The Obama Messiah Watch  —  INTRODUCING A PERIODIC FEATURE CONSIDERING EVIDENCE THAT OBAMA IS THE SON OF GOD.  —  Is Barak Obama—junior U.S. senator from Illinois, best-selling author, Harvard Law Review editor, Men's Vogue cover model, and "exploratory" presidential candidate …

Beyond Baghdad  —  Since President Bush announced that he would send more American troops to Iraq, the debate on Iraq policy has reached new levels of stridency.  Opponents of the war have rallied against what they see as an unjustified escalation, while the administration has dismissed opposition as defeatism.

Senate Multimillionares Vote To Block Minimum Wage Hike  —  After repeated delays by conservatives, the Senate voted 87-10 today to end debate on legislation that will raise the minimum wage for the first time in a decade, from $5.15 to $7.25.  The bill will move to a full vote in the next several days.

FAQ - John Edwards' New House!  —  1) Why should I care about John Edwards' new house?  —  Well, it's quite a house.  28,000 square feet of magnificent splendor located in one of North Carolina's most fashionable counties.  This isn't a McMansion we're talking about here.  This is the real deal - A Mansion!

Libby Live: Judy One  —  Ground rules: not a court reporter.  Limit refreshes, but not refreshments.  Shameless commerce: buy this.  —  Fitz in his seersucker-esque taking a drink of water, looking through his notes.  —  Here she comes.  White shirt, big lapels.  No glasses.

GOP senator challenges Bush on war powers … WASHINGTON (AP) — A Senate Republican on Tuesday directly challenged President Bush's declaration that "I am the decision-maker" on issues of war.  —  "I would suggest respectfully to the president that he is not the sole decider," Sen. Arlen Specter …

U.S. missile defense maturing, latest test a success  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Within a year, the U.S. missile defense system should be able to guard against enemy attacks, while testing new technologies, the deputy director of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency said on Monday.

Bush Says Missing '-ic' Was an Oversight  —  President Bush says the missing "-ic" in the State of the Union address was nothing more than an oversight.  —  Near the beginning of the speech last week, Bush congratulated "the Democrat majority" for its electoral victory …

Equipment For Added Troops Is Lacking  —  New Iraq Forces Must Make Do, Officials Say  —  Boosting U.S. troop levels in Iraq by 21,500 would create major logistical hurdles for the Army and Marine Corps, which are short thousands of vehicles, armor kits and other equipment needed to supply the extra forces, U.S. officials said.

Lara Logan & al Qaeda: What's the 411, CBS?  —  First, read this heart-rending appeal from Lara Logan complaining about CBS News refusing to air one of her Haifa Street reports, which highlighted a masked "Haifa Street resident" who "blamed the fighting on the U.S. Here's a screen shot of her source:

The Ba-Da-Boom Crew  —  If you've been following the Lewis "Scooter" Libby perjury trial, I can understand how you might confuse Dick Cheney with Tony Soprano.  Cheney's office is beginning to sound a lot like the Bada Bing, minus the dancers.  —  Court has been in session for only a week …

Unfilled tunnels a weak link at border  —  Key points are plugged in U.S. and Mexico, but smugglers may still try to reuse the passages  —  SAN DIEGO — Seven of the largest tunnels discovered under the U.S.-Mexico border in recent years have yet to be filled in, authorities said …

McCain Flip Flops, Now Says He Would Not Consider Redeployment Under Any Scenario  —  In a recent interview with The Politico, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said that if his escalation strategy for Iraq fails, then he would consider redeployment: … It didn't take long for McCain to backtrack from redeployment.

How Mitt Romney Avoided Campaign-Finance Rules  —  Federal law limits how much money individuals can give to presidential candidates — $2,300 per election.  But what about Compuware Inc. founder Peter Karmanos?  Last year, he gave $250,000 to presidential aspirant and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

GAZE IN THE MILITARY  —  MCCAIN-CLINTON LOVE-IN AT BASE  —  WASHINGTON - Looks like things are getting serious in the race for the White House - seriously lovey-dovey, that is.  —  Judging from this photo, the spirit of bipartisan cooperation appeared to be alive and well yesterday between …

Baker agrees reluctantly to testify on Iraq  —  James A. Baker III, the co-chairman of the Iraq Study Group, has ended weeks of resistance and today will testify before Congress on the war, avoiding a split with his fellow co-chairman, former Rep. Lee Hamilton (D-Ind.).

Blogging Gone Wild: Open Government or Gotcha Politics?  —  Video Blogging Threatens the Peace of Virginia's State Legislature  —  The Virginia State Legislature may be the oldest statehouse in the United States, but the minority Democratic Party is using modern video technology …

We're very proud, bomber's family declares  —  The mother of Muhammad Faisal Saksak, the 21-year-old suicide bomber who carried out Monday's attack in Eilat, said she was aware of her son's plan to blow himself up and that she had wished him "good luck."  —  Dozens of Palestinians …

Missteps by Iraqi Forces in Battle Raise Questions  —  Iraqi forces were surprised and nearly overwhelmed by the ferocity of an obscure renegade militia in a weekend battle near the holy city of Najaf and needed far more help from American forces than previously disclosed, American and Iraqi officials said Monday.

GOP Right Sees Lemons in White House Race  —  Contemplating the current field of Republican presidential candidates, Rush Limbaugh sounded like a man with malaise.  —  "To be honest with you, there's nobody out there that revs me up," he confessed to his audience of several million conservative sympathizers …