VIDEO COMPILATION: Anna Nicole Smith And Our National Media Embarassment  —  The death of Anna Nicole Smith yesterday was a feeding frenzy for the national media.  News of the war was drowned out: NBC's Nightly News devoted 14 seconds to Iraq compared to 3 minutes and 13 seconds Anna Nicole.

Bill Donohue Defended Bush Catholic Outreach Staffer Who Was Outed As Sexual Predator  —  During the 2004 presidential campaign, George Bush's Catholic outreach coordinator, 54-year-old Deal Hudson, was outed as a sexual predator for taking advantage of a drunken 18-year old while he was a professor.

Despite condemning itself, Pentagon report sees intelligence problem resolved; Makes no recommendations  —  Raw Story first to acquire report  —  The following is the declassified two page summary of the Office of Special Plans report, as acquired Friday morning by RAW STORY.

Iraq's No. 2 Health Official Is Held and Accused of Financing Shiite Militants  —  Iraqi and American troops arrested the second highest official in the Iraqi Health Ministry on Thursday, charging that he funneled millions of dollars to rogue Shiite militants who kidnapped and killed Iraqi civilians.

An Iraq Interrogator's Nightmare  —  Aman with no face stares at me from the corner of a room.  He pleads for help, but I'm afraid to move.  He begins to cry.  It is a pitiful sound, and it sickens me.  He screams, but as I awaken, I realize the screams are mine.

Undoing Obama: Inside the Coming Effort to Dismantle a Candidate  —  Barack Obama's free ride is ending.  —  The charismatic Illinois senator has enjoyed a lifetime of hagiography, starting with an 800-word story in The New York Times the day after his election as the first black president of the Harvard Law Review.

Rove on immigration: 'I don't want my son to have to pick tomatoes'  —  The Corner at the National Review Online reports that at a Republican luncheon yesterday White House adviser Karl Rove was overheard explaining the Bush amnesty immigration plan by saying, "I don't want my 17-year-old son …

Gates describes Iraq evidence against Iran  —  Info on explosives shows Tehran 'very much involved,' Pentagon chief says  —  German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung, right, and U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates listen to questions from journalists at a NATO gathering Friday in Seville, Spain.

No change in political climate  —  On the day that the latest report on global warming was released, I went out and bought a light bulb.  OK, an environmentally friendly, compact fluorescent light bulb.  —  No, I do not think that if everyone lit just one little compact fluorescent light bulb, what a bright world this would be.

Tucker Carlson on Obama's church: "[I]t's hard to call that Christianity"  —  During the "Obameter" segment on the February 7 edition of MSNBC's Tucker, host Tucker Carlson criticized Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL), a presumptive candidate for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination …

Zogby Road to New Hampshire Poll: Hillary Surges on Campaign Announcement, But Edwards, Obama Lurk in Key States Zogby telephone surveys find tight races in Iowa, New Hampshire, but everyone's support is soft as Jell-o  —  New York Sen. Hillary Clinton received a bounce in her presidential …

You Say "Mean," I Say "Kinda Crazy"  —  I asked yesterday what Rudy Giuliani's awesome national security credentials were supposed to be, and people replied that he seems mean and therefore tough and therefore good.  Jonathan Alter makes an important point about this (via K-Drum) …

Daring to Dream: Why I support R-B in '08  —  In his end-of-year reflections, Jed Babbin captured the mixed sentiments of many conservatives these days—a rueful wound-licking after the November "thumpin'" exacerbated by a bemused distaste for the current crop of 2008 Republican presidential candidates.

Author attacked in S.F. hotel  —  SAN FRANCISCO - In a bizarre attack, a well-known author and Holocaust scholar was dragged out of a San Francisco hotel elevator by an apparent Holocaust denier who reportedly had been trailing him for weeks.  —  Police escorted Elie Wiesel …

House Democrats Reach Accord on Debate Over War Resolution  —  House Democrats agreed yesterday to debate a straightforward, nonbinding resolution that rejects President Bush's plan to send more troops to Iraq, but they will also allow Republicans to bring their own war-related measure to the floor.

Officials report sixth helicopter downing in Iraq  —  BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A helicopter operated by a private security firm came down in Iraq last week, U.S. officials said on Thursday, an incident that marks the sixth downing of a helicopter in three weeks.  —  Reports of the January 31 incident …