Pentagon Review Sees Three Options in Iraq  —  More Training of Iraqi Troops a Likely Focus  —  The Pentagon's closely guarded review of how to improve the situation in Iraq has outlined three basic options: Send in more troops, shrink the force but stay longer, or pull out, according to senior defense officials.

Kerry: Botched Joke Won't Affect 2008  —  Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry insisted on Sunday his "botched joke" about President Bush's Iraq policy would not undermine a possible White House campaign in 2008.  —  "Not in the least," Kerry, the Democratic presidential nominee in said when asked …

Will the West Stumble?  —  What a stupid question.  By any benchmark of economic prosperity, military power, and political stability, Western civilization—in the United States, Europe, and the former British Commonwealth—has never been stronger.  Globalization has become a euphemism for Westernization …

Fox News Channel preps right-leaning satire  —  Fox News Channel might air two episodes of a "Daily Show"-like program with a decidedly nonliberal bent on Saturday nights in late January, with the possibility that it could become a weekly show for the channel.

Why Does the Non-Southern Strategy Drive People Batty?  —  It is increasingly clear to me that either my non-southern strategy argument causes people to take leave of their senses (particularly their mathematical abilities), or they simply refuse to accept compelling and mounting evidence as fact.

Return to Ramadi  —  U.S. forces have made progress in one of the toughest cities in Iraq.  —  Operation Phantom Fury, the U.S. assault on Falluja in Iraq's Al Anbar Province in November 2004, is widely perceived as the greatest coalition victory against Iraq's insurgent and terrorist forces.

'Free to lose' isn't good philosophy for the right wing  —  If Milton Friedman had to die, then a week after the defeat of a Republican Congress that had apparently forgotten every lesson Friedman taught in Free To Choose is eerily apt timing.  As it happens, had ill health not intervened …

Preferences Forever?  —  The University of Michigan's president does her best George Wallace impersonation.  —  Michigan voters struck a blow for equality this month, when 58% of them approved an amendment to the state constitution banning racial discrimination in public universities and contracting.

CRITICS TO KICK RUDY PATOOTIE  —  NY FOES TARGET 'AMERICA'S MAYOR' IMAGE  —  Some of Rudy Giuliani's fiercest city critics are set to launch "swift boat"-type strikes to inform voters around the nation about the former mayor's behavior before 9/11, The Post has learned.

BREAKING: VandeHei, Harris Leave Washington Post To Start New, Multimedia News Venture  —  And Capitol Leader, as you thought you knew it, is not what it used to be.  —  Some of you may have looked at Capitol Leader's decision to push back their publication launch as, well, a sign that they may not have had their act together.

Kissinger Says Victory in Iraq Is Not Possible  —  Former Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger, who regularly advises President Bush on Iraq, said today that a full military victory was no longer possible there.  He thus joined a growing number of leading conservatives openly challenging …

Republicans plot to bring down Pelosi ... and Clinton with her  —  New Speaker's embarrassing week has made it easier for her opponents to attack  —  Republican strategists plotting their party's comeback after it lost control of Congress have identified the "first lady" …

"Kramer's" Racist Tirade — Caught on Tape  —  WARNING: WHAT YOU ARE ABOUT TO SEE IS PROFANE AND RACIAL  —  Michael Richards exploded in anger as he performed at a famous L.A. comedy club last Friday, hurling racial epithets that left the crowd gasping, and TMZ has obtained exclusive video of the ugly incident.

Padilla Case Raises Questions About Anti-Terror Tactics  —  Treatment in Brig Could Hinder His Prosecution  —  After he was arrested in 2002, Jose Padilla was considered so dangerous that he was held without charges in a military prison for more than three years — accused first of plotting a radiological …

Anti-War Activists Plan 'Global Orgasm For Peace'  —  (CBS/AP) SAN FRANCISCO Two peace activists have planned a massive anti-war demonstration for the first day of winter.  —  But they don't want you marching in the streets.  They'd much rather you just stay home.

The Kid With All the News About the TV News  —  TOWSON, Md. — When people in the television news business want to find out what's going on in their industry, they turn to a blog called TVNewser.  But while the executives obsessively checking TVNewser are mostly high powered and highly paid …