On Scene: How Operation Swarmer Fizzled  —  Not a shot was fired, or a leader nabbed, in a major offensive that failed to live up to its advance billing … Four Black Hawk helicopters landed in a wheat field and dropped off a television crew, three photographers, three print reporters …

Please Show Your Work  —  Ryan Lizza claims: … On the second point, the main question is what exactly the evidence is that Feingold's censure resolution will make it more difficult to take back the Senate in '08.  Is the censure proposal unpopular?  Does it draw attention away …

Pentagon hired contractor to advise on collecting information on churches, mosques, other U.S. sites - 3/17/2006 07:38 PM EST  —  WASHINGTON - A Pentagon intelligence agency that kept files on American anti-war activists hired one of the contractors who bribed former Rep. Randy "Duke" …

Senate passes funeral-protest bill 58-1  —  Only Sen. Becky Lourey, mother of a fallen soldier, dissented.  The bill may go to a conference committee.  —  With a lone dissenting vote from Sen. Becky Lourey, the Senate approved restrictions Thursday on funeral protests such as one that marred …

U.S. Senate primary could be a plus  —  Ned Lamont, take a bow.  By challenging Joseph Lieberman for the Connecticut Democratic Party's nomination for U.S. senator, Mr. Lamont is encouraging a debate that his party and this state need to have.  —  This is not to suggest that Mr. Lamont …

Abramoff's sentencing delayed to further cooperation  —  Judge approves motion sought by federal investigators  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — A federal judge Friday delayed sentencing of Jack Abramoff, a move the prosecutors requested to further the former lobbyist's cooperation with their investigation.

DISCLAIM THIS  —  So, the MSM is slowly picking up on the historic release of thousands of documents from Saddam Hussein's archives.  But not without making a concerted effort to downplay and undermine the story.  Readers are calling attention to the disclaimers included in this ABC News story.

Can we have investigations NOW?  —  On tonight's Countdown, Keith Olbermann had a short segment with GW Law School Professor, Jonathon Turley in which they discussed an upcoming report in U.S. News & World Report that says the White House has used the same justification for warrantless wiretaps …

Cited as Symbol of Abu Ghraib, Man Admits He Is Not in Photo  —  In the summer of 2004, a group of former detainees of Abu Ghraib prison filed a lawsuit claiming that they had been the victims of the abuse captured in photographs that incited outrage around the world.

House GOP Leader Well Traveled  —  House Majority Leader John A. Boehner (Ohio), who rose to power in the wake of a congressional lobbying scandal, spent the equivalent of nearly six months on privately funded trips over the past six years, according to a new study by a nonpartisan research group.

Judges Overturn Bush Bid to Ease Pollution Rules  —  WASHINGTON, March 17 — A federal appeals court on Friday overturned a clean-air regulation issued by the Bush administration that would have let many power plants, refineries and factories avoid installing costly new pollution controls …

Welcome to Spend City  —  There is no specific mention of a "Vote-a-Rama" in the Constitution, which is probably because the Framers could not have imagined what happened in the Senate yesterday: The chamber's 100 members gathered and, in a frenzy of legislative activity, did their darnedest to empty the Treasury.

Why we hate Duke  —  As NCAA tourney gets going, exploring why we are so blue-deviled  —  Love is simple.  —  Hate is complicated.  —  Love gets all the good press — it's noble, it's life-affirming, it inspires us to transcend the limits of human capacity to touch a higher sphere …

Boehlert statement: "It's Time"  —  Two people for whom I have the utmost respect influenced what I am about to say.  Both are well known, one a most talented and effective public servant, and other a baseball great.  —  In January 2005 I sent a personal note to then Secretary of State Colin Powell …

United Press International … NEWSTRACK: Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has asked Nigeria to return former strongman Charles Taylor.  A registered sex offender accused of raping two 17-year-old girls in an underground dungeon was arrested Friday near his South Carolina home.

NPR Survey: Republicans Lose Ground on Foreign Policy, National Security; Opportunity for Democrats  —  Greenberg Quinlan Rosner and Public Opinion Strategies  —  "...in this poll, when asked which party they trust more on issues such as the Iraq war, foreign ownership of U.S. ports …