Gonzales Said To Stonewall a GOP Query  —  Probe of Leaks Are at Center of Inquiries From the Right  —  The top Republican on the House's main investigative committee, Rep. Thomas Davis of Virginia, is charging the Justice Department with stonewalling his inquiries about the FBI's assertion …

Do we really need a Gen. Pelosi?  —  Congress can cut funding for Iraq, but it shouldn't micromanage the war.  —  AFTER WEEKS OF internal strife, House Democrats have brought forth their proposal for forcing President Bush to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq by 2008.

Berger & Libby: A Tale of Two Crimes  —  "History will be kind to me," Winston Churchill once said, "for I intend to write it."  —  Indeed, he did.  His multiple-volume histories of the two world wars are still widely read, though discounted by professional historians as incomplete and in some ways misleading.

Early Primary Rush Upends '08 Campaign Plans  —  The trickle of states moving their 2008 presidential primaries to Feb. 5 has turned into an avalanche, forcing all the presidential campaigns to reconsider every aspect of their nominating strategy — where to compete, how to spend money …

Cancelled Presidential debates smack of manipulation by 'run and hide' candidates  —  AUSTIN (TX) — The cancellation in the past two days of two planned nationally televised debates because of candidates' "scheduling conflicts" and unwillingness to participate smacks of …

Conservatives balk over Giuliani's judges  —  His picks as New York mayor raise doubts over whether he'd put 'strict constructionists' on the high court.  —  WASHINGTON — Rudolph W. Giuliani, in an effort to temper his support for abortion rights and his other socially liberal stances …

Self-proclaimed hustler Eddie Izzard wants to serve dinner, not dessert  —  Eddie Izzard was in his 30s before he became famous as a comedian, but he wanted to be a dramatic actor way back when he was a 12-year-old schoolboy in the U.K.  —  "They did Shakespeare's 'Caesar,' " Izzard, 45, says.

CAIR OK'd to meet in Capitol  —  A House Democrat has arranged for a conference room in the Capitol building to be used tomorrow by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Muslim advocacy group criticized for its persistent refusal to disavow terrorist groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah.

Hagel hasn't tipped his '08 hand  —  A tight-lipped Sen. Chuck Hagel arrived in Omaha from Washington on Sunday afternoon and prepared to make what could be the biggest political announcement of his life.  —  Some Nebraska Republicans speculated that Hagel appeared ready to jump …

Obama, Clinton Sparring Early  —  CLINTON, Iowa — Standing in front of a large banner that blared "Clinton," surrounded by students in Clinton Community College sweat shirts, Sen. Barack Obama offhandedly mentioned the obvious.  —  "Hillary, you know, she's interesting," Obama said …

Fallback strategy for Iraq: Train locals, draw down forces  —  If the current 'surge' fails, planners suggest relying on advisors as the U.S. did in El Salvador in the 1980s.  —  WASHINGTON — American military planners have begun plotting a fallback strategy for Iraq that includes …

France's Chirac bows out, and the race is on  —  Long a fixture in French politics, he confirms he won't seek a third term as president.  A close contest to succeed him is anticipated.  —  PARIS — Setting the stage for a suspenseful presidential race, French President Jacques Chirac announced Sunday …

Who's to Blame for Russia?  —  Who lost Russia?  As the world's biggest country backslides ever more quickly into authoritarianism, the answer you hear increasingly is: the United States.  —  Curiously, you hear it both from Russians, who simultaneously deny that anything bad has happened …

Native American trackers to hunt bin Laden  —  WASHINGTON: An elite group of Native American trackers is joining the hunt for terrorists crossing Afghanistan's borders.  —  The unit, the Shadow Wolves, was recruited from several tribes, including the Navajo, Sioux, Lakota and Apache.

March Madness  —  Public-sector lobbyists lavish gifts on congressmen and their staffers.  The scandal is it's perfectly legal.  —  Capitol Hill is in the grips of "March Madness"—and I don't mean the NCAA basketball playoffs.  "This is also the month that hundreds of lobbyists annually …

Weak Lead-In Programming Takes a Toll on the News Ratings  —  Last year, around the time that CBS agreed to pay an estimated $15 million a year to lure Katie Couric away from NBC, it spent several million dollars more in licensing fees to coax another nationally known television personality …