Rand Paul Explains His Surprise Vote For Chuck Hagel  —  “The president gets to choose political appointees,” Paul says.  —  Image by Gary Cameron / Reuters  —  WASHINGTON — Kentucky Senator Rand Paul said his support for a filibuster against Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel never meant that he would vote against Hagel's confirmation.

Liberal Super PAC Goes After Mitch McConnell's ‘Chinese’ Wife  —  A Democratic group is under sharp criticism for controversial online messages about Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell's wife.  —  For months, the liberal super PAC Progress Kentucky has attacked McConnell and held demonstrations at his offices and home.

No CPAC Invite for Christie Because of ‘Limited Future’ in Republican Party  —  New Jersey governor Chris Christie was not invited to address the Conservative Political Action Conference because of his position on gun control, according to a source familiar with CPAC's internal deliberations who requested anonymity to speak freely.

Boehner tells Senate to ‘get off their ass;’ Reid says GOP ‘sitting on their posterior’  —  A salty Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Tuesday told members of the Senate to “get off their ass” and pass a bill to replace $85 billion in across-the-board spending cuts, setting off an exchange with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.).

Wave of Immigrants Released Ahead of Automatic Budget Cuts  —  In a highly unusual move, federal immigration officials have released a wave of detainees from immigration detention centers around the country in an effort to save money as automatic budget cuts loom in Washington, officials said.

The Republican Sequestration Plan  —  Whether or not you agree with it, and whether or not it will work, President Obama's strategy on sequestration is perfectly obvious.  His goal is to end the automatic budget cuts, which he regards as stupidly constructed and likely to harm the economy …

Bachmann: 'I didn't get anything wrong'  —  The Congresswoman touts her flawless run for the presidency and love of Beyonce  —  Tea Party Rep. Michele Bachmann has been laying low since last November's election when she came dangerously close to losing her House seat, possibly in preparation …

Apple Joins Morgan Stanley to Back Gay Marriage at Supreme Court  —  Dozens of companies, including Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Morgan Stanley (MS), are planning to urge the U.S. Supreme Court to legalize same-sex marriage nationwide, saying bans in 41 states harm workplace morale and undermine recruiting.

Caltech Physicist: If All Science Were Run Like Marijuana Research, Creationists Would Control Paleontology … In the face of obstacles to marijuana research from both the Drug Enforcement Administration and the National Institute on Drug Abuse, a theoretical physicist at the California Institute …

GOP Seen as Principled, But Out of Touch and Too Extreme  —  Images of the Parties: A Closer Look  —  OVERVIEW  —  At a time when the Republican Party's image is at a historic low, 62% of the public says the GOP is out of touch with the American people, 56% think it is not open to change and 52% say the party is too extreme.

Why Everything Republicans Are Saying About The Sequester Is Wrong  —  Barring a last minute Congressional compromise, $85 billion in automatic across-the-board cuts will go into effect in the next 72 hours as a result of the sequester mechanism included in the 2011 Budget Control Act.

ABC defends editing Michelle Obama's ‘automatic weapon’ claim … ABC is defending its decision to edit out an apparently erroneous claim by Michelle Obama in its broadcast of the first lady's interview on Good Morning America today, saying it made the changes “solely” for the sake of time.

Food issues polarizing America  —  In this highly polarized political climate Democrats and Republicans can't even agree about food.  —  Democrats are the party of bagels (34%) and croissants (32%) while Republicans prefer to eat donuts (35%).  —  Democrats like KFC better than Chick Fil A …

Kerry defends liberties, says Americans have “right to be stupid”  —  (Reuters) - Secretary of State John Kerry offered a defense of freedom of speech, religion and thought in the United States on Tuesday telling German students that in America “you have a right to be stupid if you want to be.”

9th Circuit judges split over anti-Bush protest  —  Over an impassioned dissent signed by eight judges, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Tuesday rejected the Obama Administration's request that the court reconsider a ruling favoring demonstrators who sued the Secret Service …