Hotheaded Emanuel may be White House voice of reason  —  Rahm Emanuel is officially a Washington caricature.  He's the town's resident leviathan, a bullying, bruising White House chief of staff who is a prime target for the failings of the Obama administration.

Collins Tries to Stop Bunning Filibuster  —  Senate Republicans sought Tuesday to insulate themselves from the damage caused by Sen. Jim Bunning's (R-Ky.) filibuster of a bill that would extend unemployment and health benefits and highway programs.  —  Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) …

Feel the Kausmentum  —  With the valuable Glenn Reynolds and Jonah Goldberg endorsements in hand, Mickey Kaus' bid for a Democratic Party primary win is looking more solid than ever.  —  That said, I'm going to go counter-counterintuitive here and say that if some weird process put Mickey Kaus …

Why I'm Not Running for the Senate  —  WHEN it was reported two months ago that I was thinking seriously about running for the United States Senate from New York, Democratic Party insiders started their own campaign to bully me out of the race — just as they had done with Representatives Carolyn Maloney, Steve Israel and others.

Coffee Party Parasites  —  The New York Times and Washington Post are promoting a group called the “Coffee Party” organized by filmmaker Annabel Park.  —  The Coffee Party is a political parasite which presents itself as something it is not.  As reported in the NY Times [see update below] …

Debunking Some Emerging ACORN Liberal Myths  —  This post debunks several liberal myths about ACORN that have emerged in recent weeks — many from Eric Boehlert of Media Matters and Brad Friedman.  —  POSING AS PIMP AT ACORN  —  Liberal Myth: James O'Keefe did not pretend to be a pimp inside ACORN.

Roger Ebert takes to Twitter to give tea party followers a thumb's down  —  The film reviewer is aiming barbs at Sarah Palin and other conservatives.  —  Who's the biggest scourge of the tea party movement these days?  It might be film critic Roger Ebert, who lately has been tossing brickbats …

GOP Sen. Kyl: Unemployment Benefits Make People Not Want To Get A Job  —  WHAT'S YOUR REACTION?  —  A debate on the Senate floor Monday over unemployment compensation crystallized, at least for a moment, the divide between the two parties in Washington.  —  Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona …

D.C. journalist provided 'writer's advice'  —  A prominent Washington journalist and former Globe reporter is among the many advisers and political experts who helped Mitt Romney write “No Apology,” according to the book's acknowledgments.  —  “Nina Easton, the noted journalist and commentator …

Postal Service expected to announce ‘significant changes’  —  The U.S. Postal Service will release projections Tuesday that confirm for the first time the suspicion that mail volume will never return to pre-recession levels.  In response, the agency is pushing anew for a dramatic reshaping …

Same-sex marriage leads Catholic Charities to adjust benefits  —  Employees at Catholic Charities were told Monday that the social services organization is changing its health coverage to avoid offering benefits to same-sex partners of its workers — the latest fallout from a bitter debate …