Barack Obama furious at General Stanley McChrystal speech on Afghanistan  —  The relationship between President Barack Obama and the commander of Nato forces in Afghanistan has been put under severe strain by Gen Stanley McChrystal's comments on strategy for the war.

Obama quietly tries to shore up Senate support for public option  —  The president has backed off from vocally supporting the idea of government-run healthcare, but he's working to build a coalition of supporters.  The challenge: Find a version that can pass.

The Politics of Spite  —  There was what President Obama likes to call a teachable moment last week, when the International Olympic Committee rejected Chicago's bid to be host of the 2016 Summer Games.  —  “Cheers erupted” at the headquarters of the conservative Weekly Standard …

Why Rupert Murdoch Will Fire Glenn Beck  —  Rupert Murdoch is a smart man.  In the U.K, Murdoch aligns his newspapers with the popular political party and helps them enact their policies by giving them favorable coverage.  For the past 12 years, he supported the Labour Party.

Obama's Copenhagen trip wasn't cheap  —  WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama's failed bid to bring the 2016 Olympic Games to Chicago cost more than a bruised ego.  —  Taxpayers shelled out probably $1 million or more for the president, his wife and others to fly to Copenhagen and back to woo members …

GOP leaders to Steele: Back off  —  GOP leaders, in a private meeting last month, delivered a blunt and at times heated message to RNC Chairman Michael Steele: quit meddling in policy.  —  The plea was made during what was supposed to be a routine discussion about polling matters …

Report on Bailouts Says Treasury Misled Public  —  WASHINGTON — The inspector general who oversees the government's bailout of the banking system is criticizing the Treasury Department for some misleading public statements last fall and raising the possibility that it had unfairly disbursed money to the biggest banks.

Sandra Day O'Connor says rulings are being ‘dismantled’  —  WILLIAMSBURG, Va. — Retired Supreme Court justice Sandra Day O'Connor says she regrets that some of her decisions “are being dismantled” by the current Supreme Court.  —  O'Connor, who generally has avoided questions on the substance …

Some Republican Ideas for Health Care Reform  —  A majority of so-called Republican strategists believe that health care is a Democratic issue.  They are wrong; health care is an American issue, and the Republican Party has an opportunity to demonstrate that conservative principles work when applied to real-world problems.

Obama to Address Gay Rights Organization  —  President Obama will speak to a gathering of gay rights activists this weekend, a day before thousands of people are expected to march on Washington in a demonstration calling for greater legal protections for gays, lesbians and transgendered Americans.

Some thoughts on seeing “Capitalism: A Love Story.”  —  Here's the scene in the lobby at the Sundance Theater as we arrived for the 4:35 showing of Michael Moore's new movie:  —  “Dump ¢apitali$m/Join the Socialists.”  And, indeed, the movie was a big promotion of socialism.

Inequality as Usual  —  Not long ago, liberals were insisting that income inequality was America's most serious economic problem.  —  Now there are more immediate crises: A 9.8 percent unemployment rate, a yawning budget deficit.  But the inequality issue hasn't gone away.

Buyout Firms Profited as a Company's Debt Soared  —  For most of the 133 years since its founding in a small city in Wisconsin, the Simmons Bedding Company enjoyed an illustrious history.  —  Presidents have slumbered on its mattresses aboard Air Force One.  Dignitaries have slept on them in the Lincoln Bedroom.

Hard-Core Free-Marketeer  —  A Conversation With Peter Schiff: Investor, Critic, Candidate … About 5,000 people contributed to this Web site that was set up by a few kids in California.  And then I set up my own exploratory site and said: “Well, you know, I'm thinking about running.

Obama's Meeting With the Dalai Lama Is Delayed  —  In an attempt to gain favor with China, the United States pressured Tibetan representatives to postpone a meeting between the Dalai Lama and President Obama until after Obama's summit with his Chinese counterpart, Hu Jintao, scheduled for next month …

New Yorker Rewrites Economic History  —  People following the financial meltdown would be surprised to read in the New Yorker's profile of National Economic Council Chairman Larry Summers that: “the banks with combined commercial and investment operations fared the best.”  Yeah, Citigroup is doing just great.