Video: UPI's Pentagon reporter says media is ignoring consequences of withdrawal  —  You've read the Instapost, now watch the video.  Takeaway: "[I]f as a reporter you do ask the national security question, all of a sudden you're carrying Bush's water."  —  Exit question: Is Bush about to repeat …

NAMES & FACES  —  It all started with a simple video rental.  Who knows where it will end?  —  Potomac Video store clerk Charles Williamson, 28, posted a message on his blog, Freelance Genius, Dec. 23 that described how he set up a movie rental account for MSNBC host Tucker Carlson at the MacArthur Boulevard store the day before.

Chuck Hagel Smacks Lieberman: Questions his competency  —  Chuck Hagel plastered Holy Joe on Meet the Press this morning and it's about time somebody called him on his garbage.  Lieberman got on his soapbox and tried to tell us that Bush's implementation of the McCain Doctrine is our only hope …

Obama's charm lost on America's black activists  —  HE is a media darling, a paparazzi target and a source of inspiration for millions of Democrats who dream of retaking the White House in 2008.  But Senator Barack Obama, the charismatic African-American who is shaking up the presidential primary race …

We can't surrender to the doves  —  Anti-war liberals turned out to be right about Iraq, but they shouldn't necessarily be regarded as foreign policy sages.  —  I DON'T WANT to accuse American doves of rooting for the United States to lose in Iraq because I know they love their country and understand the dire consequences of defeat.

IS FOX SET TO BLOW THE NUKES ON '24'?  —  As Washington continues to raise concerns about terror threats on The Homeland — a recent CIA report outlined a scenerio of possible "series of explosions using 'low charge' nuclear weapons" — Hollywood and FOX-TV are set to up the ante with the new season of 24!

Terror: 'We're Going to Get Hit'  —  Intel director john Negroponte gave Congress a sobering assessment last week of the continued threats from groups like Al Qaeda and Hizbullah.  But even gloomier comments came from Henry Crumpton, the outgoing State Department terror coordinator.

"SURGE" MATH  —  Fred Kagan, writing on 12/04/06: … Fred Kagan (w/ Keane) writing on 12/27/06: … Just around 3 weeks between the two articles, and Kagan goes from 80,000 (or 50,000*, see below) to 30,000 as to what's needed to secure Baghdad (as Frank Rich quips in today's NYT, "whatever")!

The Best We Can Hope For  —  NOBODY will quibble with President Bush's line Wednesday night that in Iraq, "Victory will not look like the ones our fathers and grandfathers achieved; there will be no surrender ceremony on the deck of a battleship."  —  Of course, that calls to mind …

Picking Up the Pieces  —  It was surreal how disconnected President Bush was the other night, both from Iraq's horrifying reality and America's anguish over this unnecessary, mismanaged and now unwinnable war.  Indeed, most Americans seem far ahead of the president.

Mahdi Army lowers its profile, anticipating arrival of U.S. troops  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq - Mahdi Army militia members have stopped wearing their black uniforms, hidden their weapons and abandoned their checkpoints in an apparent effort to lower their profile in Baghdad in advance of the arrival of U.S. reinforcements.

Nice work, if you can get it  —  Jacob Hacker's Health Care for America plan, as summarized by Ezra KIein: … Yes, that includes prescription drugs.  And the price is right: … I'm (1) enthusiastic and (2) skeptical.  It sounds great; in fact, it sounds too good to be true.

Why Europe Abandoned Israel  —  Why is Israel viewed so differently in Europe than in the United States?  To argue as the title of this article does, that Europe has abandoned Israel, is to suggest that it was once in its corner.  And in fact, this is true.

The Imperial Presidency  —  Why is the United States poised to try Jose Padilla as a dangerous terrorist, long after it has become clear that he was just the wrong Muslim in the wrong airport on the wrong day?  —  Why is Washington still holding hundreds of detainees at Guantanamo Bay …

Cheney on Fox News: Criticism of War Plan Undercuts Troops — And Iran, Watch Out  —  NEW YORK Appearing on Fox News this morning, VicePresident Dick Cheney said that attempts to stem President Bush's new Iraq plan, announced this week, were undercutting U.S. troops in Iraq.

DESCENT INTO HELL  —  This article originally appears in The American Thinker  —  "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here!"  —  (Inscription above the Gates of Hell from Dante's Inferno)  —  Tonight, 16 million TV viewers will make themselves as comfortable as possible on the edge …