Firings Had Genesis in White House  —  Ex-Counsel Miers First Suggested Dismissing Prosecutors 2 Years Ago, Documents Show  —  The White House suggested two years ago that the Justice Department fire all 93 U.S. attorneys, a proposal that eventually resulted in the dismissals of eight prosecutors last year …

The Pelosi Plan for Iraq  —  THE RESTRICTIONS on Iraq war funding drawn up by the House Democratic leadership are exquisitely tailored to bring together the party's leftist and centrist wings.  For the Out of Iraq Caucus, which demands that Congress force a withdrawal of all U.S. troops …

Top U.S. General Calls Homosexuality Immoral: Report  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The chairman of the U.S. military Joint Chiefs of Staff said he backs the Pentagon's ``don't ask, don't tell'' limits on gays serving in the military because he believes homosexual acts are immoral, the Chicago Tribune reported in Tuesday's edition.

General: Al-Sadr's fighters feel heat  —  Coalition forces have detained about 700 members of the Mahdi Army, the largest Shiite militia in Baghdad, the top U.S. commander in Iraq said Monday.  —  The militia, which is loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and has clashed with U.S. troops in the past …

From a Rapt Audience, a Call to Cool the Hype  —  Hollywood has a thing for Al Gore and his three-alarm film on global warming, "An Inconvenient Truth," which won an Academy Award for best documentary.  So do many environmentalists, who praise him as a visionary, and many scientists …

Unity is overrated  —  Calls to 'put politics aside' really mean 'stop disagreeing with me and shut up.'  —  BECAUSE WE'RE AT the start of the electoral roller coaster, the part where the car slowly chugs upward, building anticipation for the gut-wrenching plunges and loop-the-loops ahead …

The McCain Record  —  Arizona's senior senator is not a consistent defender of individual freedom.  —  Political candidates often attempt to burnish their economic policy credentials on the campaign trail.  As part of an effort to provide a fair and thorough analysis of the real economic records …

Dan Rather: Journalism has 'lost its guts'  —  AUSTIN, TEXAS—To longtime CBS broadcaster Dan Rather, American journalism in recent years "has in some ways lost its guts."  —  During his hour-long keynote address at South by Southwest Interactive, Rather opined at length on the state of his profession …

Poll: Cheney's Approval Rating Sinks To 18 Percent; Bush At 34%  —  The big New York Times poll we posted below has a bunch of interesting numbers that we'll be checking out today.  For now, here's a real doozy: Dick Cheney's approval rating is all of 18 percent.

Clinton nabs K St. backers her rivals shun  —  Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) has a network of lobbyists and political insiders three times the size of her closest Democratic rival, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), but many influential party members inside the Beltway are holding back to see how their race plays out.

Letter proves Speer knew of Holocaust plan  —  A newly discovered letter by Adolf Hitler's architect and armaments minister Albert Speer offers proof that he knew about the plans to exterminate the Jews, despite his repeated claims to the contrary.  —  Writing in 1971 to Hélène Jeanty …