GOP should take on Palin  —  Republicans have a problem.  The most-talked-about figure in the GOP is a reality show star who cannot be elected.  And yet the same leaders who fret that Sarah Palin could devastate their party in 2012 are too scared to say in public what they all complain about in private.

Where we and Democrats can work together  —  When congressional leaders of both parties meet at the White House today, all of us will have an opportunity to show the American people that we got the message of the elections earlier this month.  —  Republicans heard the voters loud and clear.

In slideshow, Rep. Joe Barton declares war on the Obama administration  —  If the Obama administration was hoping to see hints of bipartisanship from the Hill, it might want to skip over the House Energy and Commerce Committee.  —  The committee's ranking Republican, Rep. Joe L. Barton …

WikiLeaks founder could be charged under Espionage Act  —  Federal authorities are investigating whether WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange violated criminal laws in the group's release of government documents, including possible charges under the Espionage Act, sources familiar with the inquiry said Monday.

Senate votes down ban on earmarks  —  The Senate on Tuesday morning defeated a proposal from Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) to ban congressional earmarks.  —  In a 39-56 vote, members defeated a temporary ban on the appropriations procedure.  The moratorium was offered as an amendment …

Tea Party Nation President Says It ‘Makes A Lot Of Sense’ To Restrict Voting Only To Property Owners  —  Every week, the Tea Party Nation hosts a weekly radio program, calling itself a “home for conservatives.”  Two weeks ago, Tea Party Nation President Judson Phillips hosted the program …

Andy Greenberg  —  When will WikiLeaks return to its older model of more frequent leaks of smaller amounts of material?  —  If you look at the average number of documents we're releasing, we're vastly exceeding what we did last year.  These are huge datasets.  So it's actually very efficient for us to do that.

Steve Solarz (1940-2010) and the making of Senator Schumer  —  Photo by LIFE magazine.  —  The initial obituaries for Stephen Solarz, the former nine-term congressman from Brooklyn who died of esophageal cancer at the age of 70 on Monday, do not even mention the name Chuck Schumer.

Suspect in sex assault case won pardon in 2008  —  Cleared by a panel that included Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Jeremy Giefer is now accused of assaulting a second girl hundreds of times before and after he received his pardon.  —  Two years ago, Gov. Tim Pawlenty and two other officials pardoned Jeremy Giefer …

Has NASA discovered extraterrestrial life?  —  Here's a curious press release from NASA: … I did a little research on the news conference participants and found:  —  1. Pamela Conrad (a geobiologist) was the primary author of a 2009 paper on geology and life on Mars

SPLC “Logic” Turns Majority of African-Americans into Haters  —  Concerned Women for America, among several other pro-family, pro-life national groups, has been named a “hate group” by The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) because of our opposition to same-sex “marriage.”

Source: 'Don't ask' repeal OK for most  —  Washington (CNN) — A majority of U.S. service members surveyed do not care if the law banning openly gay and lesbian troops from serving is repealed, according to a source knowledgeable with the results of the Pentagon study.

Celebrating Secession Without the Slaves  —  ATLANTA — The Civil War, the most wrenching and bloody episode in American history, may not seem like much of a cause for celebration, especially in the South.  —  And yet, as the 150th anniversary of the four-year conflict gets under way …

Patty Murray to be DSCC Chair … THE FIX NEWSLETTERS … THE LIVE FIX … POLITICS & PINTS

Where Anonymity Breeds Contempt  —  THERE you are, peacefully reading an article or watching a video on the Internet.  You finish, find it thought-provoking, and scroll down to the comments section to see what other people thought.  And there, lurking among dozens of well-intentioned opinions, is a troll.

With friends like these —  When the only people who defend you are the Villagers, you know you're on the wong track  —  With Friends Like These ...  I'm watching an exasperated John King on CNN right now visibly stunned that the liberals don't see the savvy genius of Obama's move to freeze Federal Workers' pay.

Triangles Are Two Dimensional  —  Something that I think should be understood about the idea of “triangulating” via a proposal to freeze federal salary is that triangles are two dimensional objects.  To triangulate properly you can't simply occupy a point between where the left and right poles are, you need to also move off the line.