It's never been about Palestine  —  The anti-Mubarak revolution won't only topple an authoritarian regime.  It will also topple 40-plus years of wrong-headed thinking about the causes of Middle East instability among the world's foreign-policy cognoscenti.  —  In that view, the horrible …

Barack Obama braces for Jon Huntsman 2012 bid  —  The White House expects Jon Huntsman, the U.S. Ambassador to China, to resign his post this spring to explore a bid for the Republican presidential nomination, top Democrats said.  —  GOP allies of Huntsman have already begun laying plans …

The Kochs vs. Soros: Free markets vs. state coercion  —  Palm Springs, California -At the front gates of the Rancho Las Palmas resort, a few hundred liberals rallied Sunday against “corporate greed” and polluters.  They chanted for the arrest of billionaires Charles and David Koch …

Americans Believe GOP Should Consider Tea Party Ideas  —  Half of Republicans are Tea Party supporters; 5% are “opponents”  —  PRINCETON, NJ — About 7 in 10 national adults, including 88% of Republicans, say it is important that Republican leaders in Congress take the Tea Party movement's positions …

Al Jazeera camera equipment seized  —  Camera equipment remains seized after release of six Al Jazeera journalist who were briefly detained in Cairo.  —  Six Al Jazeera English journalists, who were briefly detained in Egypt, have been released, however; their camera equipment remains confiscated by the military.

DCCC picks 19 early GOP House targets  —  The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) has pegged its first GOP targets of the 2012 cycle, launching radio and Web ads in the districts of 19 House Republicans this week.  —  Democrats need to pick up 25 House seats to win back the majority in 2012.

Obama adviser turns sights to 2012 campaign  —  WASHINGTON — President Obama's re-election campaign will be launched this spring so it can begin building on advances in social media to target voters and start raising even more money than the record-breaking sums of 2008, senior adviser David Axelrod says.

Losses at Afghan Bank Could Be $900 Million  —  KABUL, Afghanistan — Fraud and mismanagement at Afghanistan's largest bank have resulted in potential losses of as much as $900 million — three times previous estimates — heightening concerns that the bank could collapse and trigger …

‘Mega protest’ planned in Egypt  —  Opposition movement calls for one “million people demonstration” on Tuesday in a bid to topple president Hosni Mubarak.  —  Egyptian protesters have called for a massive demonstration on Tuesday in a bid to force out president Hosni Mubarak from power.

Threat Of Muslim Brotherhood Running Egypt As An Anti-American Muslim State Is A Myth  —  Mohamed ElBaradei, a leading voice of Egypt's opposition, told Fareed Zakaria on CNN that the American conservative fear put forth by people like John Bolton and Thaddeus McCotter that the Muslim Brotherhood …

House Republicans Plan to Redefine Rape  —  Drugged, Raped, and Pregnant?  Too bad — Republicans are Pushing to Limit Rape and Incest Cases Eligible for Government Abortion Funding  —  Rape is only really rape if it involves force, according to the new House Republican majority as it now moves to change abortion law.

Recent decisions amount to a dressing down for 9th Circuit  —  Sometimes the Supreme Court simply decides cases and sometimes it seems to have something bigger in mind.  In the past two weeks, it has been in scold mode, and its target has been the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit.

Syria Strongman: Time for ‘Reform’  —  DAMASCUS—Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who inherited a regime that has held power for four decades, said he will push for more political reforms in his country, in a sign of how Egypt's violent revolt is forcing leaders across the region to rethink their approaches.

US judge may escalate battle over healthcare reform  —  * Ruling marks major challenge to federal authority  —  * Judge may seek to invalidate law, order injunction  —  A Florida judge could on Monday become the second U.S. judge to declare President Barack Obama's healthcare reform law unconstitutional …

Reports: Egyptian and Tunisian riots were driven in part by the spike in global food prices - Food prices were driven up by extreme weather and high oil prices … That's from the NPR story today, “Rising Food Prices Can Topple Governments, Too.”  —  This summer's extreme global weather raised fears of a …