• Today’s comic by Jen Sorensen is Pundit retraining:
  
  
• Join us tonight at 8 ET as Jed Lewison liveblogs the latest Republican debate, where the candidates will discuss issues that weigh on the minds of all Americans: Satan, transvaginal probes and whether or not women should have basic health care.
• Who is Ann Romney trying to kid?
  

  Making her pitch for Mitt Romney’s candidacy during stops in conservative corners of Michigan, Ann Romney said Tuesday that her husband was a “little reluctant” about running for president in 2012.

  Mitt Romney has been running for president for (at least) six years—unless he has some other reason for keeping his money in a blind trust after leaving the governor’s office.

• Herman Cain wants to be a kingmaker:
  

  The charismatic former pizza executive is throwing his weight behind a handful of Republican congressional hopefuls who are intent on advancing the conservative platform he espoused — including his signature “9-9-9” tax plan — campaigning for some of them and endorsing others.

  Cain will hit the road this week …

  … where he’ll probably be on the prowl for another woman to sexually harass.

• This is a game-changer—former Louisiana Governor Buddy Roemer is dropping his bid for the 2012 Republican nomination and will run as a third-party candidate.
• Republican Senate candidate Pete Hoekstra is trying to erase all evidence of his racist ad that ran during this year’s Super Bowl:
  

  The controversial spot has been wiped from its YouTube channel, stricken from its Facebook page and there’s no mention of it on the campaign website.

  Even the interviews about the spot have been scrubbed, including Hoekstra’s appearance on Fox News Channel. [...]

  A spokesperson for the Hoekstra campaign did not respond to an inquiry seeking an explanation.

• Ever wondered who the hottest president in U.S. history was? I’ve got to go with Rutherford B. Hayes.
• President Obama sings “Sweet Home Chicago” at a White House event.
• Condolences to family and friends:
  

  American journalist Marie Colvin and award-winning French photographer Remi Ochlik were killed Wednesday in the besieged Syrian city of Homs, opposition activists and a French official said.

• This has to be the best—and by best I mean hilarious—defense by a lawyer for a client caught up in an investigation about a prostitution ring:
  

  A lawyer for Mr. Strauss-Kahn appeared to confirm that he had attended the events, saying that his client would not have been aware if the women who entertained him were prostitutes.

  “He could easily not have known, because as you can imagine, at these kinds of parties you’re not always dressed, and I challenge you to distinguish a naked prostitute from any other naked woman,” the lawyer, Henri Leclerc, told a French radio station, Europe 1, in December.

• They needed to conduct a study to figure this one out?
  

  Men put on their best behaviour when attractive ladies are close by. When the scenario is reversed however, the behaviour of women remains the same. These findings were published February 2, 2012, in the British Psychological Society’s British Journal of Psychology via the Wiley Online Library. [...]

  Dr Iredale said: “The research shows that good deeds among men increase when presented with an opportunity to copulate.

• The opportunity to enter your organization or small company in the Netroots Nation’s 2nd annual “Grab a Booth” contest ends next Tuesday, February 28th. Netroots Nation is giving away six free booths in the Community and Exhibit Hall at NN12 in Providence this June. Enter today!

Daily Kos