Chirac Unfazed by Nuclear Iran, Then Backtracks  —  President Jacques Chirac said this week that if Iran had one or two nuclear weapons, it would not pose a big danger, and that if Iran were to launch a nuclear weapon against a country like Israel, it would lead to the immediate destruction of Tehran.

Audio: William Arkin supports the troops in his own funny little way  —  Here's the man of the hour, playing softball last night with Alan Colmes about the WaPo column heard 'round the blogospheric world.  Well, the right side of the blogospheric world, anyway.  —  N.B.: The clip has been heavily edited.

Biden Unwraps His Bid for '08 With an Oops!  —  In an era of meticulous political choreography, the staging of the kickoff for this presidential candidacy could hardly have gone worse.  —  Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware, who announced his candidacy on Wednesday with the hope …

Senators Unite On Challenge to Bush's Troop Plan  —  Revised Warner Language That Protects Funds Is Embraced for Bipartisan Appeal  —  Democratic and Republican opponents of President Bush's troop-buildup plan joined forces last night behind the nonbinding resolution with the broadest bipartisan backing …

Boston publicity ploy leads to 2 arrests  —  BOSTON - Several illuminated electronic devices planted at bridges and other spots in Boston threw a scare into the city Wednesday in what turned out to be a publicity campaign for a late-night cable cartoon.  Most of the devices depict a character giving the finger.

MATIER AND ROSS  —  AIDE QUITS AS NEWSOM'S AFFAIR WITH HIS WIFE IS REVEALED  —  Campaign manager confronts mayor, who is 'in shock'  —  San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom's re-election campaign manager resigned Wednesday after confronting the mayor about an affair Newsom had with his wife …

Who Will Deliver for Fitz?  —  Wigmore described cross-examination as the "greatest legal invention ever invented for the discovery of truth."  (5 J. Wigmore, Evidence  §1367 (J. Chadbourn rev. 1974.)  Put another way, it's a great tool for ferreting out untruths in the courtroom.

Request for Ideological Comment  —  "As in a church, everyone has an opinion how things ought to run.  Internet users express their opinions through meetings of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF).  The IETF is another volunteer organization...  [Requests for Comment] RFCs are the documents that define the Internet.

Now That a Penny Isn't Worth Much, It's Time to Make It Worth 5 Cents  —  How dumb do you have to be to mint money at a loss?  In the latest only-in-Washington episode, we find that the government may have lost as much as $40 million coining pennies and nickels last year.

Sanchez Accuses Democrat of Calling Her a 'Whore,' Resigns from Hispanic Group  —  Rep. Loretta Sanchez has quit the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, accusing the chairman, Rep. Joe Baca, of telling people she's a "whore."  —  Baca denied the charge.  —  In an interview with The Politico Wednesday …

Decision to Have Baby Isn't Political, Mary Cheney Says  —  Mary Cheney, the lesbian daughter of Vice President Dick Cheney, for the first time yesterday publicly defended her decision to become pregnant and asserted that same-sex couples were equally capable of raising children as heterosexual couples.

Everyone Hates Chris  —  Jurors on the Libby trial are learning many things about the inner workings of unofficial Washington.  Just today they were told that "There are a lot of bureaus in Washington" (from Judy Miller's testimony on intial confusion about where Valerie Plame worked) …

New York Times Reports 4Q Loss of $648M  —  NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Times Co. posted a $648 million loss for the fourth quarter on Wednesday as it absorbed an $814.4 million charge to write down the value of its struggling New England properties, The Boston Globe and the Worcester Telegram & Gazette.

Wherever a Senator's Question Leads, Kissinger Gamely Follows  —  So now it can be told: President Bush has a secret plan to end the war in Iraq.  —  Henry Kissinger, who as Richard Nixon's secretary of state learned something about secret plans, went before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee yesterday …

Syndicated columnist Molly Ivins dies at 62  —  Best-selling author, sharp-witted Texas liberal succumbs to breast cancer  —  Syndicated columnist Molly Ivins poses for a portrait at her home Sept. 22 in Austin, Texas.  She died Wednesday at 62 after a long battle with breast cancer.

Bush Addresses Income Inequality  —  Economic Speech Touches on Executive Pay as Senators Move to Rein It In  —  President Bush acknowledged Wednesday that there is growing income inequality in the United States, addressing for the first time a subject that has long concerned Democrats and liberal economists.

Iraq Restricts Air, Land Passages to Syria, Iran  —  Iraq indefinitely halted all flights to and from Syria and closed a border crossing with Iran as the government prepares for a security crackdown, a parliament member and an airport official said Wednesday, the Associated Press reported.