Jeb Bush On Sarah Palin: If She Only Had A Brain...  (VIDEO)  —  Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has some advice for Sarah Palin: You'd be a great, if you only had a brain.  —  In a recent interview with Newsmax, Bush was asked whether he thought Palin was a viable candidate for president.

Top Palin aide resigns  —  Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's senior adviser and spokeswoman Meghan Stapleton has resigned, POLITICO has learned.  —  Stapleton has been a Palin confidant since December 2006 and one of the governor's most trusted aides since she was vaulted onto …

OBAMA & DEMS IN ‘05: 51 VOTE ‘NUCLEAR OPTION’ IS ‘ARROGANT’ POWER GRAB AGAINST THE FOUNDERS’ INTENT  —  Biden: “I pray God when the Democrats take back control we don't make the kind of naked power grab you are doing.”

Conrad: Health Care ‘Dead’ Unless House Passes Senate Bill First  —  The Senate Democrats' top budget guy told reporters today that the Senate can't pass a reconciliation package tweaking a comprehensive health care bill unless the House passes the Senate bill first.

Miss Beverly Hills tries to one-up Carrie Prejean, says it's divine law that gays be put to death.  —  Last year, Miss California Carrie Prejean endeared herself to the right wing when she answered a question about same-sex marriage by saying that she believes marriage “should be between a man and a woman.”

Breaking: Could “The Party” Be Over?  —  Update 2:28: Newsroom rumors are running fierce right now.  But it's tough to nail any sort of confirmation on where the column stands.  Will keep pounding.  —  Update 1:45: Have made several calls to the very top crust of Post newsroom management.

Exclusive: W.H. privately plots 2012 campaign run  —  President Barack Obama's top advisers are quietly laying the groundwork for the 2012 reelection campaign, which is likely to be run out of Chicago and managed by White House deputy chief of staff Jim Messina, according to Democrats familiar with the discussions.

TEA Party folds when economy revives  —  The “TEA Party,” that anti-tax, anti big-government movement of people intent on turning out incumbents this year, will “disappear” as the economy improves.  —  So says Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Republican governor of California whom some in his own party view as a RINO.

One Of Obama's Great Achievements May Be Unraveling  —  Was it only two weeks ago that Joe Biden explained that Iraq was on track to become “one of the great achievements” of the Obama Administration?  Now Thomas Ricks, author of “Fiasco” and “The Gamble”, warns us of the fragile stability …

House Passes Bill To Repeal Antitrust Exemption For Health Insurance Companies  —  By a vote of 406-19, the House passed the Health Insurance Industry Fair Competition Act (HR 4626), introduced by Reps. Tom Perriello (D-VA) and Betsy Markey (D-CO).  This bill is designed to restore competition …

Son of Hamas founder spied for Israel for more than a decade  —  The son of one of Hamas's founding members was a spy in the service of Israel for more than a decade, helping prevent dozens of Islamist suicide bombers from finding their targets, it emerged today.

The Lunatics Have Taken Over the Salon  —  Vanity Fair colleague Michael Wolff, though not a licensed clinician or chiropodist, renders what seems to me an inarguable diagnosis of the current conservative condition, i.e., they've gone loco:  —  Having whipped themselves into dishrag fatigue …

US diplomats add a moat to their expenses at $1bn London embassy  —  The United States has unveiled plans for its new $1 billion high-security embassy in London — the most expensive it has ever built.  —  The proposals were met with relief from both the present embassy's Mayfair neighbours …

Ft. Hood Attack Publicly Called “Terrorism”  —  Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has become the first Obama Administration official to publicly describe last year's deadly shootings at Ft. Hood, Tex., as a terrorist act, according to a search of news clips and transcripts.

Obama's health reform gamble raises questions of judgment  —  On health-care reform, the strategy of President Obama and Democratic congressional leaders is psychologically understandable — as well as delusional.  —  It is easy to imagine the internal dialogue: “Well, they voted for me, overwhelmingly.

My Gift to the Obama Presidency  —  Though the White House won't want to admit it, Bush lawyers were protecting the executive's power to fight a vigorous war on terror.  —  Barack Obama may not realize it, but I may have just helped save his presidency.  How?

“I'm Live-Tweeting My Abortion”  —  “I'm doing this to de-mystify abortion,” she says.  “I'm doing this so other women know, 'Hey, it's not nearly as terrifying as I had myself worked up thinking it was.' It's just not that bad.”  —  These are the words of Angie Jackson, a blogger and mother of a 4-year-old son.

Every Central Falls teacher fired, labor outraged … CENTRAL FALLS, R.I. — The full force of organized labor showed up in Central Falls Tuesday, with several hundred union members rallying in support of the city's teachers and bringing plenty of harsh words for the education officials …

Serious threat to the web in Italy  —  In late 2006, students at a school in Turin, Italy filmed and then uploaded a video to Google Video that showed them bullying an autistic schoolmate.  The video was totally reprehensible and we took it down within hours of being notified by the Italian police.

Don't get Rep. Anthony Weiner angry  —  You wouldn't like him when he's angry.  —  Watch this through to at least the third minute, by which time a Republican has pulled a parliamentary maneuver to stop Weiner and give him a chance to take back his words, and Weiner substitutes his words for, uh, other words.

SeaWorld Orlando trainer killed in whale attack  —  An experienced female trainer at Sea World Orlando, Dawn Brancheau, was fatally injured by one of the whales.  —  A SeaWorld employee died this afternoon during an incident at SeaWorld's Shamu Stadium, an Orange County Sheriff's Office official confirmed.

G.M. to Close Hummer After Sale Collapses  —  DETROIT — General Motors said Wednesday that it would shut down Hummer, the brand of big sport-utility vehicles that became synonymous with the term “gas guzzler,” after a deal to sell it to a Chinese manufacturer fell apart.

Pledge of Allegiance dispute results in Md. teacher having to apologize  —  The mother of a 13-year-old Montgomery County middle school student is demanding an apology from a teacher who had school police escort the youngster from a classroom for refusing to say the Pledge of Allegiance.

McCain's ‘birther’ attack  —  priceless, where was this mccain in 2008?  —  Posted By: priceless, where was this mccain in 2008?  America...yet another lie and spin...from a moderate ‘fence sitter’!  I do not believe that Bilderberg Bush-0bama is a legal citizen and qualified to be President either and I …

Exclusive: Ex-Bush adviser Dan Senor weighing run against Gillibrand as Republican  —  Dan Senor, the husband of CNN's Campbell Brown and a former Bush administration foreign policy adviser, is eyeing a run as a Republican against Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, The Knickerbocker has learned.

The Fox News/David Brooks tag team  —  Jon Chait points out an important dynamic here: … To make a related point, this is one of those legislative problems that ending the filibuster won't fix.  Neither party is really able to vote for the other party's major initiatives.

Is Sarah Palin the 2012 Version of Jesse Jackson in 1988?  —  Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, is a former White House correspondent with two decades of experience covering Washington government and politics.  Click here for Mr. Brown's full bio.

Republicans say WH rejected including governors in health summit  —  The White House has rejected a GOP request to include governors in tomorrow's healthcare summit.  —  House Minority Leader John Boehner's (R-Ohio) office said Wednesday that Republicans had been advised that only congressional leaders …