Indeed  —  Via email:

STAB IN THE BACK WATCH....Here's the latest from Instapundit, in its entirety: … Oh yes indeedy, I too expect we'll be hearing more of this in the future, especially if things go badly in Iraq.  Lots more.  —  You can almost smell the stink of desperation from the pro-war crowd.

Obama says some have 'hijacked' faith  —  HARTFORD, Conn. - Sen. Barack Obama told a church convention Saturday that some right-wing evangelical leaders have exploited and politicized religious beliefs in an effort to sow division.  —  "Somehow, somewhere along the way …

A Tale of Two Hedge Funds  —  We begin to get some backstory on the Great Bear Hedge Fund Meltdown of 2007, courtesy of the New York Times.  The leitmotif, which I prophesy will become the Unshakable Story That Everyone Will Stick To, is that this is all directly and apparently unproblematically related to subprime mortgage loans:

Romney objects to campaign attacks  —  SALT LAKE CITY - Mitt Romney said Saturday that criticism of his Mormon religion by rival GOP presidential campaigns is happening too frequently.  —  "Clearly, any derogatory comments about anyone's faith — those comments are troubling.

HuffPost Exclusive: More Lobbyists On McCain Staff Than Any Other 08 Candidate  —  John McCain, who made his name attacking special interests, has more lobbyists working on his staff or as advisers than any of his competitors, Republican or Democrat.  —  A Huffington Post examination …

Everyone we fight in Iraq is now "al-Qaida"  —  Josh Marshall publishes an e-mail from a reader who identifies what is one of the most astonishing instances of mindless, pro-government "reporting" yet: … That the Bush administration, and specifically its military commanders …

Early Warning … Okay, this is a subject I know virtually nothing about.  I do, however, know that FDR became president in 1933 after winning the 1932 election.  The war in Europe didn't begin until 1939, and the United States didn't enter the war until 1941.

Judge criticizes warrantless wiretaps  —  WASHINGTON - A federal judge who used to authorize wiretaps in terrorist and espionage cases criticized President Bush's decision to order warrantless surveillance after the Sept. 11 attacks.  —  Royce Lamberth, a district court judge in Washington …

Christie blasts Rudy on WTC air  —  Former Environmental Protection Agency boss Christie Whitman says she urged Ground Zero workers to wear respirators, but then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani blocked her efforts.  —  She also said city officials didn't want EPA workers wearing haz-mat suits because they …

"Media Matters"; by Jamison Foser  —  A Tale of Two Studies  —  Two new studies released this week examine the news media, in quite different ways and with vastly different efficacy.  The Center for American Progress and Free Press teamed up to release The Structural Imbalance of Political Talk Radio …

Crackdown on Dissent Is Under Way in Iran  —  Iran is in the throes of one of its most ferocious crackdowns on dissent in years, with the government focusing on labor leaders, universities, the press, women's rights advocates, a former nuclear negotiator and Iranian-Americans, three of whom have been in prison for more than six weeks.