Mr. Bush Unvarnished  —  PRESIDENT BUSH should hold more news conferences.  In his hour-long exchange with reporters at the White House yesterday, he was considerably more effective in explaining and defending his commitment to the war in Iraq than in the three carefully worded speeches he has delivered in the past week.

Afghan Convert May Be Unfit to Stand Trial  —  KABUL, Afghanistan - An Afghan man facing the death penalty for converting from Islam to Christianity may be mentally unfit to stand trial, a state prosecutor and presidential adviser said Wednesday.  —  Abdul Rahman, 41, went on trial last week in Kabul.

Grants Flow To Bush Allies On Social Issues  —  Federal Programs Direct At Least $157 Million  —  For years, conservatives have complained about what they saw as the liberal tilt of federal grant money.  Taxpayer funds went to abortion rights groups such as Planned Parenthood to promote birth control …

Late Nite FDL: Aw Shucks, Brady, You Shouldn't Have  —  Update: They are having some fun with Bughouse Ben already over at the post.blog.  Ben seems to be yet another home school Intelligent Design afficionado, a barking Yellow Elephant, and as Red Dan mentioned, the blogger "Augustine" over at Red State Racists.

Called by God to Help  —  I'VE received a lot of criticism for stating last month that I would instruct the priests of my archdiocese to disobey a proposed law that would subject them, as well as other church and humanitarian workers, to criminal penalties.  The proposed Border Protection …

Myth-making and excuse-making on the Feingold Resolution  —  In order to generate further support for the Feingold Censure Resolution, numerous bloggers are encouraging everyone to pay an actual physical visit to their Senators' local offices in order to urge support for censure.

Fears grow over new Dubai revolt  —  By Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Washington and James Boxell in London  —  Arab and US officials are growing nervous at the prospect of a second congressional uprising against the acquisition of American assets by a Middle Eastern-controlled company in the wake of the Dubai Ports World debacle.

Assessment of President Bush's optimism  —  MARGARET WARNER: So just how realistic was the president's assessment today of the situation in and prospects for Iraq?  We get two views of that from two former national security officials with bipartisan credentials.

I Am Very Worried About 2006  —  The Democratic primary in the IL-06 was not supposed to be close.  I travel to DC often these days (in fact, I am about to leave for DC now), and from everyone I had talked to down there, I was told more or less the same thing: Duckworth will win this primary, and win it huge.

U.S. Officials Concerned Iran and Al Qaida are Cooperating  —  The Los Angeles Times reports U.S. intelligence is trying to determine what relationship, if any, there is between the Iranian leadership and the known Al Qaida leaders that reside in the nation.

Iraqi Cameraman for CBS Faces Trial  —  An Iraqi cameraman working for CBS News when he was wounded and detained by the U.S. military will be tried next month, CBS officials said Wednesday.  —  Abdul Ameer Younis Hussein's trial was scheduled to begin Wednesday, but an Iraqi judge postponed …

Blagojevich to face Topinka  —  Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich accepted his party's nod for re-election Tuesday and will face Judy Baar Topinka, who took advantage of a split among conservatives to win the Republican nomination for governor.  —  The primary election was notable for its low voter turnout …

To Hell with the "To Hell With The 'To Hell With Them' Hawks" Hawks  —  Just kidding there — actually, making the point that "The 'To Hell With Them' Hawks" is a really clunky way of identifying a faction.  It used to be said of the mathematician Camille Jordan, whose papers were famously unreadable …

No Breach Seen in Work in Iraq on Propaganda  —  WASHINGTON, March 21 — An inquiry has found that an American public relations firm did not violate military policy by paying Iraqi news outlets to print positive articles, military officials said Tuesday.  The finding leaves to the Defense Department …

Blair is right  —  For a long while, since his speech in Chicago in 1999 in fact, it has been clear that Tony Blair's foreign policy is based upon internationalist-interventionism and since September 11 he has been one of the few political leaders who has fully grasped the real nature of Islamist terrorism.

U.S., Iraqi Forces Capture 50 Insurgents  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq - Insurgents attacked a police station Wednesday for a second day in a row, but U.S. and Iraqi forces captured 50 of them after a two-hour gunbattle.  —  About 60 gunmen attacked the police station in Madain, south of Baghdad …

POLITICAL INSIDER: Legislature 2006: Poll: Reed a drag on GOP ticket  —  A tough race for Sonny could be even tougher with Reed at his side.  Or so sayeth the pollster.  —  On Monday, pollster Matt Towery raised Republican blood pressure with the news that President Bush's approval ratings in Georgia had dropped significantly.

Exposing The Machinery Of The Corporate Right  —  Up in Wyoming, the local Casper Star-Tribune decided to take a look at the machinery that pushes conservative laws in the state's legislature.  Many here at MyDD may be well aware of ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council …

Microsoft to Delay Next Version of Windows  —  Microsoft's long effort to deliver the next version of its Windows operating system suffered another setback yesterday when the company said that the system would not be ready for consumer personal computers for the holiday sales season.

Sackcloth and Ashes: What's Wrong With Infanticide?  —  [Note: Sackcloth and ashes were a sign of deep mourning, among other things, in the Torah...nowadays, there are plenty of reasons to bring them back.  When we run across those reasons, we'll feature them in a continuing series, of which this is the first installment.]

Eta declares permanent ceasefire  —  The Basque separatist group Eta has declared a permanent ceasefire.  —  Eta is blamed for killing more than 800 people in its four-decade fight for independence for the Basque region of northern Spain and south-west France.

My McCain 2008 PRO & CON Analysis  —  PROS:  —  1. Has always been fiscally responsible, voting against pork, excessive spending, etc.  He is currently working with Sen. Coburn to highlight each individual earmark.  —  2. Has consistently favored higher defense spending …

Perfessor  —  The Columbia Journalism Review called Dick Polman one of the nation's top political reporters.  Jules Witcover called him "one of the best of the political reporters who have succeeded my own generation."  —  Now you can call him "perfessor."  —  And say goodbye, sort of.