Hillary Clinton Says She Wouldn't Have Voted For Iraq War  —  ABC News' David Chalian Reports: As Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton continues to assess a possible presidential candidacy and the contours of a Democratic nomination fight, she has taken another step away from her 2002 vote authorizing President Bush …

White House, Joint Chiefs At Odds on Adding Troops  —  The Bush administration is split over the idea of a surge in troops to Iraq, with White House officials aggressively promoting the concept over the unanimous disagreement of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, according to U.S. officials familiar with the intense debate.

Pentagon Cites Success Of Anti-U.S. Forces in Iraq  —  The Pentagon said yesterday that violence in Iraq soared this fall to its highest level on record and acknowledged that anti-U.S. fighters have achieved a "strategic success" by unleashing a spiral of sectarian killings by Sunni …

Would Legal Marijuana Mean an Excise Tax Bonanza?  —  Today I was supposed to appear on KPCC, an NPR afiliate in Los Angeles, to discuss Jon Gettman's report on marijuana production in the U.S. (mentioned by Dave Weigel earlier today).  In preparation, I started collecting numbers on the fiscal …

Desperation in the White House  —  The power brokers in Washington carefully arranged fig leaves and tasteful screens to cover the emperor's nakedness while he was busy pretending to listen hard to everyone with an opinion about Iraq while hearing nothing.  —  Sometime early in the new year …

Democrats leave Bono disappointed  —  Anti-poverty activist gets no promise of funds  —  Meetings in Washington last Thursday between rock star Bono and Democrats, including Senate leader Harry Reid of Nevada, yielded a nice photo-op but not much else, according to Bono.

Video: "Open Season"; Update: Video banned from honors at YouTube?  —  Anti-jihad nu metal.  I never thought I'd see the day.  —  The band is Stuck Mojo from Atlanta.  The lyrics are here; the guitarist posted some thoughts about the song on his fan site.  You will recognize, and appreciate, the sentiments.

The March to Mecca  —  HELLO EVERYONE.  I know it's been awhile since I've posted, but I've been very busy working on my book and television and web projects.  However, after receiving this press release from the Huffington Post, I had no choice but to return.

Romney against bias to gays despite opposition to gay marriage  —  BOSTON —Gov. Mitt Romney said Monday he opposes discrimination against gays and lesbians despite his ongoing battles to outlaw same-sex marriage in Massachusetts, including a pending lawsuit.

Election Seen as Setback for Iran's President  —  Partial returns from Friday's Iranian elections suggested today that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had experienced a major setback barely over a year after his own election.  —  The victory of a pragmatic politician, Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani …

Please Let It Be Whale Vomit, Not Just Sea Junk  —  MONTAUK, N.Y. — In this season of strange presents from relatives, Dorothy Ferreira got a doozy the other day from her 82-year-old sister in Waterloo, Iowa.  It was ugly.  It weighed four pounds.  There was no receipt in the box.

The Bar Fight Primary  —  When Ronald Reagan announced his Presidential run in 1980, he did it in Philadelphia, Mississippi, the town where three Civil Rights workers were killed.  He faced Jimmy Carter in the general, a conservative white evangelical who had built up the military budget …

American Apparel to Be Sold to Investment Firm  —  American Apparel, the casual clothing chain whose socially-conscious manufacturing, sexually-charged advertising and snug-fitting T-shirts have generated a cult-like following, will be sold to a little-known investment firm for $382.5 million, according to people briefed on the matter.

A War That Abhors a Vacuum  —  THE niceties are up for debate: phased or partial withdrawal from Iraq would entail pulling troops back to their bases across the country, or leapfrogging backward to the nearest international border, or redeploying to bases in nearby countries.

You're A Mean One...  (The Grinch and Elliott Abrams.  Separated at birth?)  —  ***HEADS UP: Per angie in the comments, Flynt Leverett will be on C-Span1 discussing these issues [any time now] [at 12:45 pm ET per C-Span] right this minute, at 12:40 pm ET.  Juan Cole has a call to action …

Prosecutors Drop A.C.L.U. Subpoena in Document Fight  —  Federal prosecutors in New York yesterday withdrew a subpoena to the American Civil Liberties Union that had sought to retrieve all copies of a classified document.  —  In an opaque and defensive four-page letter to the judge in the case …