Featured Slideshow II: Openly Gay Celebrities  —  (CBS) NEW YORK Several candidates for president are on a fast pace for fundraising.  Democrat Hillary Clinton has set a record and Republican Rudy Giuliani isn't far behind.  —  But it's what Giuliani said Monday that will likely steal the headlines.

McCain Wrong on Iraq Security, Merchants Say  —  A day after members of an American Congressional delegation led by Senator John McCain pointed to their brief visit to Baghdad's central market as evidence that the new security plan for the city was working, the merchants there were incredulous about the Americans' conclusions.

The botched US raid that led to the hostage crisis  —  A failed American attempt to abduct two senior Iranian security officers on an official visit to northern Iraq was the starting pistol for a crisis that 10 weeks later led to Iranians seizing 15 British sailors and Marines.

Supreme Court rejects appeal by Gitmo prisoners … WASHINGTON (CNN) — In a victory for President Bush, the Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal by suspected terrorists challenging their imprisonment at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Reid Backs Iraq War-Funds Cutoff  —  Senate Leader Makes It Clear a Bush Veto Wouldn't End Debate on Withdrawal  —  Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid yesterday endorsed the Senate's toughest antiwar bill yet, a bid to cut off funding within a year, sending a clear signal to President Bush …

Press shuts down blogger  —  A couple of weeks ago, I headed down the street to Parliament Hill to cover the budget for my blog and for Blogging Tories.  You can see the product of that effort here, here, here, and here.  I have a Hill pass that indicates that I have been pre-screened …

Exclusive: Iran Nuclear Bomb Could Be Possible by 2009  —  Brian Ross and Christopher Isham Report:  —  Iran has more than tripled its ability to produce enriched uranium in the last three months, adding some 1,000 centrifuges which are used to separate radioactive particles from the raw material.

How Bogus Letter Became a Case for War  —  Intelligence Failures Surrounded Inquiry on Iraq-Niger Uranium Claim  —  It was 3 a.m. in Italy on Jan. 29, 2003, when President Bush in Washington began reading his State of the Union address that included the now famous — later retracted …

'I'm Not Praying for God to Save Me'  —  Elizabeth Edwards talks about cancer and how the death of a son gives her the perspective she needs to cope.  —  After disclosing that her breast cancer, first diagnosed before the 2004 election, had spread to her bones, Elizabeth Edwards became a symbol of how to cope with recurrence.

MICHAEL WARE SAYS DRUDGE WAS WRONG, and The Raw Story has video that seems to prove his case.  —  I can't find where Drudge has retracted, but on this evidence I'm going with Ware over Drudge.  (Via Hit & Run).  I've updated earlier posts to reflect this, too.

The Trouble With Islam  —  Sadly, mainstream Muslim teaching accepts and promotes violence.  —  Not many years ago the brilliant Orientalist, Bernard Lewis, published a short history of the Islamic world's decline, entitled "What Went Wrong?"  Astonishingly, there was, among many Western "progressives," a vocal dislike for the title.

Pelosi shrugs off White House criticism  —  BEIRUT, Lebanon - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (news, bio, voting record) on Monday shrugged off White House criticism of her upcoming trip to Damascus, saying she had "great hope" for reviving U.S. relations with Syria and changing its behavior.

Shiite Cleric Opposes Return of Baathists in Iraq  —  The most powerful Shiite cleric in Iraq has rejected an American-backed proposal to allow thousands of former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party to return to government service, an aide to the cleric said Monday.