Rep. John Murtha dies at 77  —  Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), 77, a Vietnam veteran who staunchly supported military spending and became a master of pork-barrel politics, died today at Virginia Hospital Center following gallbladder surgery last month.  —  Elected to Congress in 1974 …

The six Republican ideas already in the health-care reform bill  —  At this point, I don't think it's well understood how many of the GOP's central health-care policy ideas have already been included as compromises in the health-care bill.  But one good way is to look at the GOP's …

Fox News: Palin's ‘Telepalmer’ Notes Were A Clever Plot To Call Attention To Obama's Teleprompter  —  As ThinkProgress reported on Saturday night, paid Fox News contributor Sarah Palin was caught using “hand"-written notes during a Q & A session at the National Tea Party Convention this weekend.

Meghan McCain Calls Out Tea Party For Racism, On ‘The View’ (VIDEO)  —  WHAT'S YOUR REACTION?  —  Racism in the “tea party” is a why young people are turned off by the movement, according to Meghan McCain.  —  McCain weighed in on recent rhetoric from the group's first convention when she guest hosted “The View” Monday.

America Is Not Yet Lost  —  We've always known that America's reign as the world's greatest nation would eventually end.  But most of us imagined that our downfall, when it came, would be something grand and tragic.  —  What we're getting instead is less a tragedy than a deadly farce.

Times Paterson ‘Exposé’ Will Be ‘PG-13, Not XXX’  —  For days now, buzz has been building that the New York Times was prepping an explosive exposé that would lead to Governor Paterson's swift resignation.  The blog hysteria peaked over the weekend, when Business Insider reported …

75% Are Angry At Government's Current Policies  —  Voters are madder than ever at the current policies of the federal government.  —  A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 75% of likely voters now say they are at least somewhat angry at the government's current policies …

House GOP Medicare Elimination Plan Puts Conservatives in a Pickle  —  It's subscription-only, but Roll Call has a nice little piece by Steven T Dennis about how House GOP budget chief Paul Ryan's plan to balance the budget by eliminating Social Security and Medicare is putting some of his colleagues on the hot seat:

COLLINS STILL CAN'T ADMIT HER MISTAKE.... For reasons that are still unclear, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) has decided to take a leadership role in going after the Obama administration's handling of the attempted Abdulmutallab attack.  So far, this hasn't gone especially well.

Obama Approval on Economy Down, on Foreign Affairs Up  —  Obama does best on education, foreign affairs; worst on the economy, healthcare, and the deficit  —  PRINCETON, NJ — At 36%, Americans give President Barack Obama his lowest job approval rating yet on his handling of the economy.

Gmail, Too, Seeks to Rival Facebook  —  Google Inc. is taking a swipe at Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc. with a new feature that makes it easier for users of Gmail to view media and status updates shared online by their friends.  —  Google could announce the new Gmail feature as soon as this week, said people familiar with the matter.

CNN contributor Erick Erickson: “Ugly feminists return to their kitchens” after Tebow Super Bowl ad  —  From Erick Erickson's Twitter feed:  —  EXPAND ALL EXPAND 1ST LEVEL COLLAPSE ALL

Harry Reid's co-writer unloads while discussing polls, Obama quote  —  Editor's note: Mark Warren, co-author of Harry Reid's “The Good Fight” recently shared his thoughts on Reid's poll numbers, the infamous Obama quote, Republicans and more with “Las Vegas Weekly” editor Scott Dickensheets.

Sarah Palin Needs Help  —  There's something which, if you've ever been in the business of trying to sell consulting services, you've probably grown accustomed to.  It's what I call the “consulting paradox”.  Namely, it's the idea that the people who are most in need of help are often the least aware of it.

America is Not Ungovernable  —  Recently, some analysts have suggested that the lack of major policy breakthroughs in the last year is due to the fact that America has become ungovernable.  Ezra Klein argued that it was time to reform the filibuster because the government cannot function with it intact anymore.

Bachmann's Plan: To Deal With Debt, We Must ‘Wean Everybody’ Off Social Security, Medicare  —  This past weekend, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) addressed the right-wing Constitutional Coalition's annual conference in St. Louis.  She had dropped out of the Tea Party Convention occurring …

Nelson to oppose Becker for NLRB spot  —  Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson (D) on Monday announced he would oppose Craig Becker's nomination to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) — a move that could ultimately scuttle Becker's confirmation indefinitely.  —  Senate Democratic leaders needed …