Gonzales Draws Strong Criticism of Prosecutors  —  Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales endured blunt criticism Tuesday from federal prosecutors who questioned the firings of eight United States attorneys, complained that the dismissals had undermined morale and expressed broader grievances …

Democrats say McCain nearly abandoned GOP  —  Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) was close to leaving the Republican Party in 2001, weeks before then-Sen. Jim Jeffords (Vt.) famously announced his decision to become an Independent, according to former Democratic lawmakers who say they were involved in the discussions.

Purged: A Q&A with Former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias  —  Last December, U.S. Attorney David Iglesias, along with seven of his colleagues, was "asked" to resign.  The move was a head-scratcher: Only ten US Attorneys had been fired mid-term since 1982—and of those ten, eight were for completely justifiable reasons.

Video: Rove raps at correspondents dinner.  —  At tonight's Radio and Television Correspondents Dinner, Karl Rove said he likes to "tear the tops off of small animals" in his spare time, then rapped about it as "MC Rove."  Watch it:  —  At the same event, President Bush said of the U.S. Attorney scandal …

Dobson Offers Insight on 2008 Republican Hopefuls  —  Focus on Family Founder Snubs Thompson, Praises Gingrich  —  Focus on the Family founder James Dobson appeared to throw cold water on a possible presidential bid by former Sen. Fred Thompson while praising former House Speaker Newt Gingrich …

Iranians parade captured navy woman in a hijab  —  Kidnapped British servicewoman Faye Turney was forced to cover her head with an Islamic hijab in the first video released by Iran since she and 14 comrades were seized last week.  —  Hours after Tony Blair vowed to 'ratchet up' the pressure …

Culture of Corruption: Dianne Feinstein Edition?  —  HELLO, MSM?  Echooooo...  According to MetroActive, she resigned quietly (where was the MSM?) in January from a Military Construction Appropriations committee over a conflict of interest involving her husband, tens of millions of dollars in defense and construction contracts, etc.

U.N. Human Rights Council is now officially a joke  —  In Geneva this week, any pretense of utility or fairness that clung to the United Nations Human Rights Council finally evaporated.  By a decisive margin, the Council voted to end its examination of Iran and Uzbekistan despite worsening human rights records in both countries.

Saudi King Condemns U.S. Occupation of Iraq  —  The king of Saudi Arabia, King Abdullah, condemned the presence of American forces in Iraq as an "illegitimate foreign occupation" in a speech today, and said the withholding of aid to Palestinians should end.  —  The king's speech …

CBS Poll: Most Support Edwards' Decision  —  57% Say He's Right To Stay In Presidential Race  —  (CBS) Americans support former Sen. John Edwards' decision to continue his bid for the Democratic Presidential nomination after his wife was diagnosed with a recurrence of cancer — and by a margin of more than 2-to-1.

Bush: Americans will blame Congress for failure to fund troops  —  President Bush, confronting a Congress prepared to hand him a timeline for the withdrawal of combat troops from Iraq, accused Democratic leaders today of putting American forces at risk with a deadline-laden war-spending bill that he vows to veto.

Blogging with Bush  —  In trying to win support for his escalation in Iraq, President Bush was reduced to quoting two bloggers in Baghdad — who turned out to be brothers he had met here— and their postings were more than three weeks old.  Has it come to this?

VIDEO MONTAGE: Lurita Doan Has A Horrible Memory (Except About Cookies) … Firedoglake was liveblogging all day.

In Rio's Slums, Militias Fuel Violence They Seek to Quell  —  RIO DE JANEIRO — A decorated police officer was sitting behind the wheel of his Toyota pickup truck here last month when a group of men surrounded the vehicle and pumped more than 40 bullets into him.

Follow the e-mails  —  The rise and fall of the Bush presidency has had four phases: the befuddled period of steady political decline during the president's first nine months; the high tide of hubris from Sept. 11, 2001, through the 2004 election; the self-destructive overreaching to consolidate …

US 'no longer technology king'  —  The US has lost its position as the world's primary engine of technology innovation, according to a report by the World Economic Forum.  —  The US is now ranked seventh in the body's league table measuring the impact of technology on the development of nations.

I'm in tune with the 'I can' generation  —  Politics requires many virtues - organisation, ideas, resolution, luck.  —  But chief among them is the hardest to define: that elusive sense of being in tune with the times.  Political parties succeed when they join their values to deep economic, social and cultural trends.