Reid's about-face stuns Dems, W.H.  —  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid led colleagues and the White House to believe he supported a bipartisan jobs bill — only to scuttle the plan as soon as it was released Thursday over concerns it could be used to batter Democratic incumbents, according to Senate sources.

Man Charged With Stockpiling Weapons Was Tea Partier, Palin Fan  —  The Massachusetts man charged this week with stockpiling weapons after saying he feared an imminent “Armageddon” appears to have been active in the Tea Party movement, and saw Sarah Palin, who he said is on a …

A deal on nominations that even a Republican could love  —  The administration scored a big victory last night, or at least it thinks it did.  After President Obama finally threatened to make recess appointments if Senate Republicans didn't let some of its nominees through the confirmation process …

Why the MSM loves Palin  —  Fox News has been making a serious charge about mainstream political reporters: They hate Sarah Palin.  —  This is not just wrong, it's absurd.  The reality is exactly the opposite: We love Palin.  —  And if Palin does not exactly love us …

His Father's Son  —  As the youngest child of Ted Kennedy, Patrick Kennedy has become the heir apparent to a political dynasty.  But six months after his father's death, he reveals what that watershed moment taught him and why he won't run for Congress again this November.  —  Patrick Kennedy talked for hours

Tim Pawlenty: The Esquire Interview  —  The Minnesota governor, whom many expect to run for president in 2012, on bailouts, health care, whether Obama is a socialist, and where Republicans go from here  —  In his first major interview since launching his political-action committee …

Ford's NBC contract suspended  —  When Harold Ford Jr. appears on NBC's “Meet the Press” this Sunday, it'll be as chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council, according to a network release.  On the show's website, he's listed as a “political insider.”  —  But when he's more recently appeared …

Corker: Willing to Be Sole GOP Vote on Financial Overhaul  —  GOP Sen. Bob Corker said he “absolutely” would be willing to buck his party to pass a bill cracking down on financial market abuses and creating new rules to prevent firms from becoming “too big to fail.”

The Legacy of Billy Tauzin: The White House-PhRMA Deal  —  More than a million spectators gathered before the Capitol on a frosty January afternoon to witness the inauguration of Barack Obama, who promised in his campaign to change Washington's mercenary culture of lobbyists, special interest influence and backroom deals.

Iron Man was right  —  Spencer Ackerman's adjudication of the dispute between Captain America and Iron Man is some of the most relevant punditry you'll read today.  And, incidentally, I agree with Spencer entirely: Iron Man was unequivocally right in the argument over superhero registration.

75% back letting gays serve openly  —  Three-quarters of Americans say that they support openly gay people serving in the U.S. military, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll, a finding that could lend momentum to the Obama administration's effort to dismantle the policy known as “don't ask, don't tell.”

Republicans and Medicare  —  “Don't cut Medicare.  The reform bills passed by the House and Senate cut Medicare by approximately $500 billion.  This is wrong.”  So declared Newt Gingrich, the former speaker of the House, in a recent op-ed article written with John Goodman, the president of the National Center for Policy Analysis.

What's Next, Mr. President?  —  By 2008, Americans were disgusted with their government.  They were sick of partisan gridlock and general incompetence.  Along came Barack Obama offering to usher in a new era.  It was time, he said, to put away childish things.  —  There were actually two elements to the Obama campaign.

Where the U.S. went wrong on the Christmas Day bomber  —  It seems to me unlikely that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab will be known to future generations of lawyers for generating any groundbreaking legal principle or issue.  But when it comes to illuminating our public discourse about the …

Dick Durbin Throws Weight Behind Effort To Reform Filibuster  —  Okay, this could be significant: Senator Dick Durbin is now throwing his weight behind a new effort to reform the filibuster, a move that could give it a boost, given Durbin's clout as a senior member of the Dem leadership.

Shocking True Tales of Media Bias  —  I don't begrudge anyone their living, so if people get attractive job offers to go work at Pete Peterson's new Fiscal Times more power to them.  But as we move into a world where more-and-more journalism will be financed on a non-profit basis …

Video: O'Donnell meltdown on Morning Joe  —  Anyone who recalls Lawrence O'Donnell's meltdown with John O'Neill over the latter's opposition to John Kerry in 2004 won't be surprised at O'Donnell's inability to behave himself with Marc Thiessen on today's Morning Joe.

Is Medina a birther?  —  After ducking questions yesterday about whether the Bush administration aided in the Sept. 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center, then saying she has never believed the government was involved, Republican gubernatorial candidate Debra Medina gave a series of interviews late in the day.

A RUTHLESS BILL MAHER RETURNS  —  They once said, if you lose Walter Cronkite, you lose the nation.  —  But what happens if you lose Bill Maher?  —  The liberal comedian has surprised friends and foes alike by adding President Barack Obama to his list of usual targets, such as conservatives and the religious right.