Democrats Struggle To Seize Opportunity  —  News about GOP political corruption, inept hurricane response and chaos in Iraq has lifted Democrats' hopes of winning control of Congress this fall.  But seizing the opportunity has not been easy, as they found when they tried to unveil an agenda of their own.

IRAQ: THE UNTOLD TRUTHS  —  AMONG the many positive stories you aren't being told about Iraq, the media ignored another big one last week: In the wake of the terrorist bombing of the Golden Mosque in Samarra, it was the Iraqi army that kept the peace in the streets.

Wal-Mart Enlists Bloggers in Its P.R. Campaign  —  Brian Pickrell, a blogger, recently posted a note on his Web site attacking state legislation that would force Wal-Mart Stores to spend more on employee health insurance.  "All across the country, newspaper editorial boards …

Shiites Try to Block Start of Parliament Amid New Violence  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq, March 7 — The struggle to get the country's sclerotic political process inching forward ran into a new complication today, as Shiite politicians sought to block the new parliament from holding its first meeting on Sunday.

Survey Says  —  Let the exchange of trade and ideas with Iran begin.  —  The most touching remark I heard during my time in Iran last year was from a woman in the wonderfully beautiful city of Isfahan.  (It is just outside this cultural treasure house that the mullahs have chosen to place one of their mountain-dugout nuclear sites.)

House Conservatives Prepare Austere Alternative Budget  —  WASHINGTON, March 6 — With Congress heading into a politically perilous budget season, influential House conservatives plan this week to propose an austere alternative spending plan that would pare more than $650 billion over five years …

Bush Weaves Rug Story Into Many an Occasion  —  President Uses His Oval Office Floor Covering as a Metaphor for Optimism and Leadership  —  Nothing says power like the Oval Office.  The paintings of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.  The bust of Dwight D. Eisenhower.  The desk used by both Roosevelts.

Bombings in India Raise Fear of Sectarian Violence  —  NEW DELHI, March 7 — A series of apparently coordinated bombs went off in the ancient Hindu holy city of Benares in eastern India this evening, raising the specter of sectarian violence.  —  The first bomb exploded at the Sankat Mochan temple shortly …

SINGLE-PAYER HEALTHCARE....Ed Kilgore responds to my angry post about the DLC's wonkish 7-point healthcare plan with this: … Here's my guess: in private, I'll bet all of these gentlemen do acknowledge that a simple single-payer national healthcare plan is the best policy.

Soft Europe  —  Is the Continent willing to fight for anything, besides a welfare check?  —  After two years of disastrous dialogue, and more of the same in recent days, we can conclude that no diplomatic initiative can stop Iran from getting the bomb.  The International Atomic Energy Agency meets again …

Still Evolving, Human Genes Tell New Story  —  Providing the strongest evidence yet that humans are still evolving, researchers have detected some 700 regions of the human genome where genes appear to have been reshaped by natural selection, a principal force of evolution, within the last 5,000 to 15,000 years.

South Dakota Bans Abortion, Setting Up a Battle  —  Gov. Michael Rounds of South Dakota signed into law the nation's most sweeping state abortion ban on Monday, an intentional provocation meant to set up a direct legal challenge to Roe v. Wade, the 1973 United States Supreme Court decision that made abortion legal.

Vicar who can't forgive steps down from pulpit  —  A vicar whose daughter was killed in the London bombings has resigned because she finds it hard to forgive the men who carried out the suicide attacks.  —  The Rev Julie Nicholson, priest-in-charge of St Aidan with St George church, Bristol …