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 …

Gen. Pace calls homosexuality immoral  —  WASHINGTON - The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Monday he considers homosexuality to be immoral and the military should not condone it by allowing gay personnel to serve openly, the Chicago Tribune reported.

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 …

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.

What's So Funny?  Well, Maybe Nothing  —  So there are these two muffins baking in an oven.  One of them yells, "Wow, it's hot in here!"  —  And the other muffin replies: "Holy cow!  A talking muffin!"  —  Did that alleged joke make you laugh?  I would guess (and hope) not.

Captain America, RIP  —  As a superhero, he changed along with the country.  —  Last Wednesday morning, while most people kibitzed about Scooter Libby over their morning coffee, Captain America was murdered on the steps of the federal courthouse in New York.

When No News Is Strange News  —  The 19th-century German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel was a giant in the field of logic.  The 21st-century philosopher Chuck Hagel?  Not so much.  —  The Republican senator from Nebraska, flirting with a 2008 presidential run, scheduled …