Romney keeps away from Tea Party  —  Possible presidential contender isn't courting activists  —  Tea Party activists in New Hampshire say the former Massachusetts governor has been largely inaccessible to them.  (Mary Schwalm/Associated Press)  —  WASHINGTON — New Hampshire Tea Party …

White House reboots on economic advice  —  Signaling a shift to a new phase of the administration's response to the nation's economic woes, President Barack Obama will sign an executive order Friday establishing a new Council on Jobs and Competitiveness that will be lead by General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt.

Rep. Broun: Mixed Seating At SOTU Is “A Trap” To “Silence Republicans” When “Barack Obama Spews Out All His Venom”  —  1 hour and 16 minutes ago — Matt Finkelstein  —  The tragic shootings in Tucson prompted calls for civility from politicians on both sides of the aisle, including Sen. Mark Udall's …

Glenn Beck in June 2010: 'You're Gonna Have to Shoot Them in the Head'  —  But, of course, “both sides do it!”...  sigh...  [via Stephen Webster at RAW STORY]...  The video above was from June 10, 2010.  —  “You need to go back to June —  June of this year, 2010,” …

A rival SOTU response  —  The Tea Party Express emails supporters that Rep. Michelle Bachmann — passed over for a leadership spot, much less the response to the State of the Union — will deliver her own response:  —  Congresswoman Michele Bachmann has confirmed with us that she will broadcast …

Everything starts with repeal  —  Suppose someone - say, the president of United States - proposed the following: We are drowning in debt.  More than $14 trillion right now.  I've got a great idea for deficit reduction.  It will yield a savings of $230 billion over the next 10 years …

A Path Is Sought for States to Escape Their Debt Burdens  —  Policy makers are working behind the scenes to come up with a way to let states declare bankruptcy and get out from under crushing debts, including the pensions they have promised to retired public workers.

I'm declaring February a Palin-free month.  Join me!  —  Though it is embarrassing to admit this in public, I can no longer hide the truth.  I have a Sarah Palin problem.  —  I have written about her in 42 columns since Sen. John McCain picked her as his presidential running mate in 2008.

S. Korean Navy Frees Crew of Hijacked Chemical Tanker  —  South Koreans in Seoul watch TV news about South Korean navy military operation against Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean, 21 Jan 2011  —  South Korean naval special forces stormed a hijacked ship early Friday and rescued 21 sailors …

Giffords arrives in Houston  —  Tucson, Arizona (CNN) — Rep. Gabrielle Giffords on Friday left the Tucson hospital where she had been treated since being shot in the head January 8, traveling down streets lined with well-wishers before flying to the Houston, Texas, hospital where she will continue her recovery.

Brother of Harry Potter star jailed for attacking her  —  The brother of a Harry Potter star has been jailed for six months for a “prolonged and nasty” attack in which she was beaten and branded a “slag” for dating a non-Muslim.  —  Afshan Azad, 21, who played Padma Patil …

Poll Finds Wariness About Cutting Entitlements  —  As President Obama and Congress brace to battle over how to reduce chronic annual budget deficits, Americans overwhelmingly say that in general they prefer cutting government spending to paying higher taxes, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.

Don't raise the debt limit - reform entitlement spending  —  Five years ago, a freshman senator made a case against allowing the federal government to go deeper into debt.  —  “The fact that we are here today to debate raising America's debt limit is a sign of leadership failure,” he said.

Sen. Murkowski questions approach to health repeal  —  Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski on Thursday cast doubt on the manner in which Republicans have attempted to repeal the healthcare law.  —  Murkowski (Alaska) said that she would vote to repeal the law if a vote was held in the Senate …

Promise kept: All Texas Republicans vote to repeal health reform; Democrats cry foul  —  In the end, it was a political exercise — predictable and orderly.  —  Every Texas Republican — indeed every House Republican — did what they promised to do in the campaign: They voted to repeal …

Obama Mispronounces Name Of ‘Great Friend’ Gillibrand  —  Can you pronounce your friends' names?  Hold on, let's narrow that down.  Can you pronounce the names of your “great friends”?  Pres. Obama can't—at least when it comes to Sen. Gillibrand of New York.

Mass bird die-off: Feds poisoned them  —  South Dakota birds were eating from cattle feed lots, leaving waste on equipment  —  Below:  —  NBC News and msnbc.com  —  YANKTON, S.D. — When birds started falling dead in Yankton on Monday, there was understandable alarm.

Outspoken Tucson sheriff faces recall bid  —  Tea party group wants Dupnik out  —  Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik has never lost an election, but that was before his remarks assigning blame for the deadly Tucson, Ariz., shooting to political “vitriol” and calling Arizona “a mecca for prejudice and bigotry.”

McChrystal denies claims of secret military crusade against Islam  —  WASHINGTON — Retired Gen. Stanley McChrystal says he is not part of a religious order waging war on Islam despite recent assertions by acclaimed journalist Seymour Hersh.  —  Speaking in Qatar earlier this week …

I get email  —  Lately I've been receiving a flood of messages from the anti-choice zealots.  They've got one thing in common: they all contain lots of images of aborted fetuses, a common tactic used by these creatures to intimidate with horrible images.  I'm not impressed.

Lost in the madhouse: Three stories of involuntary confinement  —  Erik* was not familiar with the expression “Baker Act'd” the night a college psychologist came to his dorm room, woke him up, and took him to a nearby hospital.  In fact, Erik didn't realize anything was wrong until police handcuffed him …