ALERT: SHUTTING DOWN THE FLOOR  —  House Republicans are shutting down the floor, because the Democrats are threatening to change a rule and deny Republicans any opportunity to offer a motion to recommit on the "paygo" provisions of their legislation.  That's a lot of wonky talk; bottom line …

Can You Even Imagine How Bad it Must Have Been?  —  I want to put yesterday's incredible Comey testimony in some context, to demonstrate just how otherworldly this story is — and what an extraordinary tale it tells about the nature of the officials who are running our government.

Wolfowitz to Resign Today?  —  Brian Ross Reports:  —  World Bank officials say the bank's board is completing an "exit strategy" that will allow World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz to resign this afternoon and "still save some face" over the issue of his efforts to seek a promotion and pay raise for his girlfriend at the bank.

Iraq Withdrawal Move Thwarted in Senate  —  WASHINGTON (AP) - The Senate on Wednesday rejected legislation that would cut off money for combat operations in Iraq after March 31, 2008.  —  The vote was a loss for Sen. Russell Feingold, D-Wis., and other Democrats who want to end the war.

ANDERSON COOPER 360 DEGREES  —  Falwell: Faith and Fury; America Votes 2008  —  THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT.  THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.  —  ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: We wanted to bring you "Africa: Dispatches from the Edge" tonight …

DoJ Responds to Senate Subpoena  —  Nothing like an angry letter from two senior senators to get results?  —  Late this afternoon, the Justice Department responded to the Senate Judiciary Committee's subpoena for any of Karl Rove's emails in the Department's possession that might be relevant to the U.S. attorney firings.

Climate Momentum Shifting: Prominent Scientists Reverse Belief in Man-made Global Warming - Now Skeptics  —  Growing Number of Scientists Convert to Skeptics After Reviewing New Research  —  Following the U.S. Senate's vote today on a global warming measure (see today's AP article …

A Disaster: The GOP Caves On Border Security  —  Word is leaking that the GOP in the Senate are on the verge of agreeing to an immigration bill that has —as a concession to the GOP— less than half of the fencing promised by law last year.  —  White flag time on the border, and a national security and thus a political disaster.

Debates: DNC Announces Six; Two On CNN, Two On NBC/MSNBC  —  The Democratic National Committee has officially announced "the dates, media sponsors and cities for the six DNC sanctioned debates."  —  CNN and NBC get two and ABC and CBS get one each.  Fox News isn't included.  Here's the list:

Romney Leaps to GOP Lead in Iowa; Edwards Keeps His Edge  —  Giuliani the big loser, while McCain remains steady; Hillary, Obama remain strong in tight Dem contest  —  Republican Mitt Romney has pushed from a distant third place into a small lead in Iowa, the continuation of progress …

Hamas blames world, Israel and Arabs  —  The international community, Israel and Arab countries are to blame for the current inter-Palestinian fighting in the Gaza Strip for failing to life an economic siege on the Palestinians, a senior Hamas official said Wednesday.

The Wages of Weakness  —  Bernard Lewis is our greatest living scholar of the Islamic world.  In today's Wall Street Journal, he drew lessons from our Cold War experience and applied them to the current situation in the Middle East.  Lewis's arguments are powerful; doubly so …