Operation Baghdad Has Started!  —  Minutes after nighttime curfew began in Baghdad at 9 pm we saw breaking news on al-Hurra and al-Jazeera saying that Baghdad's security operation has just started.  —  The news says the first operation is currently underway in Azamiyah in the northeastern part of the city.

Libby Speaks on Tape, but May Not in Court  —  The jurors deciding the perjury case against I. Lewis Libby Jr. listened to his voice on audiotape for hours on Tuesday as his lawyers quietly explored a surprise strategy, keeping him off the witness stand, that would ensure that the jurors never hear his voice in person.

FRC President: Giuliani 'Far Outside the Mainstream of Conservative Thought'  —  This just in to The Brody File.  I received the following response from Tony Perkins on what he thinks about Rudy Giuliani's chances to be the next President of the United States.  Let me put it this way: he's not thrilled.

GOP Views Clinton As Virtually Unbeatable  —  What many conservatives regard as the nightmare scenario — President Hillary Rodham Clinton — is increasingly seen by veteran Republican politicians and strategists as virtual inevitability.  —  In GOP circles, the Democratic front-runner is seen as so strong …

Haggard says he's not gay  —  The Rev. Ted Haggard emerged from three weeks of intensive counseling convinced he is "completely heterosexual" and told an oversight board that his sexual contact with men was limited to his accuser.  —  That is according to one of the disgraced pastor's overseers …

My Six-Point Reaction to Joe Klein's Seven-Point Response  —  I agree with Joe Klein's assessment that there are "far more important things going on in the world" than a clarification of his position on the war in Iraq.  But I can't resist reacting to his seven-point response to my post on him:

JOHN EDWARDS' HEALTHCARE PLAN....John Edwards' new healthcare proposal is, basically, an individual mandate (everyone is required to get health insurance coverage somehow) combined with community rating (private insurers have to take all comers, regardless of medical condition) and government subsidies …

Military Wants More Civilians to Help in Iraq  —  Senior military officers, including members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have told President Bush and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates that the new Iraq strategy could fail unless more civilian agencies step forward quickly to carry out plans …

Lawmaker: U.S. sent giant pallets of cash into Iraq … WASHINGTON (Reuters) — The Federal Reserve sent record payouts of more than $4 billion in cash to Baghdad on giant pallets aboard military planes shortly before the United States gave control back to Iraqis, lawmakers said Tuesday.

Astronaut Charged With Attempted Kidnapping  —  A NASA astronaut who drove hundreds of miles to confront a romantic rival, wearing diapers on the journey so that she would not have to stop to use the restroom, appeared in court today after being arrested on attempted kidnapping and other charges.

Demonization and Responsibility  —  I've been making my way through the mail and online comments I've received in response to my columns last week.  —  The many e-mails I've gotten privately from people serving in the military are, not surprisingly, the most respectful and reflective.

Obama trying to quit smoking—again  —  After struggling to quit smoking in the past, Sen. Barack Obama is trying a cessation aid not available over the counter: public attention.  —  Obama (D-Ill.) resolved to quit his cigarette habit over the winter holidays, just weeks …

Glorious Jihadi Linkage  —  Wow, in what's sure to be a first for the history of Snapped Shot, I'm, well, proud to announce that one of the photographs in our cache has officially been included in an online article over at al Jazeera, the Voice of the Jihadis.

McCain Campaign Staff and Bloggers: The Lovers' Quarrel Conference Call  —  All right, so some would argue that McCain and the bloggers have never had enough of a relationship to qualify the current disagreements as "lovers' quarrels," but the call and the conversation the campaign staff is starting to have is a bit, "baby, come back.

Exasperated House bypasses Senate on Iraq  —  Representatives schedule their own vote to oppose Bush's troop 'surge'  —  WASHINGTON - House leaders got fed up with waiting around for the Senate to act and decided Tuesday to go ahead with their own vote on a resolution opposing President Bush's plan to add 21,500 U.S. troops in Iraq.

Democrats Should Force the Republicans to Physically Filibuster  —  Remember Mr. Smith Goes to Washington?  When Jimmy Stewart had to stand and keep talking until he passed out.  Ah, the good old days of filibustering.  Well, I think the Democrats should bring that back.

Popular Teen TV Show To Claim Morning-After Pill Can Cause A Miscarriage  —  Tonight, the CW network will air an episode of Veronica Mars that is based on misleading right-wing claims about contraception.  The show is about a young woman named Veronica Mars, who is both a college student and a part-time private investigator.

Dear Senator Clinton, we all lived through 9/11, thank you very much.  PS Iraq has nothing to do with 9/11.  —  A lot of folks didn't notice that Hillary gave an interview last week about Iraq that read like George Bush at his worst.  Not only did she lecture Democratic voters about how Iraq …

To Help Iraq, Let It Fend for Itself  —  THE sooner President Bush can get his extra troops for a "surge" in Iraq, the sooner he will be able to announce that all American troops are coming home because of the inevitable failure of the Iraqi government to "live up to its side of the bargain."