Sarah Palin displays her pitch-perfect populism  —  The snows that obliterated Washington in the past week interfered with many scheduled meetings, but they did not prevent the delivery of one important political message: Take Sarah Palin seriously.  —  Her lengthy Saturday night keynote address …

Protests in Iran - LIVE  —  Protesters have clashed again with the Iranian security forces amid official celebrations to mark the 31st anniversary of the revolution.  Follow live updates  —  3.26pm:  —  More dejection from opposition supporters, this time from NIAC, a blog representing the Iranian-American.

Joe Biden update: Iraq one of Obama's ‘great achievements’  —  Who knew?  —  Thank goodness, Vice President Joe Biden went on CNN to chat with Larry King Wednesday night.  So many think things are not going so well for the Democrat administration, as The Ticket chronicled here.

Pelosi Makes Her Case: A Majority Is 51 Votes  —  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is pinning the blame on Republicans for a lack of bipartisanship in Congress and plans to bypass them if they continue to oppose efforts to enact near-universal health care.

Obama ‘Agnostic’ on Deficit Cuts, Won't Prejudge Tax Increases  —  Feb. 11 (Bloomberg) — President Barack Obama said he is “agnostic” about raising taxes on households making less than $250,000 as part of a broad effort to rein in the budget deficit.  —  Obama, in a Feb. 9 Oval Office interview …

Obama Takes Several Gambles in Bid to Defuse Nuclear Standoff With Iran  —  WASHINGTON — As President Obama adds economic pressure and military containment to force Iran's leadership to negotiate on its nuclear program, he is taking three big bets on his ability to defuse an increasingly tense confrontation.

Speechwriter: Edwards cut ‘I lied’ from statement  —  Wendy Button, a former Edwards speechwriter, writes that she worked on Edwards' statement admitting that he was the baby's father — and that he then changed and weakened it.  —  It was very different compared to the one he and I had worked on over the summer.

Food stamps  —  I can't get over the fact that one in eight Americans are on food stamps.  —  Graph credit: The New York Times.

2 ex-employees say Blackwater billed government for prostitute  —  Two former employees of Blackwater Worldwide have accused the private security contractor of defrauding the government for years with phony billing, including charging for a prostitute, alcohol and spa trips.

Left frets over fate of 'don't ask'  —  Congressional liberals were heartened when Barack Obama pledged to repeal “don't ask, don't tell,” but their initial elation has given way to concerns the repeal will stall in the penalty box of presidential promises: the U.S. Senate.

Time for Obama to go ‘gangsta’ on GOP  —  Editor's note: Roland S. Martin, a CNN political analyst, is a nationally syndicated columnist and author of “Listening to the Spirit Within: 50 Perspectives on Faith,” and the forthcoming book, “The First: President Barack Obama's Road to the White House.”

Sarah Palin's Bracelet: I Do Not Think It Means What You Think It Means **UPDATED  —  Chalk up yet another tick on the board of things that Palin doesn't understand: … As a mother, I am flabbergasted by the symbolism of this on many levels.  I understand wanting to keep something close …

Climate-Change Debate Is Heating Up in Deep Freeze  —  WASHINGTON — As millions of people along the East Coast hole up in their snowbound homes, the two sides in the climate-change debate are seizing on the mounting drifts to bolster their arguments.  —  Skeptics of global warming are using …

Dodd will negotiate financial reform with GOP Sen. Corker  —  Sen. Robert Corker (R-Tenn.) will negotiate on financial reform directly with Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.).  —  Dodd announced Thursday that he would pursue a bipartisan financial reform package with Corker …