Person of the Year: You  —  Yes, you.  You control the Information Age.  Welcome to your world.  —  The "Great Man" theory of history is usually attributed to the Scottish philosopher Thomas Carlyle, who wrote that "the history of the world is but the biography of great men."

Officials: Edwards to enter 2008 race  —  WASHINGTON - Former Democratic vice presidential nominee John Edwards intends to enter the 2008 race for the White House, two Democratic officials said Saturday.  —  Edwards, who represented North Carolina in the Senate for six years …

A Mideast Counteroffensive  —  IRANIAN President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad presided over a convention of Holocaust deniers in Tehran this week, rousing them with yet another speech predicting the extinction of Israel.  In Lebanon, the pro-Western government of Fouad Siniora hung by a thread …

Americans Open to New Kinds of Candidates  —  AMERICANS ASSERT their readiness for new kinds of presidential wannabes.  —  In new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll, eight in 10 Americans would be "comfortable" or "enthusiastic" about an African-American or woman running for president.

'We're Going to Win'  —  The president finally has a plan for victory.  —  It turns out you only have to attend a White House Christmas party to find out where President Bush is headed on Iraq.  One guest who shook hands with Bush in the receiving line told him, "Don't let the bastards get you down."

Up Escalator  —  Bill Richardson uses the "e" word and calls out St. John: … Yes, yes, yes.  If Bush does what he'd like to do, which is send in more troops, then this will no longer be Bush's war —  it's McCain's war too and he needs to have it strung around his neck like a neocon albatross.

Legal System in Iraq Staggers Beneath the Weight of War  —  In 2004, American troops detained Laith al-Ani, shown in a family photo.  He sent his family a letter, above, from his detention camp, but they say they do not know why he is still held.  More Photos >

Funding Threatened By Hill's Inaction  —  Government Operations, Projects in Peril  —  The Republican-controlled Congress's decision to adjourn a week ago before completing many of the spending bills that finance the federal government will reverberate in ways large and small …

Things are coming to a head  —  Surging Troops?  —  If we add another 30,000 or so troops to Iraq, in a final effort to win the war, then we must change (widen) the rules of engagement.  Only that way can America ensure that it simply does not create more targets for the insurgents …

In Farewell, Rumsfeld Warns Weakness Is 'Provocative'  —  Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld bade farewell to the Pentagon on Friday with a combative valedictory speech in which he warned against hoping for "graceful exits" from Iraq and said it would be wrong to regard the lack of new attacks …

Prosecutor post is filled in recess  —  A surprise late-afternoon announcement Friday that J. Timothy Griffin will become the new U. S. attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas drew the ire of U. S. Sen. Mark Pryor, whose spokesman said the maneuver amounts to "basically circumventing the normal process."

Publisher behind O.J. Simpson book fired  —  NEW YORK - Extra!  Extra!  The press release arrived with a headline worthy of Rupert Murdoch: HARPERCOLLINS TERMINATES JUDITH REGAN.  So ended, at least for now, one of the book world's most profitable and provocative careers.

Not Going to Happen  —  Yglesias: … Indeed.  I don't know why it seems like inhabitants of a certain corner of the blogosphere seem be the only ones who understand this, though I suppose people are finally starting to get it.  I imagine Bayh dropped out in part because he recognized that the Iraq bed isn't going to uns**t itself.