask'  —  McCain:  —  In his State of the Union address, President Obama asked Congress to repeal the 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy.  I am immensely proud of, and thankful for, every American who wears the uniform of our country, especially at a time of war …

Clinton signals not a two-term Secretary of State  —  In an interview to air at 8pm tonight on PBS's Tavis Smiley Reports, Hillary Clinton tells Smiley she does not envision serving as Secretary of State for a second term.  She also tells Smiley she is “absolutely not interested” in another presidential run:

CIA Man Retracts Claim on Waterboarding  —  A study in “enhanced reporting techniques.”  —  Well, it's official now: John Kiriakou, the former CIA operative who affirmed claims that waterboarding quickly unloosed the tongues of hard-core terrorists, says he didn't know what he was talking about.

McDonnell invited Dems hours before speech  —  Governor Robert McDonnell scrambled this afternoon to invite Democrats to his response speech to President Obama after the Democratic National Committee criticized him for delivering his response to a solely Republican audience …