Palin aide swats Romney team  —  In possibly the first inter-staff dust-up of the 2012 presidential race, an aide of Sarah Palin is hitting back at Mitt Romney's camp for saying the former Alaska governor is “not a serious human being.”  —  A “Romney intimate” was quoted by “Time” …

U.S. SENATE RACE: Reid takes lead on Angle  —  New poll shows Republican losing support among every voter group  —  U.S. Sen. Harry Reid has opened a strong lead over Republican opponent Sharron Angle after pummeling her in a ubiquitous TV and radio ad campaign that portrays the Tea Party favorite as …

A Final Thought  —  Here is former head and current spokesperson for the Tea Party Express Mark Williams satirically responding to the NAACP: … Williams has since taken the original down and posted a half-hearted justification.  Mark Williams is the same man who has denounced Barack Obama as …

The scariest jobs graph you've seen yet  —  That's job growth per month on the X axis, and how many months that level of job growth would take to get us back to pre-recession levels on the Y axis.  Notice that adding new jobs at a rate of 200,000 a month would take us 150 months — or 12.5 years — to get back to normalcy.

Obama's next act  —  In the political marketplace, there's now a run on Obama shares.  The left is disappointed with the president.  Independents are abandoning him in droves.  And the right is already dancing on his political grave, salivating about November when, his own press secretary admitted Sunday …

Meet the New Republican Alchemists  —  So it comes down to this.  Republicans believe they can turn bulls**t into gold.  Despite the inescapable conclusion of history, theory and empirical evidence to the contrary, Mitch McConnell, Jon Kyl, John Boehner, Tom Coburn, John McCain …

Senator Vitter suggests Rachel Maddow only looked like a woman “a long time ago”  —  UPDATE, 5:16 p.m.: Vitter has now written a note of apology to Maddow.  —  Original post:  —  Oh, what fun!  —  On a right wing radio station this morning, Senator David Vitter appeared to suggest …

News Analysis: Obama Pushes an Agenda, Disregarding Polls That Disapprove  —  WASHINGTON — If passage of the financial regulatory overhaul on Thursday proves anything about President Obama, it is this: He knows how to push big bills through a balky Congress.

Report: Goodwin choice as Byrd's replacement in Senate  —  CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Gov. Joe Manchin is tapping his former chief counsel and a member of a prominent West Virginia family, Carte Goodwin, to succeed the late U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd, Democratic officials told The Associated Press on Friday.

Ass't.  Treasury Sec. Michael Barr: Elizabeth Warren “Extremely Well-Qualified” for CFPB  —  Hmmm... could Warren get the job? (photo: New America Foundation)  —  I'm on a conference call with Michael Barr, the assistant Treasury Secretary for Financial Institutions, about the Wall Street reform bill.

David Cameron, don't follow Barack Obama  —  When David Cameron visits America next week he will learn a lot - about how not to run a country, says Peggy Noonan.  —  Dear Mr Cameron, welcome young friend.  Welcome to America.  Bring your bright, dashing self to our shores.

Boehner: No more new Federal regulations!  —  UPDATE, 2:50 p.m.: DCCC chair Chris Van Hollen responds: … Original post:  —  A day after calling for repeal of the new financial regulatory reform bill, John Boehner is going even further: He's calling for a moratorium on all new Federal regulations — in the name of job creation.

Internal Memo: Intelligence Community Frets About Washington Post Series  —  Below, a memorandum sent two weeks ago by Art House, director of communications for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, to public affairs officers in the intelligence community about the Washington Post's upcoming series on contractors.

Post poll: McInnis losing support, Republicans like Tancredo  —  Support for GOP gubernatorial candidate Scott McInnis is eroding among Republicans but he remains a viable candidate even after a plagiarism scandal, according to a new Denver Post poll.  —  Twenty percent of registered Republican voters …

To Protest Hiring of Nonunion Help, Union Hires Nonunion Pickets  —  Jobless Recruits Get Minimum Wage ‘To March Around and Sound Off’  —  WASHINGTON—Billy Raye, a 51-year-old unemployed bike courier, is looking for work.  —  Fortunately for him, the Mid-Atlantic Regional Council …

Chelsea Clinton's A-List Wedding: Few Details, Many Questions  —  To the roaring, screeching Amtrak trains approaching Rhinecliff station from the north or south, add the occasional thwack-thwack-thwack of helicopter rotors.  —  Do those choppers carry Secret Service agents trying to secure …

Dumbest Idea Of The Year?  —  That's a tall order, especially in an election year.  But Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) today is publicly proposing a moratorium on any new regulations by the federal government for one year.  Yeah, that's right.  The promulgation of any new government regulation …

Gene Weingarten column mentions Lady Gaga.  —  Not very long ago, the typical American newsroom had three types of jobs: reporter, editor and photographer.  But lately, as newspapers have been frantically converting themselves into high-tech, 24-hour online operations, things are more complicated.