McCain responds and then some  —  McCain responds to Obama in tough enough, if predictable, language:  —  "While Senator Obama's two years in the U.S. Senate certainly entitle him to vote against funding our troops, my service and experience combined with conversations with military leaders …

O'Donnell Will Not Be Back on 'The View'  —  ABC Announces Early Departure for Host  —  The saga is over.  —  Rosie O'Donnell will not be returning to "The View."  —  In a statement today, Brian Frons, the president of Disney-ABC's Daytime Television Group, said, "We had hoped that Rosie …

White House Said to Debate '08 Cut in Iraq Troops by 50%  —  The Bush administration is developing what are described as concepts for reducing American combat forces in Iraq by as much as half next year, according to senior administration officials in the midst of the internal debate.

Libby On The Verge Of Sentencing  —  There has been a lot of grist from the Beltway rumor mill of late on Scooter Libby and his upcoming sentencing hearing — but it has amounted to a whole lot of speculation and innuendo and wishful thinking, and not much substance with any real factual basis in which to dig.

U. S. ATTORNEYS: Fewer candidates apply for positions as U.S. attorneys  —  WASHINGTON - The Bush administration's decision to fire nine U.S. attorneys last year has created a new problem for the White House: The controversy appears to be discouraging applications for some of the 22 prosecutor posts that President Bush needs to fill.

Sadr reemerges, demands U.S. pullout from Iraq  —  KUFA, Iraq — Influential cleric Muqtada Sadr resurfaced today after months in hiding and delivered a fiery sermon in this Shiite Muslim holy city in which he reiterated his demand for the swift departure of U.S. forces.

GEN Petraeus' Chief Counter-Insurgency Adviser on "Iraqi Narratives"  —  This morning I participated in a telephonic question and answer session with Dr. David Kilcullen, senior counter-insurgency advisor to Gen. David Petraeus and Multi-National Force -Iraq.

Who's Afraid of Democracy?  —  Believing that "people are rational as consumers and irrational as voters," many conservatives would favor free markets without democracy  —  SHARE Digg del.icio.us Reddit Newsvine  —  Behavioral economists at UC San Diego recently conducted a study …

IRAQ DOMINATES PEJ'S FIRST QUARTERLY NCI REPORT  —  Looking more closely at the cable universe itself—among the three channels as well as across day parts—PEJ found distinct differences between the three channels, far more than discerned between the three commercial network channels or newspapers.

How to kill a book, in 3 easy steps  —  Here's how you kill a book:  —  First, see to it that it emerges into the public eye on the Friday of a holiday weekend.  —  Then, express ostentatious boredom at its contents.  —  Then, attack.  —  Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson declined …

Boy bags hog said bigger than 'Hogzilla'  —  MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Hogzilla is being made into a horror movie.  But the sequel may be even bigger: Meet Monster Pig.  An 11-year-old Alabama boy used a pistol to kill a wild hog his father says weighed a staggering 1,051 pounds and measured 9-feet-4 …