Massa flirts with the right, but Beck isn't tickled  —  Just seven minutes into Glenn Beck's hour-long interview of Eric Massa on Tuesday evening, things had already gone very wrong.  —  Conservatives had hopes that the now-former Democratic congressman from Upstate New York …

Roberts: Scene at State of Union ‘very troubling’  —  TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts said Tuesday the scene at President Obama's State of the Union address was “very troubling” and the annual speech has “degenerated to a political pep rally.”

Dumb Like a Fox  —  Fox News isn't part of the GOP; it has simply (and shamelessly) mastered the confines of cable  —  Last December 10 was a big news day.  U.S. Senate negotiators announced they had agreed to a compromise on health care reform, final preparations were being made for a global conference …

Pennsylvania Woman Tied to Plot on Cartoonist  —  WASHINGTON — A Pennsylvania woman who called herself JihadJane was tied Tuesday to an alleged assassination plot against a Swedish cartoonist who depicted the prophet Muhammad atop the body of a dog.  —  In an indictment unsealed Tuesday …

Why Obama Can't Move the Health-Care Numbers  —  For every voter who strongly favors the plan, two are strongly opposed.  —  One of the more amazing aspects of the health-care debate is how steady public opinion has remained.  Despite repeated and intense sales efforts by the president …

Readers react to photo of two men kissing  —  Powerful photographs can have lasting impact, and a Post photo of two men kissing is an image that many readers can neither forget nor accept.  —  The photo, which ran on the newspaper's front page and online last week, captured Jeremy Ames …

On health-care reform, Republicans target Democrats' division over reconciliation  —  As Republicans work to prevent a health-care bill from reaching President Obama, they are scrambling to exploit divisions between Democrats in the House and the Senate.  —  Speaking to reporters Tuesday …

Markos Moulitsas To Kucinich: You'll Be Primaried If You Kill Reform  —  WHAT'S YOUR REACTION?  —  Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas warned on Tuesday night that if Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) plays a role in killing health care reform, a Democratic primary challenger would almost certainly await him in the next election.

Attacks on Detainee Lawyers Split Conservatives  —  A conservative advocacy organization in Washington, Keep America Safe, kicked up a storm last week when it released a video that questioned the loyalty of Justice Department lawyers who worked in the past on behalf of detained terrorism suspects.

Dems: No thanks to new ‘Gang of 14’  —  Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) wants to revive the bipartisan Gang of 14 — this time for health care reform, not judicial nominees.  —  But most of his moderate Democratic colleagues aren't rushing to R.S.V.P.  —  Graham said Tuesday that a coalition …

Obama Defies Pessimists as Rising Economy Converges With Stocks  —  The political consensus may be that President Barack Obama's handling of the economy has been weak.  The judgment of money in all its forms has been overwhelmingly positive, and that may be the more lasting appraisal.

What happened to Obama's middle path on health reform?  —  Whatever the legislative fate of health reform — now in the hands of a few besieged House Democrats — the reformers have failed in their argument.  Their proposal has divided Democrats while uniting Republicans …

Anti-Whitman Web site turns to public for dirt  —  (CNN) — Democrats opposed to Meg Whitman's gubernatorial campaign are hoping to get an assist from the public in their latest bid to push voters away from the Republican candidate.  —  Level The Playing Field 2010, a group run …

Stupak: There's No Deal, And I Won't Agree to a Promise to Fix the Bill in the Future  —  Michigan Democrat Bart Stupak said yesterday at a townhall in his home state, “I'm more optimistic than I was a week ago” that a deal could be reached to pass a health care bill that bans public funding of abortion.

Ralph Reed Expected to Pass on Georgia House Race  —  Former Christian Coalition architect Ralph Reed, who is known to be considering a possible bid in Georgia's open 7th district, announced Tuesday that he'd make his future plans known on Wednesday.  But multiple Georgia GOP insiders …

Health care overhaul's biggest threat?  A delay in the vote  —  WASHINGTON — Thousands of liberal public-option backers and conservative tea partiers launched last-chance campaigns Tuesday in the nation's capital to persuade Congress to pass — or reject — sweeping health care legislation.

Saddam Hussein weighed nuclear ‘package’ deal in 1990, documents show  —  As troops massed on his border near the start of the Persian Gulf War, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein weighed the purchase of a $150 million nuclear “package” deal that included not only weapons designs but also production plants …