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.

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.

Report Finds Iran in Breach of U.N. Order  —  In open defiance of the United Nations, Iran is steadily expanding — rather than freezing — its efforts to enrich uranium, the International Atomic Energy Agency reported today.  The findings have prompted the Bush Administration to press …

U.S. troops find chemicals in Iraq raid  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. troops raided a car bomb factory west of Baghdad with five buildings full of propane tanks and ordinary chemicals the military believes were to be used in bombs, a spokesman said Thursday, a day after insurgents blew up a truck carrying chlorine gas canisters.

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 …

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.

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 …

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.

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 …

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 …

Facebook nightmare: College Republican targeted by stalker speaks out  —  ***bumped to the top...updated with police report summary***  —  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 …

Emission trading suffers as carbon prices plummet  —  A leading economist this week warned that the world's two leading carbon trading schemes are failing to deliver the expected benefits due to a collapse in the price of carbon credits - and the situation is likely to get far worse before it gets better.

The Romney Rope-a-Dope  —  The consensus out there in Blogistan is that it's been a bad week for Mitt Romney.  Some more YouTubes have surfaced, people are talking about his history on abortion and his most prominent pro-life backer offered a couple of infelicities during his first go-round with the press.

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 …

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.

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.