Parliamentary Hurdle Could Thwart Latest Health Care Overhaul Strategy  —  WASHINGTON — The White House and Democratic Congressional leaders said Tuesday that they were bracing for a key procedural ruling that could complicate their effort to approve major health care legislation …

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.”

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 …

Watermelons, Washington, and What We Call News Today  —  I must confess that until recently I had no idea what Twitter was.  Even now, I'm not completely sure how it's best used.  When I want to post something, the younger, more tech-savvy people in my office help me out.

‘Jihad Jane’ Easy to Spot.  What About Others?  —  Experts Say Suburban Pennsylvania Woman Was Easy to Find, and There Could be More Like Her  —  The arrest of a suburban Pennsylvania woman known by the alias Jihad Jane, who allegedly plotted with Islamic radicals abroad to kill a Swedish cartoonist …

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 …

Why You Shouldn't Judge A Lawyer by His Clients  —  Over the past several years lots of boiling ink and flaming breath have been expended attacking lawyers who took legal positions or represented clients that were or became unpopular.  The attorney who represented Bernard Madoff, for instance …

A Tea Party Fake?  —  Las Vegas, Nevada (CNN) - It's a grassroots protest movement composed of the newly politicized and people distrustful of hierarchy.  So how is it possible to be an illegitimate Tea Party member?  —  Ask Republicans in Nevada.  Some are accusing Jon Scott Ashjian …

Sen. Inhofe: Basis for Senate's Ban on Drudge Report Was Bogus, We Encourage People to Visit Drudge  —  (CNSNews.com) - “We would encourage people to continue to use Drudge.  That's a great source,” Sen. Jim Inhofe (R.-Okla.) told CNSNews.com Tuesday after his staff on the Environment …

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.

Draft on Payday Rules Loses a Provision  —  WASHINGTON — Senator Bob Corker, the Tennessee Republican who is playing a crucial role in bipartisan negotiations over financial regulation, pressed to remove a provision from draft legislation that would have empowered federal authorities to crack …

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.

Crist's Conundrum  —  An independent Charlie Crist bid for the US Senate would work to Marco Rubio's advantage, because Crist would win more Democratic votes than Republican ones.  In a hypothetical three way contest Rubio leads with 34% to 27% for Crist and 25% for Kendrick Meek.

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 …

The New Israel Watch  —  Having forcibly evicted Palestinian families from their homes in East Jerusalem, the new inhabitants sing songs in praise of the mass murderer Baruch Goldstein.  And you really think the decision to make the site of that massacre a national heritage site for Israel had nothing to do with this association?

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 …

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 …

State unemployment picture brightens  —  New York (CNNMoney.com) - A total of 30 states and Washington, D.C., reported rising unemployment rates in January, down from the number in the previous month, according to a government report released Wednesday.  —  Jobless rates decreased in nine states …