Pentagon: Al-Qaida operative captured  —  WASHINGTON - The Pentagon announced Friday the capture of one of al-Qaida's most senior and most experienced operatives, an Iraqi who was trying to return to his native country when he was captured.  —  Bryan Whitman, a Pentagon spokesman, said the captive is Abdul al-Hadi al-Iraqi.

Ex-C.I.A. Chief, in Book, Assails Cheney on Iraq  —  George J. Tenet, the former director of central intelligence, has lashed out against Vice President Dick Cheney and other Bush administration officials in a new book, saying they pushed the country to war in Iraq without ever conducting a …

The terrorism that dare not speak its name  —  Why is it that the media and the government never calls the "pro-life" groups who plant bombs at women's clinics what they are: terrorists?  —  From the AP article, entitled "Explosive found at Austin women's clinic": … Actually, I shouldn't say "from" the AP article.

In Debate, Democrats Show More Unity Than Strife  —  Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton was professorial and emphatic as she spoke Thursday night about health care, Iraq and whether Wal-Mart was good for America (a "mixed blessing," she decided) .  —  Senator Barack Obama of Illinois …

Dean at M.I.T. Resigns, Ending a 28-Year Lie  —  Marilee Jones, the dean of admissions at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, became well known for urging stressed-out students competing for elite colleges to calm down and stop trying to be perfect.  Yesterday she admitted …

A GUN-BANNER'S WET DREAM  —  After first cautioning everyone that he's not a "liberal zealot" by telling us all about his experiences with weapons, Dan Simpson regales us with how he would disarm America (this in answer to the contention that with over 200+ million guns in the US, it would be impossible).

Giuliani's Startling Departure  —  In a startling departure from his previously stated position on civil unions, Mayor Giuliani came out to The New York Sun yesterday evening in opposition to the civil union law just passed by the New Hampshire state Senate.  —  "Mayor Giuliani believes marriage is between one man and one woman.

Militia raid targets weapons  —  Explosives, ammo found; 6 men arrested  —  Simultaneous raids carried out in four Alabama counties Thursday turned up truckloads of explosives and weapons, including 130 grenades, an improvised rocket launcher and 2,500 rounds of ammunition belonging to the small …

Playing on the Senate Floor Is a Dirty Business, Children  —  By a quirk of the calendar, yesterday's Senate vote to withdraw from Iraq fell on "Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day."  And so it happened that, in the middle of the tense war debate, Sen. John Sununu (R-N.H.) strolled through the press gallery with his young daughter.

Tag Clouds for the Democratic Debate  —  Janet Harris, a friend and Pollster reader, sends an interesting bit of analysis she did on last night's MSNBC Democratic debate.  Using the free site TagCrowd, she created a set of "tag clouds" that provides a visual depiction of the words used most often last night by each of the candidates.

Oh, man.  You just have to listen to these caricatures of black pols that Rush Limbaugh is pushing right now.  They're quite — how should we put this — "racially charged."  —  You may already have heard the "Barack the Magic Negro" shtick that Rush sang on his show the other day (more on that in a bit).

BLASTING THE BRASS....Lt. Col. Paul Yingling, one of the officers responsible for the Army's success in Tall Afar last year, has penned a blistering attack in the Armed Forces Journal aimed at our current military brass: … Phil Carter, who returned last year from a tour in Iraq, is impressed:

The Documents Not Turned Over  —  Last night, DOJ provided Congress with a list of Kyle Sampson documents it wasn't going to turn over.  They begin on December 19, not long after the firings, and continue until March 8, when Sampson resigned.  The withheld emails suggest some of the key issues the WH is trying to hide, particularly:

Straight Talking Again  —  Credit John McCain with one thing: When you're 70 years old, are running for president a second time and have been stumping through the country for many months, it's difficult to spring any surprises in your formal announcement speech.