Franken lays into Ax over health bill  —  Sen. Al Franken ripped into White House senior adviser David Axelrod this week during a tense, closed-door session with Senate Democrats.  —  Five sources who were in the room tell POLITICO that Franken criticized Axelrod for the administration's failure …

Palin Camp Rips Limbaugh, Hits His “Retard” Comment As “Crude And Demeaning”  —  Sarah Palin versus Rush Limbaugh!  —  Palin believes Limbaugh's repeated use of the word “retard” yesterday was “crude and demeaning,” her spokesperson emails.  —  In the wake of Palin's demand that Rahm Emanuel …

There's No Good Reason the National Enquirer Shouldn't Win a Pulitzer Prize  —  The National Enquirer has thrown its hat in the ring for a 2010 Pulitzer Prize, seeking official recognition from the media Brahmins for its ownership of the John Edwards sex scandal.  Said Brahmins are harrumphing, and here's why they're wrong.

Struck Down: Feds Refuse to Explain How Agent Injured Daily Caller Writer  —  The State Department has refused to answer basic questions about an accident that took place in Washington on Wednesday night, in which a U.S. Diplomatic Security Service vehicle struck Daily Caller employee Sean Medlock as he was crossing the street.

NBC Cafeteria Celebrates Black History Month With Fried Chicken Special (Update)  —  So who at NBC thought it would be a good idea for the special today to be, among other things, fried chicken, “in honor of Black History Month”?  —  Because, spoiler alert - it wasn't a good idea at all.

Our Strange Constitution  —  I'm not even slightly surprised to find out that the Obama administration has some kind of process in place to assassinate American citizens who it's decided are in cahoots with terrorists.  I was always raised to appreciate the “out of control spies” …

National Prayer Breakfast Draws Controversy  —  For more than 50 years, the National Prayer Breakfast has served as a prime networking event in Washington, bringing together the president, members of Congress, foreign diplomats and thousands of religious, business and military leaders for scrambled eggs and supplication.

Details surface of Scott Lee Cohen's 2005 domestric violence arrest  —  Scott Lee Cohen — a pawnbroker who shocked state Democratic leaders Tuesday night by winning the party's nomination for lieutenant governor — was arrested about four-and-a-half years ago and accused of holding a knife …

Brown sworn in as new senator from Massachusetts  —  Washington (CNN) — Republican Scott Brown was sworn in Thursday as the new U.S. senator from Massachusetts to fill the seat formerly held by the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, and immediately signaled opposition to President Obama's spending plans.

New Hampshire independents abandoning Obama in droves: Poll  —  The crucial independent voters of notoriously independent New Hampshire, the ones who were so vital to Barack Obama's 2008 victory there and nationally, are fast falling out of love with the Democrat.

Boehner Distances Republicans From Ryan Budget...But He Can't Name A Single Objection  —  House Republicans are at pains to point out that a far-reaching budget roadmap unveiled by their top budget guy, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), isn't their budget, but when asked today at a press conference …

Poll: Republicans Prefer Having A Deficit With Tax Cuts, Over A Balanced Budget And Higher Taxes  —  A new Rasmussen poll supplies a very interesting data point in the ongoing debate about the budget deficit: As it turns out, Republican voters would prefer having a deficit if it meant …

Correction Request: Max Blumenthal, Salon.com  —  In Max Blumenthal's article “James O'Keefe's race problem” for Salon.com of February 3, 2010, Mr. Blumenthal makes a number of unverifiable and provably false claims regarding James O'Keefe's attendance at a 2006 conference called “Race and Conservatism.”

Gibbs to Sen. Bond: Apologize to law enforcement, White House for leak claim  —  Press Secretary Robert Gibbs is calling on Republican Sen. Kit Bond (R-Mo.) to apologize “to the law enforcement community and those that work in this building” for alleging the White House had leaked classified information …

10 Americans in Haiti Are Charged With Abduction  —  PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Ten Americans detained after trying to take 33 Haitian children across the border last week were charged Thursday with abduction and criminal association, according to prosecutors.

Club for Growth targets Gingrich  —  Newt Gingrich is being attacked by the conservative Club for Growth.  —  Washington (CNN) - The conservative Club for Growth is hitting back at former House Speaker Newt Gingrich for criticizing the small government group during an appearance in Utah for Republican Sen. Bob Bennett.

Landrieu says Republicans should ‘shut their mouth’  —  ABC News' Z. Byron Wolf reports: Don't mess with Mary Landrieu.  —  The Democratic Senator from Louisiana has had about enough of people criticizing the clause she helped put into the Senate version of health care reform and she took …

Ken Lewis, Bank of America Sued by Cuomo for Fraud  —  Feb. 4 (Bloomberg) — Former Bank of America Corp. Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Lewis was sued by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo for defrauding investors and the government when buying Merrill Lynch & Co. The bank agreed …

Biden ponders filibuster reform  —  Washington - Moments after swearing in Sen. Scott Brown, R-Massachusetts, whose presence in the Senate means Democrats no longer have their 60-vote filibuster-proof supermajority, Vice President Joe Biden told reporters he thinks filibusters have been abused …

U.S. General Offers Upbeat Views on Afghan War  —  ISTANBUL — The senior commander of American and allied forces in Afghanistan offered a guarded but unexpectedly upbeat assessment of the war effort on Thursday, saying that while the situation remained dangerous it was no longer deteriorating …

Sherrod Brown: Senate should use 50-vote tactic on more than healthcare  —  Senate leaders should use a parliamentary maneuver to sidestep filibuster rules “a lot more,” one Senate Democrat urged Thursday.  —  Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), one of the more liberal members of the upper chamber …

Clarence Thomas on Why He Skips the State of the Union  —  I don't go because it has become so partisan.  —  One final contribution to the post-mortem on the State of the Union address.  —  In a question-and-answer session at Stetson University College of Law in Florida this week …

My secret life under 'don't ask, don't tell'  —  Editor's note: Retired Navy Capt. Joan E. Darrah served 29½ years as a naval intelligence officer and was chief of staff and deputy commander at the Office of Naval Intelligence.  She has received several awards: three Legion of Merits …

Chris Wallace on whether Palin will sit on his lap during their interview: ‘One can only hope.’  —  This week, former Alaska governor and Fox News contributor Sarah Palin will be on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace, in his first Sunday show appearance ever.

How Unions Work  —  In a valiant attempt to defuse the ideological conflicts between the reformist and traditionalist wings of the liberal education wonketariat, Matthew Yglesias argues that this disagreement is not not ideological at all.  Rather, it is an artifact of past decisions about educational structure: