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.”

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

Rather responds to watermelon ‘controversy’  —  Since Dan Rather used one of his trademark folksy sayings on “The Chris Matthews Show” Sunday, comparing Obama's difficulty with pushing health care reform to being unable to sell watermelons on the side of the road with the help of a state trooper …

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 …

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 …

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.

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.

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 …

State of the Union: President Obama's Speech  —  President Obama Delivers State of the Union at US Capitol in Washington, D.C.  —  The House has passed a jobs bill that includes some of these steps.  As the first order of business this year, I urge the Senate to do the same.  People are out of work.

DCCC puts 13 on Red to Blue campaign list  —  The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) has named the first 13 candidates to its Red to Blue program for challengers and open-seat races this cycle.  —  The 2010 class of the program includes:  —Ami Bera, who is challenging Rep. Dan Lungren (R-Calif.)

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?

Washington Post, Kissinger Team Up on Reporter's Access to China  —  The Washington Post has a visa problem.  —  Last year, Executive Editor Marcus Brauchli hired foreign correspondent Andrew Higgins to bolster the paper's coverage of China.  Higgins, a veteran reporter for the Wall Street Journal …

Bank of America to End Overdraft Fees on Debit Purchases  —  In a move that could bring an end to the $40 cup of coffee, Bank of America said on Tuesday that it was doing away with overdraft fees on purchases made with debit cards, a decision that could cost the bank tens of millions a year …

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 …

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 …

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 …