Israeli Prime Minister Gets 29 Standing Ovations in Congress, Sends Message to White House*  —  ABC's Jonathan Karl (@jonkarl) reports:  —  *UPDATE: President Obama got 25 standing ovations from Congress during his 2011 State of the Union address.  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu got 29 today.

BELTWAY CONFIDENTIAL  —  King: Giuliani ‘very close’ to joining GOP presidential race  —  Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, whose presidential campaign fizzled in 2008, is leaning toward another race for the White House, according to a close associate.  New York Republican Rep. Peter King …

President Obama Has No Idea What Year It Is  —  This is how President Obama signed the guestbook at Westminster Abbey earlier today, where he got a tour from the Very Reverend Dr. John Hall and laid a wreath on the Grave of the Unknown Warrior. … It was really nice until he got the date wrong by three years.

Cantor Says Congress Won't Pay For Missouri Disaster Relief Unless Spending Is Cut Elsewhere  —  Firefighters and rescue workers who arrived in Joplin, MO, found that the deadly tornado that hit the state Sunday had left a “barren, smoky wasteland” in its path.

What a top aide to Sarah Palin really thinks about Mitt Romney, Bristol Palin, Erick Erickson and more  —  A series of messages forwarded to The Daily Caller show a top aide to former Alaska Gov. and possible presidential candidate Sarah Palin mocking top political figures and even her boss's own daughter, Bristol Palin.

Britain Is Working  —  In 1920, Winston Churchill's mother held a dinner for M. Paul Cambon to celebrate the end of his 20 years as the French ambassador to Britain.  One of the guests asked Cambon what he had seen in his two decades in London.  —  “I have witnessed an English revolution …

Will Dems Give Up Their Political Advantage On Medicare In Debt Limit Fight?  —  Is it possible that Democrats will squander the political advantage on Medicare that they just regained over Republicans?  It could happen.  —  At his weekly Capitol briefing with reporters Tuesday …

Corwin granted court order barring certification of winner  —  Jane L. Corwin this afternoon obtained a court order from State Supreme Court Justice Russell P. Buscaglia barring a certification of a winner in the special 26th Congressional District race pending a show-cause hearing before him later this week.

Cannes 2011: Peter Fonda encourages his grandchildren to take up arms against President Barack Obama  —  Peter Fonda, the star of Easy Rider, says he is training his grandchildren to use rifles for a conflict with President Barack Obama.  —  Lars von Trier, who was banned from Cannes for praising Hitler …

Kansas Lawmaker Says Women Should Plan Ahead For Rape: ‘I Have A Spare Tire’  —  The anti-choice tidal wave stemming from the 2010 elections has produced nearly 1,000 anti-choice bills this year alone.  When Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback (R) took office last year, he called on the state legislature to create …

Steady Decline in Major Crime Baffles Experts  —  The number of violent crimes in the United States dropped significantly last year, to what appeared to be the lowest rate in nearly 40 years, a development that was considered puzzling partly because it ran counter to the prevailing expectation …

New Doomsday: Preacher Says It's Still Coming  —  Harold Camping, the radio evangelist who predicted the apocalypse would begin Saturday, May 21, 2011, said today his understanding of God's plan was just a little off.  —  Speaking outside the headquarters of his media empire near the Oakland …

Gingrich taps former conservative Dem senator as campaign co-chairman  —  Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) named a former conservative Democratic senator as a co-chairman of his 2012 presidential campaign.  —  Gingrich named former Georgia Sen. Zell Miller (D) and Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue …

Snowe, Collins to vote against GOP budget plan  —  MaineToday Media Washington Bureau Chief  —  WASHINGTON — Maine's Republican senators will vote against the House Republican 2012 budget authored by Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, with Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe in opposition to the House GOP-proposed Medicare changes.

Strauss-Kahn's pals bid to pay off woman's kin  —  By ORON DAN in Tel Aviv and LAURA ITALIANO and BOB FREDERICKS in NY  —  Friends of alleged hotel sex fiend Dominique Strauss-Kahn secretly contacted the accusing maid's impoverished family, offering them money to make the case go away since …

‘Rock and roll dude’ eyes W.H. run  —  Another Republican is eyeing a late entrance into the presidential primary, and his name is not Jeb, Chris, Paul or Rick.  —  It's Thaddeus.  —  In an interview Monday with POLITICO, Michigan Rep. Thaddeus McCotter said he's seriously considering …