The NRO’s Jonah Goldberg has some Tough Hate for Haiti:

The sad truth about Haiti isn’t simply that it is poor, but that it has a poverty culture. Yes, it has had awful luck. Absolutely, it has been exploited, abused and betrayed ever since its days as a slave colony. So, if it alleviates Western guilt to say that Haiti’s poverty stems entirely from a legacy of racism and colonialism, fine. But Haiti has been independent and the poorest country in the hemisphere for a long time.

Even if blame lies everywhere except among the victims themselves, it doesn’t change the fact that Haiti will never get out of grinding poverty until it abandons much of its culture.

Dude. Six-figure death toll. Bodies buried with bulldozers. No infrastructure left. 1.5 million homeless. “Tens of thousands without access to food, water and medical supplies.”

We don’t care if some of your best in-laws are Haitians. We don’t care what you think about James Cameron. And we really don’t care about how you think that starving, homeless, devastated people should pick themselves up by their bootstraps.

Haiti won’t prosper until it abandons culture of poverty [Jonah Goldberg (syndicated), via Cuthbert]

What is delaying Haiti’s aid? [BBC]

This just in from the home office…

Next Wednesday evening, President Obama will deliver his first State of the Union address. The President will lay out a clear vision of the challenges we face and our national plan to meet them.

Certainly, the path toward change got a bit steeper after Tuesday’s disappointment in Massachusetts. But this movement has persevered before, and Wednesday’s speech is an important opportunity to reconnect, take stock of the road ahead, and continue forward together.

So OFA members will be gathering at State of the Union Watch Parties in living rooms across the country. We’ll huddle on the phone with Obama for America campaign manager David Plouffe, and plan for what comes next.

Can you sign up to host a State of the Union Watch Party?

If you can provide the TV, telephone, and living room, we’ll invite folks in your area to join you. Together we’ll launch the next phase of our work together in your neighborhood — and across the country.

Host a State of the Union Watch Party [Obama for America]

Nancy Pelosi this morning, showing that inspiring leadership we’ve come to expect from the majority party:

“I don’t see the votes for it at this time,” Pelosi said. “The members have been very clear in our caucus about the fact that they didn’t like it before it had the Nebraska provision and some of the other provisions that are unpalatable to them.”

“In every meeting that we have had, there would be nothing to give me any thought that that bill could pass right now the way that it is,” she said. “There isn’t a market right now for proceeding with the full bill unless some big changes are made.”

Hey, we’re no fans of the Senate bill — we’re not that excited about the House bill, for that matter. But it comes down to this: Is the Senate bill better than the status quo? If so, pass it, and fix it later. If not, say as much and start over.

Because unless we’re missing something, those are your only two options. Anything else requires a faith in unicorns that we lost somewhere.

Pelosi: There Aren’t Enough Votes To Pass The Senate Bill [TPM]

Ron Paul, reacting to news that the CIA runs attack drones in Afghanistan and Pakistan, raises Frank Church from the dead:

There’s been a coup, have you heard? It’s the CIA coup. The CIA runs everything, they run the military. They’re the ones who are over there lobbing missiles and bombs on countries… And of course the CIA is every bit as secretive as the Federal Reserve… And yet think of the harm they have done since they were established [after] World War II. They are a government unto themselves. They’re in businesses, in drug businesses, they take out dictators… We need to take out the CIA.

It was nice knowin’ ya, Ron. Say hi to Jack and Hoffa for us.

Ron Paul: After ‘CIA coup,’ agency ‘runs military’ [Raw Story]

Rupert Murdoch’s Post has some distressing news about Rupert Murdoch’s Fox News employee, whose book was published by Rupert Murdoch’s HarperCollins:

In Touch Weekly’s gamble on Sarah Palin didn’t pay off. The magazine paid $100,000 for a cover story on the former Alaska governor and her daughter, Bristol, for the current issue. But, despite Palin’s huge book sales and TV ratings, sources said In Touch sold about 500,000 copies on newsstands, about half the number it sold a few weeks ago with the late Brittany Murphy on the cover.

Maybe politics doesn’t sell supermarket tabloids. Or maybe it has something to do with that CBS poll showing a majority of Republicans don’t want Sarah Palin to run for President. Or maybe only Rupert knows how to make money off America’s most celebrated loser and quitter.

Or maybe printing DANGEROUS PREGNANCY next to a photo of Talibunny and Bristol with their babies wasn’t such a great idea.

Palin mag cover doesn’t sell [NY Post]

Michael Steele:

Steele believes that this race may have limited impact on other states, noting that Republicans still have to “work hard” for every election victory.

“You just can’t stop and think, ‘well OK now we’ll win in Maryland, we’ll win Delaware and we’ll win everywhere in the country because we won in Massachusetts.’ Every place is different,” Steele added.

Senate Democrats:

It is mathematically impossible for Democrats to pass legislation on our own.

Capitulate is derived from the Latin capitulum, or “head.” It’s related to decapitate. Both can be traced to kaput.

Which is about all we’ve seen from Demrats today. When Michael Steele makes the most astute observation on Massachusetts, you know there’s a problem.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie sings Springsteen at his inaugural ball last night, accompanied by the Missus at right, and a son who looks even more miserable than Scott Brown’s daughters at left.

What? There’s something else notable about the photo? We’ll wait until Christie cuts food stamps to, um, weigh in.

[via PromNight]