Executive Order — National Defense Resources Preparedness  —  NATIONAL DEFENSE RESOURCES PREPAREDNESS  —  By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the Defense Production Act of 1950, as amended (50 U.S.C. App. 2061 et seq.) …

Sen. McCain: Romney ‘improving dramatically’ as a GOP candidate  —  Arizona Sen. John McCain (R) defended Mitt Romney on Sunday, amid concerns the GOP frontrunner is failing to rally the party's conservative base and may fall short of the delegates needed to win the nomination outright.

SAN DIEGO TEA PARTY LEADER ARRESTED FOR KIDNAPPING, RAPE  —  Lemon Grove resident Michael John Kobulnicky, 50, a leader in the San Diego Tea Party and former regional director of the Southern California Conservative Party, is under arrest for allegedly kidnapping and raping a local woman on Fiesta Island.

Mitt Romney calls on Obama to fire ‘gas hike trio’ over rising prices  —  Mitt Romney is ramping up attacks on President Obama over rising gasoline prices by calling for the firing of Obama's Interior and Energy secretaries and the head of the Environmental Protection Agency.

Who Are You Going To Believe, Me Or Your Lying Ears?  —  The NY Times opens a campaign to bring racial justice to Florida.  They may have landed on the right side of the issue, or not.  Their lead:  —  Justice Department Investigation Is Sought in Florida Teenager's Shooting Death  —  By LIZETTE ALVAREZ

Is Elvis a Mormon?  —  TRUST Mitt Romney to be on top of the latest trend of the superrich: the trophy basement.  —  On Friday, The Wall Street Journal reported on the new fashion to look low-key on the outside while digging deep for opulence — carving out subterranean spaces for Turkish baths …

Will Maher Go the Way of Olbermann?  —  David Axelrod's moral-equivalence argument that Limbaugh's smear is worse than Maher's because the former is both more influential and more identifiable with Republican circles is a sad sort of sophistry.  Limbaugh may have a larger audience …

Police Intervene, Arrest Ron Paul Backers at Missouri Caucus  —  Police and organizers shut down proceedings at one of Missouri's largest caucuses today, as Ron Paul supporters feuded with local GOP leaders.  —  “It's like the Hatfields and the McCoys around here,” St. Charles County's …

The Banks Win, Again  —  Last week was a big one for the banks.  On Monday, the foreclosure settlement between the big banks and federal and state officials was filed in federal court, and it is now awaiting a judge's all-but-certain approval.  On Tuesday, the Federal Reserve announced …

Scores Arrested as the Police Clear Zuccotti Park  —  Updated Scores of Occupy Wall Street protesters were arrested on Saturday night as police officers swept Zuccotti Park in Lower Manhattan and closed it.  —  Dozens of demonstrators sat down and locked arms as officers moved in about 11:30 p.m …

Obama celebrates St. Patrick's Day at Capitol Hill Irish pub  —  President Obama celebrated St. Patrick's Day at the Dubliner — a traditional Irish pub just steps away from the U.S. Capitol.  —  Obama was greeted by a raucous (and undoubtedly inebriated) crowd to chants of “four more years,” “USA!