The Icebergs Ahead For the Democrats  —  As the Democratic presidential race finally gets down to brass tacks, two issues are becoming paramount.  But only one of them is clearly on the table.  —  That is the issue of illegal immigration.  A very smart Democrat, a veteran of the Clinton administration …

Iraqis Wasting An Opportunity, U.S. Officers Say  —  With Attacks Ebbing, Government Is Urged to Reach Out to Opponents  —  CAMP LIBERTY, Iraq — Senior military commanders here now portray the intransigence of Iraq's Shiite-dominated government as the key threat facing the U.S. effort in Iraq …

The al Durah blood libel  —  I am in Paris where I have attended the Court of Appeal special session called to witness the 27 minutes of hitherto unseen footage of the 'killing' of Mohammed al Durah which the court had required France 2 to produce.  For readers who are unfamiliar with this scandal, I wrote about it here, here and here.

U.S. Is Looking Past Musharraf in Case He Falls  —  Almost two weeks into Pakistan's political crisis, Bush administration officials are losing faith that the Pakistani president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, can survive in office and have begun discussing what might come next, according to senior administration officials.

Rep. Dennis Hastert to announce resignation Thursday  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert is expected to announce Thursday on the House floor that he is retiring from Congress, a senior aide to the congressman told CNN Wednesday.  —  The aide said that Hastert …

Romney, Searching and Earnest, Set His Path in '60s  —  In December 1968, Mitt Romney returned home from a Mormon mission in France to find a changed country.  —  While assassinations, race riots, sit-ins and marches transformed his generation, Mr. Romney spent more than two years cloistered …

1968: The Long Goodbye  —  Can America rise above the divisions of the 1960s?  Not yet.  —  It's too bad Barack Obama wasn't able to meet Abbie Hoffman.  I don't know if Hillary Clinton ever met Hoffman, who died in 1989, but like any young person up and running in America in the late 1960s, she knows him well.

Foreclosures Hit a Snag for Lenders  —  A federal judge in Ohio has ruled against a longstanding foreclosure practice, potentially creating an obstacle for lenders trying to reclaim properties from troubled borrowers and raising questions about the legal standing of investors in mortgage securities pools.

Imus Is Back!  —  But Not Quite Live!  Bloodied Radio Cowboy Returns Dec. 3 With 21-Second Delay; WABC Says Ad Sales Going at Fast Clip; First Day's Guest, Carville; Ambivalent Russert Battered on Blogs  —  EDITION OF THE NEW YORK OBSERVER.  —  Philip Burke

Most at NYU say their vote has a price  —  Two-thirds say they'll do it for a year's tuition.  And for a few, even an iPod touch will do.  —  That's what NYU students said they'd take in exchange for their right to vote in the next presidential election, a recent survey by an NYU journalism class found.

Gallup documents public disgust with Congress; Big Government faces paralysis by promise  —  Gallup's latest survey turns up extensive evidence of deep public disgust with the performance of the Democratic majority in Congress.  On six major issues, Gallup found solid majorities either disappointed …