Presenter: Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld and Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Peter Pace  —  DoD News Briefing with Secretary Rumsfeld and Gen. Pace  —  SEC. RUMSFELD: Come on in, folks.  Good morning.  —  Last week I had the privilege of visiting the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library …

Election - Year Politics Shadow Ports Issue  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — Congressional Democrats are using the uproar over an Arab company's planned takeover of some U.S. port operations to paint Republicans as faltering on the GOP's signature issue — national security — and accuse them of ignoring port safety in the past.

Child Killing Law Challenged in South Dakota  —  Now this is worth blogging about.  —  Governor Mike Rounds is directly challenging the judge-made law known as Roe v. Wade by banning all abortions in South Dakota.  —  In case you were asleep during Social Studies classes, the Supreme Court …

Senate Panel Rejects Proposal to Probe Eavesdropping (Update1)  —  March 7 (Bloomberg) — The U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee rejected a proposal to investigate the Bush administration's program of conducting electronic eavesdropping without warrants, while agreeing to create new congressional panels to increase oversight.

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.

Cheney: Iran Faces 'Meaningful Consequences' if It Doesn't Curb Nuclear Program  —  Vice President Cheney threatened Iran today with "meaningful consequences" if it fails to cooperate with international efforts to curb its nuclear program.  —  "For our part, the United States is keeping …

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.

S. Arabia to host Israel boycott event  —  Despite a promise made to Washington last November to drop its economic boycott of Israel, Saudi Arabia plans to host a major international conference next week aimed at promoting a continued trade embargo on the Jewish state, The Jerusalem Post has learned.

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.

From 'Three's Company' to two's a crowd  —  BEVERLY HILLS — Seventies icon Suzanne Somers was strolling into Vanity Fair's Oscar party at Morton's when she vanished in the Madonna glare.  —  Somers had just stepped onto the red carpet when a bloodcurdling cry erupted from the paparazzi behind the barricades.

Good night and get lost!  Chris Matthews exhumes McCarthy  —  One of our favorite titles for a CD is NPR's "Driveway Moments" — referring to stories so good you won't leave the car even when you've reached where you're going.  We'd like to release a CD of some of the things we hear …

8,000 desert during Iraq war  —  At least 8,000 members of the all-volunteer U.S. military have deserted since the Iraq war began, Pentagon records show, although the overall desertion rate has plunged since the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001.  —  Since fall 2003, 4,387 Army soldiers …