Massa & mdash; New conservative media hero  —  He's spent only 431 days in Congress, has never seen any of his bills pass out of subcommittee and was best known for voting against major pieces of legislation because they weren't liberal enough for him — at least until he was accused of sexually harassing a male staffer.

Palin, as a child, went to Canada for care [CORRECTED]  —  Sarah Palin told a Canadian audience Saturday that, as a child in Alaska, her family brought her across the border for medical care under the single-payer Canadian system.  —  “We used to hustle over the border for health care we received in Canada …

The Limits of Rahmism  —  AS A DOZEN or so top White House officials gathered in Rahm Emanuel's corner West Wing office one morning in early January, the president's political director, Patrick Gaspard, reported on the latest poll numbers in Massachusetts.  With less than two weeks until …

United Arab Emirates to Follow Third Reich Policies against Jews  —  Pages: 12  —  The authorities of the United Arab Emirates made an unusual decision.  Dubai police chief Dahi Khalfan al-Tamim said on March 1 that anyone who looks or sounds like a citizen of Israel will be blocked …

The Health Care Whip Count  —  Dems are aiming to pass health care legislation, once and for all, by Easter recess.  But for all their optimistic talk, one thing remains clear: They don't have the votes just yet.  Then again, they don't have a bill yet, either.

Introducing Mediagazer  —  Mediagazer presents the day's must-read media news on a single page.  —  The media business is in tumult: from the production side to the distribution side, new technologies are upending the industry.  What do news organizations need to do to survive?  Will books become extinct?

Dan Rather: ‘Articulate’ Obama Couldn't Even ‘Sell Watermelons’  —  HDNet's Dan Rather stepped on one mine after another in the racial minefield that exists when talking about the nation's first black President as the former CBS anchor, on the syndicated Chris Matthews Show over the weekend …

CONCERN TROLLING GONE AWRY (AGAIN).... You know who's really looking out for congressional Democrats' electoral fortunes?  Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).  While you and I might think, “Wait, isn't that the guy trying to destroy Democrats as part of his drive for power?” …

Poll shows Obama, Dems losing ground  —  A majority of Americans say the United States is less respected in the world than it was two years ago and think President Obama and other Democrats fall short of Republicans on the issue of national security, a new poll finds.

Health care reform CPR  —  Can Speaker Pelosi bring health care reform back from the dead?  Did it ever really die? … In addition to my last health care post, Nate Silver summarizes well the forces pushing in both directions.  John Podhoretz also has a good strategic overview.

AP: Stupak “more optimistic” on ObamaCare deal  —  Remember, the Stupak bloc voted for Pelosi's bill in November so she wouldn't be picking up any new votes if they made a deal this time.  They'd be right around 216, still with no margin for error and plenty of fidgety Blue Dogs still thinking hard about November.

Crist Poll Preview  —  We are going to have absolutely brutal numbers out on Charlie Crist tomorrow.  —  Here's a little preview: among Republican primary voters 19% would like to see him as Governor a year from now, 14% want him in the Senate, and 56% want him out of elected office.

Cheneyites Lose Stimson, Rivkin, Casey in al-Qaeda Shark-Jump  —  David Rivkin and Lee Casey are an op-ed-writing team of former GOP legal officials who defend practically every terrorism-related policy pushed by the Bush administration.  Here they are saying that warrantless surveillance “has always been on firm legal ground.”

California Man Took College Exams for Middle Eastern Students, ICE Officials Say  —  Daniel Higgins doesn't look like a Middle Eastern student, but officials say he routinely portrayed himself as one for almost a decade, getting paid up to $1,500 per student to attend their classes and take exams …

Do You Miss Him Yet?  —  I know you're not supposed to, but I just love to say I told you so.  —  What I told you back on Sept. 28, 2008, was that within a year of the day he left office George W. Bush would come to be regarded with affection and a little nostalgia.

That Other Government Takeover  —  What else may go into ‘reconciliation.’  —  Everyone knows Democrats are planning to use the budget reconciliation process to get ObamaCare through the Senate.  Less well known is that Democrats are plotting add-ons to that bill to get other liberal priorities enacted …

Health Care Reform And Our Myopic Polity  —  One day, I hope, we will look back at the health care debate as a low point in our national political psyche.  The Obama administration and its allies in Congress are on the cusp of bringing some measure of reason to the health care system …

Senate Approval Ratings  —  The conventional wisdom has typically been that a politician's in trouble if their approval rating's below 50%.  We may need to rethink that assumption in this political climate though because the average approval rating of the 38 Senators we've polled …