Blair defiant over Iraq security  —  Tony Blair has refused to apologise for the security situation in Iraq, saying he bears no responsibility for it.  —  The prime minister told BBC Radio 4 that extremists trying to thwart Iraq's democracy were to blame for attacks.

In Both Parties, 2008 Politeness Falls to Infighting  —  The sun was not yet up yesterday, and members of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign team were confronted with the kind of attack that most infuriates them: one questioning the character of Mrs. Clinton and her husband.

PELOSI CALLS BUSH TO COMPLAIN OF CHENEY'S COMMENTS ON DEMOCRATS' IRAQ STRATEGY  —  WASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday phoned President Bush to air her complaints over Vice President Dick Cheney's comments that the Congressional Democrats' plan for Iraq would "validate the Al Qaeda strategy."

Tom Vilsack's Very, Very Bad Idea  —  I didn't watch the Democratic debate (debates?  This early??), but then I noticed (h/t Atrios and Matt Yglesias) that Jonathan Singer at MyDD wrote this: … Price indexing?  Yikes.  Like Matt, I didn't want to leap to conclusions …

A Lack of Courage In Their Convictions  —  Indiscriminate criticism of President George W. Bush is an infectious disease.  Some conservatives seem to have caught it, but congressional Democrats might be crippled by it.  —  Consider some conservatives' reflexive rejection …

Role Reversal: The White House Press Corps Faces Answers Questions from Tony Snow  —  In what CBS's Bob Schieffer called a "man-bites-dog story," White House press secretary Tony Snow put A-list reporters on the spot Tuesday night, in front of C-SPAN cameras.

Egyptian Blogger Sentenced to Prison  —  ALEXANDRIA, Egypt — An Egyptian blogger was convicted of insulting Islam and President Hosni Mubarak and sentenced to four years in prison on Thursday in Egypt's first prosecution of a blogger.  —  Abdel Kareem Nabil, a 22-year-old former student …

Iraq Insurgents Employ Chlorine in Bomb Attacks  —  A truck bomb that combined explosives with chlorine gas blew up in southern Baghdad on Wednesday, and officials said it might represent a new and deadly tactic by insurgents against Iraqi civilians.  —  It was at least the third truck bomb …

Two accused of plotting terror while in Cleveland  —  Prosecutors: They met man here to train them to aid insurgents in Iraq  —  Thousands of people came to Cleveland in July 2004 for a conference on Muslim families and the challenges they face, but two cousins had other motives in making …

National Guard May Undertake Iraq Duty Early  —  The Pentagon is planning to send more than 14,000 National Guard troops back to Iraq next year, shortening their time between deployments to meet the demands of President Bush's buildup, Defense Department officials said Wednesday.

American Liberty at the Precipice  —  In another low moment for American justice, a federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday that detainees held at the prison camp at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, do not have the right to be heard in court.  The ruling relied on a shameful law …

Obama's Worn-Out Economic Ideas  —  Senator Barack Obama recently said, "let's allow our unions and their organizers to lift up this country's middle class again."  —  Ironically, he said it at a time when Detroit automakers have been laying off unionized workers by the tens of thousands …

REMEMBERING THE INDISPENSABLE MAN  —  Today is the anniversary of the birth of George Washington.  Of all the great men of the revolutionary era to whom we owe our freedom, Washington's greatness was the rarest, the most necessary, and, at this remove in time, the hardest to understand.

Senate illegals bill near complete  —  Senators and lobbyists are putting the final touches on a comprehensive immigration-reform bill that includes an easier citizenship path for illegal aliens and weaker enforcement provisions than were in the highly criticized legislation that the Senate approved last year.

Facebook nightmare: College Republican targeted by stalker speaks out  —  This is Richard Reed Pannell.  He's a student at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, VA. On Saturday, he was minding his own business, taking a shower in this house he shares with classmates...

The One Man Counter-Protest  —  ERIC ODESSIT takes on 300 defeatist protesters in San Diego. … What Eric does next is so simple and elegant, it drives the "artist" nuts. … Ah, so now defeatist protests are considered "art," and passing out flags is "vandalism."  Got it.