Press Conference by the President  —  THE PRESIDENT: Thanks for coming in on an icy day.  I have just finished a conversation with General David Petraeus.  He gave me his first briefing from Iraq.  He talked about the Baghdad security plan.  It's the plan that I described to the nation last January …

Murtha and the Democrats: A new low  —  Disgusting. … If they do what they're apparently planning to do, "slow bleed" will be a very apt description.  Those doing the bleeding, slowly, will be US troops. … This is the strategy of a corrupt, dishonorable man.  Yes, I realize I'm talking about a former Marine.

Fox News Channel bombs with comedy show  —  Jon Stewart knows how to do slashing comical commentary.  He weighs in on what's happening, such as the media's bizarre coverage of Anna Nicole Smith's death.  —  David Letterman knows how to do slashing comical commentary.

Mahdi army commanders withdraw to Iran to lie low during security crackdown  —  Senior commanders of the Mahdi army, the militia loyal to the radical Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, have been spirited away to Iran to avoid being targeted in the new security push in Baghdad, a high-level Iraqi official told the Guardian yesterday.

America's view of Republicans crumbles in Iraq  —  According to the latest Gallup survey, Republican self-identification has declined nationally and in almost every American state.  Why?  The short answer is that President Bush's war of choice in Iraq has destroyed the partisan brand Republicans spent the past four decades building.

Why Al Gore Won't Let the Rumors Die  —  It's too much to say that Al Gore has decided to run for President in 2008.  —  But it does seem that he wants to preserve the option.  —  Certainly, the recent buzz about a possible Gore campaign in 2008 doesn't seem to be spontaneously generated.

TERRORISM....A recent post from Glenn Reynolds about how we ought to be responding to Iran has been batted around quite a bit in the past few days.  Here's Glenn: … I imagine a lot of people agree with Glenn, but his recommendation really demonstrates the moral knot caused by George Bush's insistence …

Question:  —  I applaud your efforts to introduce Muslims to the west in a comedic manner.  I truly believe that we need to use humor to diffuse the pervasive negative image we face in the media.  —  I find, however, that in many chat rooms Muslims are up in arms over little aspects …

MELLENCAMP: U.S. SHOULD NOT RESPOND TO 9/11 OR PEARL HARBOR  —  Singer John Mellencamp on the 'Charlie Rose Show' said the removal of the Taliban after 9/11 was wrong, but further Mellencamp stated if the United States knew exactly where Osama bin Laden was it would be wrong to drop a bomb on OBL's head.

On TV: 'News War' probes a media under siege  —  Frontline's timeliness is usually impressive.  As I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby's perjury trial is in full swing, the PBS news series brings us "News War," a four-part examination of the challenges the news industry faces in an era of consumer backlash and secretive government.

I'm Spartacus.  —  Shakespeare's Sister has announced that she is bowing out of the Edwards campaign.  —  Needless to say this is a very sad and sobering development.  —  And needless to say that she is doing it with orders of magnitude more grace and élan than either …

Bush: Who Cares if Iran Ordered EFP Attacks?  —  The Iran innuendo continues.  In his press conference today, President Bush said that the U.S. knows "with certainty" that the EFPs coming in from Iran for attacks on U.S. forces originate with the Qods Forces — a branch of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Candidates Find A New Stump In the Blogosphere  —  Nearly a year before the first caucuses and primaries take place, the 2008 presidential campaign advertising war is under way online.  —  Candidates of both parties are already buying space on search engines, blogs and other Internet sites popular …

Protector of the free world deserves better  — Anti-Americanism has a long pedigree, but that only makes it more irrational, writes Janet Albrechtsen  —  BY all means unfurl the banners, dust off the placards and prop up the distorted effigies of George W. Bush.

Conscience and Soul  —  Reading through the interview with Vanderslice, who is one of the religious left political consultants, there's plenty I agree with.  I do agree that Democrats should reach out to religious voters and it's something they've been bad at doing, though they've been pretty bad …