US plans last big push in Iraq  —  Strategy document calls for extra 20,000 troops, aid for Iraqi army and regional summit  —  President George Bush has told senior advisers that the US and its allies must make "a last big push" to win the war in Iraq and that instead of beginning …

Rep. John Murtha defends his ethics  —  "Hardball" host Chris Matthews asks Murtha about leadership, Iraq, ethics … Host of 'Hardball'  —  In his first interview since reportedly calling a Democratic bill on lobbying and ethics "total crap," Rep. John Murtha told "Hardball" …

What Trent Lott Brings to the Party  —  Analysis: The election of the once disgraced politician as the number two Senate Republican may mean that the G.O.P. has no intention of getting along too well with the new party in power  —  To some observers, the choice of Trent Lott as the new number …

Sectarian Strife in Iraq Imperils Entire Region, Analysts Warn  —  BAGHDAD — While American commanders have suggested that civil war is possible in Iraq, many leaders, experts and ordinary people in Baghdad and around the Middle East say it is already underway, and that the real worry ahead …

O. J. Simpson Writes a Book He'll Discuss on Fox TV  —  O. J. Simpson, who was acquitted 11 years ago in the 1994 death of his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald L. Goldman has written a book and will appear on television telling "how he would have committed the murders …

Larry King Admits He's Never Used The Internet: 'Do You Punch Little Buttons and Things?'  »  —  Last night CNN's Larry King confessed to Roseanne Barr that he's never used the Internet.  King expressed doubt that the Internet was a viable political medium because "there's 80 billion things on it."

Comrade Webb  —  When I came to Washington in the early 1980s, Jim Webb was best known as a vociferous spokesman for the movement to scrap the design for the Vietnam War Memorial — or, as he and his fellow protestors called it, "the wall of shame."  He was the prototypical Angry Vietnam Vet …

Election signals decline of old school liberalism  —  It's more glacial shift than radical revolution, but change is afoot in the Democratic Party. … In a low point in Democratic Party history, Pennsylvania Gov. Bob Casey was banned from speaking at the 1992 Democratic Convention for being opposed to abortion rights.

Still Not the News: Stations Overwhelmingly Fail to Disclose VNRs  —  A follow-up multimedia report on television newsrooms' continuing use of fake news provided by PR firms  —  Diane Farsetta and Daniel Price, Center for Media and Democracy  — Video footage of 33 video news releases …

Soldier pleads guilty in Iraq rape and killings  —  FORT CAMPBELL, Kentucky (AP) — One of four U.S. soldiers accused of raping and killing a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and killing her family, pleaded guilty Wednesday in a Kentucky military court.  —  Spc. James P. Barker also agreed to testify …

Some grumble over choice of Martinez to head GOP  —  Sen. Mel Martinez was tapped for the top job at the Republican National Committee, spurring complaints from conservatives who fear he will push for relaxed immigration laws.  —  lclark@MiamiHerald.com  —  WASHINGTON - A week after Republicans …

Whither The GOP?  —  After the midterm elections, many of us hoped that the Republican Party would return to conservative First Principles in an attempt to recapture the energy that propelled them to majority status in 1994.  Refocusing on the bedrock principles of limited government …