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 Good morning! Here's what you need to know: 1. The Washington Post reports: "Street clashes erupted and bottles and stones were reportedly thrown at King Abdullah II’s motorcade in a southern town in Jordan on Monday, highlighting festering discontent in the kingdom a day after the monarch made a key concession to protesters demanding democratic change." 2. The Muslim Brotherhood will form a coalition with one of Egypt's oldest liberal parties for the upcoming parliamentary elections. The coalition will be a formidable political force, to say the least. 3. Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati yesterday announced the formation of a new government, dominated by Hezbollah and its allies. With so many members of the new government loyal to Hezbollah, US aid to Lebanon will likely by shut down by Congress. 4. Fears that Syria will descend into sectarian violence and civil war are running high after Syrian army units crushed an uprising against the regime in a small northern town. 5. So far the West has stood on the sidelines and watched as the Assad regime massacres its citizens. This is unlikely to change, as NATO has become an irrelevant and feckless "peace-keeping" organization. 6. Greece's credit rating was downgraded yesterday to the lowest mark -- CCC -- achievable. Greece is now the lowest rated sovereign nation in the world. Default is considered imminent. 7. The Wall Street Journal reports: "Deficit-reduction talks led by Vice President Joe Biden face their biggest test starting Tuesday when the group begins three days of politically sensitive discussions, including a proposal for a government spending cap that is bitterly opposed by the White House." A deal on the debt ceiling seems increasingly out of reach. 8. Seven Republican presidential candidates participated in a debate in New Hampshire last night. Mitt Romney and Michele Bachmann were widely perceived to be the "winners" of the debate. We thought each of the candidates did fairly well. 9. President Obama held a fund-raiser in Miami last night that was low-dollar and under-attended. Less than half of the venue was filled. When you can't sell out a 2200 person hall in a big city with the President of the United States, that's when your people start to get very nervous. 10. President Obama, in an interview with Ann Curry of NBC's Today Show, said that Anthony Weiner should resign. Except he didn't say that exactly. What he said was that if he was Anthony Weiner, he would resign. 11. India, a nation of 1.2 billion people, is searching for a professional hangman. Apparently, experienced hangmen are in short supply. Please follow Politics on Twitter and Facebook. | 
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