New Texas gov poll shows Tea Party candidate Debra Medina would defeat Democrat; Perry still leads  —  Quick update on the unfolding Republican primary race for Texas governor:  —  As The Ticket previously reported, incumbent Gov. Rick Perry is being challenged by GOP Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison …

What is a ‘hold’?  —  The news of the day, as I mentioned earlier, is that Richard Shelby has decided to place a hold on everything that eats, breathes or moves unless Alabama gets a couple billion more in pork.  Before we take a step further on this, it's worth noting that Shelby is doing exactly …

Palin e-mails reveal a powerful ‘first dude’  —  Nearly 3,000 pages of e-mails that the first gentleman, Todd Palin, exchanged with state officials draw a picture of his influence on policy in the Sarah Palin administration.  Other e-mails are still being withheld by the state of Alaska.

Obama: 'She insisted she's going to be buried in an Obama t-shirt'  —  Yes, those are the words of the president, last night at the Democratic National Committee fundraiser in Washington.  After listing his administration's accomplishments and vowing that “our most urgent task is job creation …

Why are liberals so condescending?  —  Every political community includes some members who insist that their side has all the answers and that their adversaries are idiots.  But American liberals, to a degree far surpassing conservatives, appear committed to the proposition that their views are correct …

'I'm Not Saying Your Mother's a Whore': How Fox News Censored Jon Stewart's Showdown with Bill O'Reilly  —  Fox News has generously placed the full, unedited conversation between Bill O'Reilly and Jon Stewart online, so we can see precisely how unfairly and deviously Fox edited the interview in order to weaken Stewart's case: A lot!

Retraction Requests: Charles Johnson, Little Green Footballs  —  Just a couple of hours ago, Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs issued an update to his post “James O'Keefe's Race Problems” of February 3rd, which had spread the lie that James O'Keefe attended a “white nationalist convention” …

Students At Jesuit School Shut Down Basketball Game Over LGBT Rights  —  As the band played Hot Stuff, students at John Carroll University occupied center court during a basketball game to protest the school's decision to exclude LGBT people from its non-discrimination policy.  —  Subscribe to Joe.My.God.

Americans Reject Keynesian Economics  —  Richard Nixon once said, “We're all Keynesians now.”  But that was a long time ago, and it's certainly not the case anymore (if it ever was).  —  While influential 20th Century economist John Maynard Keynes would say it's best to increase deficit spending …

Patrick Kennedy: Scott Brown's candidacy ‘a joke’  —  Sen. Scott Brown's (R-Mass.) election has been shown to be “a joke,” the son of the late Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) said Thursday.  —  Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) castigated Brown for having pushed to be sworn in ahead of schedule …

A Big Mess In Illinois  —  Well, the incumbent Democratic governor won his primary in Illinois, which more often than not is a good thing for the incumbent's party in a major race.  Except...  His new running mate—the candidate for lieutenant governor—has admitted he was on anabolic steroids in 2005 …

Harold Ford Superstar  —  U.S. Senate wannabe's tour rider anticipates swarms of adoring fans  —  Like Jay-Z and Lady Gaga, Harold Ford, Jr. has a tour rider.  The former Tennessee congressman, who is now trying to carpetbag his way to a Senate seat in New York, banks about $20,000 …

This pretty much covers what we know so far about the vehicular assault on my person  —  Big thanks to Scott, Liz, and Neil.  —  As I mentioned yesterday, one of the people standing over me as I lay in the street with a broken knee asked if there was anybody he could contact for me, and I gave him the number of the Daily Caller.

Geithner: Much Lower Risk of Double-Dip Recession Now Than Any Other Time In Last Year  —  We interviewed Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner today for an exclusive interview to air on THIS WEEK Sunday.  —  We talked about the new unemployment numbers; the shortcomings of various administration proposals …

Obama dismisses Blanche Lincoln's plea to be more centrist  —  President Obama's sharp exchange of views with House Republicans made a splash the other day — though for civility and substance, I much preferred the excellent left-meets-right encounter between Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) and our very own wunderkind Ezra Klein.

GOP Chairman Steele: ‘after taxes, a million dollars is not a lot of money’  —  LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele and potential Democratic Senate candidate Harold Ford Jr. agreed Thursday that Americans want action now on health care reform, but disagreed about how to achieve it.

Ollie North On What Happens If Gays Are Allowed To Serve Openly In Military: ‘NAMBLA Members’ Are Next  —  Last night, Oliver North, the retired U.S. Marine Corps officer-turned-Fox News contributor, appeared on Hannity's America to condemn the administration's decision to overturn “Don't Ask, Don't Tell.”

FBI wants records kept of Web sites visited  —  The FBI is pressing Internet service providers to record which Web sites customers visit and retain those logs for two years, a requirement that law enforcement believes could help it in investigations of child pornography and other serious crimes.

Protecting Paterson  —  A reader pointed out an unusual letter to the editor in this morning's Post from State Police Superintendent Harry Corbitt, who defends his boss, Gov. David Paterson, against alleged “lies” that have been perpetuated in the press of late.

In Montgomery County, the teachers union and its toxic influence  —  MOST CANDIDATES for local office in Montgomery County covet the endorsement of the county teachers union more than any other, and all of them know the drill: Appear at union events, fill out the union questionnaire, submit to the union interview.

Coats's painful retirement plans  —  In the category of damaging video, here comes a doozy for former Sen. Dan Coats (R-Ind.).  —  The DSCC has landed footage of the new challenger to Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) saying in 2008 that he planned to retire to North Carolina.

Employment-Population Ratio, Part Time Workers, Temporary Workers  —  A common question is: how could there be fewer payroll jobs, but the unemployment rate declined?  This is because the data comes from two separate surveys.  The unemployment Rate comes from the Current Population Survey …