The Iraq Blackwater Test  —  Depending on whether the Blackwater security firm stays in Iraq will inform us whether Prime Minister Maliki has any power or is just a U.S. puppet.  My money is on the puppet.  Over the weekend Blackwater contractors escorting a State Department/US Embassy Baghdad convoy got into a shoot out.

U.S. probing security firm's battle in Iraq  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — Iraq's Interior Ministry has revoked the license of Blackwater USA, an American security firm whose contractors are blamed for a Sunday gunbattle in Baghdad that left eight civilians dead.

Will Iraq Kick Out Blackwater?  —  TIME has obtained an incident report prepared by the U.S. government describing a fire fight Sunday in Baghdad in which at least eight Iraqis were reported killed and 13 wounded.  The deadly incident occurred when a convoy of U.S. personnel protected …

Clinton calls for universal health care  —  DES MOINES, Iowa - Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton called for universal health care on Monday, plunging back into the bruising political battle she famously waged and lost as first lady on an issue that looms large in the 2008 presidential race.

The Hillary Plan  —  Let me try and give a quick sketch of the Clinton proposal before I have to run for a meeting: Clinton's plan is of the "individual mandate" variety, in which universal coverage is achieved by mandating that every American purchase health care.

Meeting Mukasey  —  I wasn't going to post anything else on Mukasey, but come on guys and gals, there are gapping holes in what we know about him, and his supporters aren't helping matters.  Ed Whelen, a good friend who I admire deeply, tells us not to worry about Schumer and Aron's support for him.

Bush Names Choice for Successor to Gonzales  —  President Bush said this morning that he will nominate Michael B. Mukasey, a former federal judge from New York who has presided over some high-profile terrorism trials, as his next attorney general.  —  "Judge Mukasey is clear-eyed about the threat …