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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.

Where is the West's outcry?  —  FOR a writer, Salman Rushdie has had a rather turbulent career.  —  Even by his standards, however, this has been quite a week for the Indian-born, British-educated Booker Prize-winning novelist, now a resident of New York:  —  Queen Elizabeth II knighted …

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:

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 …

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.

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 …

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 …

Iran Cracks Down on Dissent, Parading Examples in Streets  —  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 …

"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 …

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 …

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 …