Bomb Iran  —  Diplomacy is doing nothing to stop the Iranian nuclear threat; a show of force is the only answer.  —  WE MUST bomb Iran.  —  It has been four years since that country's secret nuclear program was brought to light, and the path of diplomacy and sanctions has led nowhere.

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.

Rep. Rangel Will Seek to Reinstate Draft  —  A senior House Democrat said Sunday he will introduce legislation to reinstate the military draft, asserting that current troop levels are insufficient to sustain possible challenges against Iran, North Korea and Iraq.

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 …

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.

'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 …

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.

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" …

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 …

The 'Confession'  —  An illiterate double-murder's killer book.  —  Just thinking aloud here, but what do you suppose the reaction of Fox News and the Murdoch press would be if Black Entertainment Television had commissioned a lucrative tie-in for O.J. Simpson, and had sat …

A Somber Annual Meeting for Conservative Lawyers  —  For the last 20 years, the Federalist Society, a conclave of conservative lawyers, has steadily flourished, even when there was a Democrat in the White House.  But the recent election results, along with increased partisan bitterness …

Time for a Heavier Footprint  —  More American troops are needed to break the cycle of violence in Iraq.  —  General John Abizaid, the commander of U.S. Central Command and the man with overall statutory responsibility for conducting the war in Iraq, testified last week in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

112 die in Iraq as bloodbath continues  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq - Syria's foreign minister called Sunday for a timetable for the withdrawal of American forces to help end Iraq's sectarian bloodbath, in a groundbreaking diplomatic mission to Iraq that comes amid increasing calls for the U.S. to seek cooperation from Syria and Iran.

YES, THINGS CAN GET WORSE....After running through all the options available to us in Iraq and acknowledging that they have little chance of succeeding, Suzanne Nossel briefly raises a point that gets nowhere near enough attention: … Conventional wisdom tacitly assumes that the worst …

Dems Take Aim at Oil Company Tax Breaks  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democrats are targeting billions of dollars in oil company tax breaks for quick repeal next year.  A broader energy proposal that would boost alternative energy sources and conservation is expected to be put off until later.