• Might as well try to use your momentum. The Republicans, still smarting from the health care loss, have used the opportunity to turn GOP.com into this atrocity of a Web site seemingly designed to reflect the anger of whoever designed it. Art is emotion, of course, but Nancy Pelosi behind a fire-heavy background may be a bit much. source

• “Alice” had a good first week, and hasn’t done bad, but it’s not epic. Tim Burton’s latest big-budget hit, which also uses the spectacular 3D technology of “Avatar” (though not as well), looked like it was on the way to a similarly epic run for a couple of weeks. But while it did good this week, it’s now clear that it’ll just be a big hit, not an epic one.

“Alice” in her third weekend

• 45% dip in box-office receipts in weekend three source

• $116M “Alice in Wonderland’s” box-office take after its first weekend
• $209M “Alice’s” second-week mark; receipts dipped 46 percent
• $265M its third-week tally; it managed to stay on top despite competition

“Avatar’s” first three weeks

• 9.8% dip in “Avatar” in its third weekend source

• $77M where “Avatar” stood after its snow-marred first weekend
• $212M “Avatar” after weekend two; it was a huge hit during the week, even
• $352M after its third weekend, it was over halfway to “Titanic’s” $600 million

Why the diverging paths?

• » Did the snow help “Avatar” build staying power? Director James Cameron miraculously had a movie with a similar box-office run to his previous film, “Titanic.” Part of that may have been due to a huge snowstorm which slammed the East Coast in its first weekend, keeping demand for the movie high when the snow was eventually cleared.
• » Blow up, then fade: One of the major differences between “Alice” and “Avatar” is that “Alice” had a more traditional path to success, one that most blockbusters have followed in the last decade. The much-hyped movie with the big first weekend often fades quickly. Some exceptions exist – “The Dark Knight,” for example, came out of the gate quicker than “Avatar” did and had some staying power, but faded by its fifth week. The secret to an “Avatar”-style run? Slow and steady wins the race.

• Now Google suddenly wants to break its promise, and if it’s not satisfied it will criticize China for a worsening of the investment environment. This is entirely unreasonable. What has changed is not China’s investment environment. It is Google itself.
• Chinese official media source Xinhua • Regarding Google’s decision to move out of the Chinese market (a decision reported by the Financial Times today but not formally announced). To a degree, they’re totally correct. Yeah, Google changed. They decided that they couldn’t do censorship anymore, and were optimistic they could get China to bend for them. Not so much. source

• 10% boost in tax refunds,
  Joe Biden sez source

• Missed/didn’t care about yesterday? The Huffington Post put together this great video of the highlights of the epic evening in D.C. They should’ve put it to to Pachelbel’s Canon just for effect. In other news, the person who who called Bart Stupak a “baby killer” last night is having his identity protected by his Republican peers. “Members have a right to make an idiot of themselves once without being exposed,” said Rep. Dave Obey, who knows who said it. Oh boy. source

• At a time when Americans foremost wanted action on jobs and the economy, they were given an unconstitutional mandate that fundamentally expands the power of government. The real winners are insurance companies and big pharma.
• FreedomWorks chairman Dick Armey • Regarding the problems he sees with the health care bill. Armey, one of dozens of voices in a chorus of political voices the New York Times put together after the vote, stands out because he ended his quote with this ominous statement: “This debate is far from over, and will be a critical issue come November.” Armey, by the way, is one of the leading behind-the-scene guys in the tea party movement, so his words should leave Democrats scared. source

• The House now tackles reconciliation. Obama’s signature legislation, now headed to his desk, is just one part of the deal. The second part is another bill that takes on the changes to the bill through reconciliation. The House is tackling that now, and that heads to the Senate later this week. But not without a little bit of contention to make things exciting. source

• 219 votes in favor; can we move on now, guys? source

• They stood strong. They stood on the principle of a belief. And I’m proud of them.
• Michigan Rep. Bart Stupak • At a press conference regarding the deal he made with a number of other congressmen to block funding for abortion in the final bill. Dude stood by his principles and won. Gotta give him credit for that at least. This bill’s likely going to pass tonight, as the vote count is now safely over the magical 216 needed for passage. Interesting political theater today. source