The Announcement  —  Yesterday, John Edwards spent the day shoveling, flattening, and recreating Orelia Tyler's yard.  Today, outside that same yard, at 8:03 in the morning, he announced for president.  The speech was more casual than most in the announcement genre, at least in my experience.

Last lunch with a legend  —  Speaks candidly about the WMDs and war in Iraq  —  DAILY NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF … RANCHO MIRAGE, Cal. - Jerry Ford was a politician of rare amiability, but this day he was hopping mad.  —  "They won't let me go in the pool and swim," …

State Department declassifies report on 1973 terror attack in Khartoum  —  WASHINGTON - After 33 years of secrecy, the U.S. State Department has finally declassified a document admitting it knew the late Yasser Arafat, chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization, plotted and supervised …

More Right-Wing Blog Fun with Iraq War E-mails  —  If wishes were e-mails, the Iraq war would be won.  And John Kerry would be friendless.  —  Yesterday we learned via the National Review Online that, at least according to year-old spam, ground troops think the United States is winning the war in Iraq.

Escalating Silence  —  I don't know when Scott Stanzel started working as a White House spokesman, but his rejoinder to Joe Biden's anti-escalation views doesn't make much sense: "I would hope that Senator Biden would wait to hear what the president has to say before announcing what he's opposed to."

Close Adviser to Sadr Dies in U.S.-Iraqi Raid  —  A top deputy of Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr was killed Wednesday during a raid by U.S. and Iraqi troops in the southern holy city of Najaf, sparking protests from Sadr's followers and complicating an already tense relationship with the powerful anti-American leader.

Islamists Seem to Give Up Grip on Somali City  —  The Islamist forces who have controlled much of Somalia in recent months suddenly vanished from the streets of the capital, Mogadishu, residents said Wednesday night, just as thousands of rival troops massed 15 miles away.

G.O.P. Senator in Spotlight After a Critical Iraq Speech  —  At the close of the Senate's lame-duck session, in between formulaic tributes to senators departing voluntarily or otherwise, a Republican backbencher suddenly rose to give one of the most passionate and surprising speeches about the war in Iraq yet delivered in Congress.

CNN On Demand markets sniper video  —  Go to The Return of the Conservatives blog for the story of how TimeWarner Cable's CNN on Demand is marketing the Iraqi sniper video of terrorists targeting American troops.  Notice the category of the video?  "Family."  —  But, you know, don't question their patriotism.

Profile in Decency  —  We were fortunate in 1974, a time of crisis, to have the right person in the right place at the right time.  When the country needed healing, reconciliation and restoration of confidence, Gerald Ford provided it.  —  He was a principled partisan …

Yeas and Nays: Thursday, Dec. 28  —  WASHINGTON - Jeff DuFour and Patrick Gavin cover people, power and politics in the beltway each weekday.  Email them at yan@dcexaminer.com .  —  How to be an A-list Washingtonian  —  Do you want to be the consummate Washingtonian?

The New Pocket Casualty Counter From The Associated Press!  —  Are you freakishly obsessed with the daily casualty count in Iraq?  Do you find yourself disappointed when a day or two goes by and no American soldiers die?  Have you ever been at a cocktail party and said …