U.S. Set to Join Iran and Syria in Talks on Iraq  —  American officials said Tuesday that they had agreed to hold the highest-level contact with the Iranian authorities in more than two years as part of an international meeting on Iraq.  —  The discussions, scheduled for the next two months …

African American Voters Shift Support to Obama  —  The opening stages of the campaign for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination have produced a noticeable shift in sentiment among African American voters, who little more than a month ago heavily supported Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton …

Asian, European markets drop for 2nd day  —  TOKYO - Chinese stocks bounced back Wednesday after their biggest decline in a decade, but stock markets elsewhere in Asia and Europe fell for a second day amid investor jitters about possible slowdowns in the Chinese and U.S. economies.

Glenn Greenwald, Thomas Ellers, and Rick Ellensburg: The Three Most Hypocritical Men on the Planet  —  A suicide bomber apparently tried to kill Dick Cheney, and many commenters at the Huffington Post lamented his lack of success.  The offending comments have been removed from the post in question, but you can read some of them here.

Democrats Back Away From War Fund Plan  —  WASHINGTON — House Democratic leaders are backing away from a plan to scale back U.S. involvement in the Iraq war by using Congress' most powerful tool _ withholding money in the budget.  —  Instead, party officials said Tuesday …

Former CIA Operative Weighs in on Afghan War; Kerik Weighs in on NYC Terror Threats; Expert: Photos Reveal Father of Anna Nicole`s Baby  —  THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT.  THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.  —  GLENN BECK, HOST: Coming up, Vice President Cheney was the target of a suicide attack.

Two GOP Factions May End Feud in Favor of Fighting Democrats  —  Now that Republicans are in the minority in Congress, a pair of dueling GOP organizations that fund congressional candidates may be reaching a détente of sorts, as they embrace the shared goal of reclaiming the majority in 2008.

Seixon No More  —  I'm done.  —  Blogging here has been an interesting adventure since I started back in April 2005.  After 350 posts, 150 trackbacks, 10,000 comments (geez!), several e-mails from Larry Johnson, and one gig on a radio show, it's time to put this baby down.

An Editor's Confession: I'm the Source of 'Slow Bleed'  —  With a mixture of pride and remorse, I have a confession: I am the author of the Democratic Party's "slow-bleed strategy" for ending the war in Iraq.  —  I had nothing to do with the details of the plan that Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.) floated two weeks ago.