What Is Wrong With You?!?  —  The difference between the far right wing and the far left wing: the far right will do anything — anything — so long as the ends justifies the means.  The far left folks have ethical boundaries that they try very hard not to cross: things like attacking …

Leak Severed a Link to Al-Qaeda's Secrets  —  Firm Says Administration's Handling of Video Ruined Its Spying Efforts  —  A small private intelligence company that monitors Islamic terrorist groups obtained a new Osama bin Laden video ahead of its official release last month …

Bartlett Unleashed: On Flip-Flops, a "Dud" and the Guy With the Funny Name  —  Dan Bartlett, formerly one of the closest advisers to President Bush, has been offering a tough analysis of the GOP field.  (White House Photo Office).  —  One of President Bush's closest advisers …

Supreme Court Rejects CIA Kidnapping Case  —  Khaled el-Masri, (also spelled al-Masri) the 42 year old German shoe salesman and father of five who was plucked off a street in Macedonia while on holiday, beaten and flown to a secret CIA prison in Afghanistan where he was held for 5 months until …

Phony 'Satirical' Anti-Muslim Posters Circulated at GWU  —  At George Washington University, another outrageous action by the Saudi-funded radical Islamic front group calling itself the Muslim Student Association, as they circulate flyers purporting to be from a conservative campus group …

Diet and Fat: A Severe Case of Mistaken Consensus  —  In 1988, the surgeon general, C. Everett Koop, proclaimed ice cream to a be public-health menace right up there with cigarettes.  Alluding to his office's famous 1964 report on the perils of smoking, Dr. Koop announced that the American diet …

Matthews on Matthews  —  On today's "Morning Joe," Joe Scarborough asked Chris Matthews if Republican candidates would try to get a "cheap applause line" tonight by pointing to his recent controversial comments.  —  Said Matthews:  —  I've been thinking about that....It's not my stage tonight.

As Much News As They Can, While Still Making Money  —  Atrios writes: … But armored car heists are interesting, the sort of story on which a bored channel-flipper may let his remote rest.  And that, after all, is CNN's highest priority: Not informing its viewers, but capturing a maximum share of television's total viewers.

DoJ Vote Chief Argues Voter ID Laws Discriminate against Whites  —  When Justice Department lawyers and analysts found in 2005 that a Georgia law requiring voters to have photo ID would disproportionately discriminate against African-Americans, they were overruled by John Tanner …

Obama, Edwards, Richardson, Biden out of state primary  —  Four of the leading Democratic presidential nominees have removed their names from the Jan. 15 Michigan presidential primary.  —  U.S. Sen. Barack Obama and former Sen. John Edwards both earlier today filed paperwork …

Greenwald takes a closer look at FISA revisions  —  What FISA capitulations are Democrats planning next?  —  An article in this morning's NYT reports what many have long been expecting — that Congressional Democrats are ready to capitulate to the White House again on warrantless eavesdropping …

My Own Private Mid-20th Cent.  Totalitarianism  —  Not long ago, New York Times columnist Roger Cohen unveiled a self-pitying lament about the hard-shake 'neocons' have gotten over the Iraq War and, more pointedly, how the collapse of Iraq has left little room for "liberal interventionists …

The Debates According to Fred  —  Bill Lacy with Fred Thompson went on record with bloggers this morning for a debate preview.  He said the big thing tonight is not for Fred to define the other candidates, but for the nation to see who Fred is.  —  Interestingly, they've been doing debate prep with Al D'Amato standing in for Rudy.