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," …

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.

Declassified State Department Document: Arafat Responsible for Storming of Embassy and Murder of Americans in 1973  —  The State Department has finally admitted (document has just been declassified) that Arafat was behind the 1973 murder of two Americans in Sudan by the Black September terrorist group.

N.C. Bar Files Charges Against Duke D.A.  —  RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - The North Carolina bar filed ethics charges Thursday against the prosecutor in the Duke lacrosse case, accusing him of saying misleading or inflammatory things to the news media about the athletes under suspicion.

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.

Many soldiers say troop surge a bad idea  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq - Many of the American soldiers trying to quell sectarian killings in Baghdad don't appear to be looking for reinforcements.  They say the temporary surge in troop levels some people are calling for is a bad idea.

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.

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."

Reading, writing & wrangling  —  Among the top headline-grabbers this year in education news:  —  The Spellings commission: Seeking accountability in higher ed  —  A commission created by Education Secretary Margaret Spellings urged an overhaul of U.S. higher education.

Farewell, Billmon?  —  Looks like somebody made a New Year's resolution that will make us all a little sad.  The deservedly legendary Billmon posted the picture above at the Whiskey Bar late last night.  —  Granted, he's made some cryptic/melodramatic exits before that (thankfully) …

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.

Analysis: Arabian Medicis  —  When King Abd al-Aziz — also known as Ibn Saud — died in 1953, he left 44 sons and uncounted daughters by 17 wives.  He used to break up the monotony of daylong cabinet meetings with intimate interludes selected from a catalogue that contained pictures of over 600 concubines.

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 …