Shiites in S. Iraq Rebuke Tehran  —  Petition Calls for U.N. Probe Into Iran's Influence, Sheiks Say  —  More than 300,000 Shiite Muslims from southern Iraq have signed a petition condemning Iran for fomenting violence in Iraq, according to a group of sheiks leading the campaign.

Repubs Warn Repubs They're Losing the Center; Will Dems Fight Hard Enough to Win It? … Over at Swing State Project, James has a great compilation of recent comments by prominent Republicans, many retired, expressing great pessimism about their party.  The recurring theme is that the Republicans …

Rove Tries To Rewrite History: Claims WH 'Opposed' Politicizing Pre-War Iraq Vote  —  Last night on The Charlie Rose Show, former Bush political adviser Karl Rove claimed that he was "opposed" to holding the pre-war Iraq vote just ahead of the 2002 elections.

A 24 hour moratorium on consumer spending - participate by not participating  —  Action update: MTV, the channel that markets itself to hip youth, has decreed that our Buy Nothing Day public service spot "goes further than we are willing to accept on our channels".

Joe and Valerie Wilson: Treason is Not Old News  —  "I have nothing but contempt and anger for those who betray the trust by exposing the name of our sources.  They are, in my view, the most insidious, of traitors."  George Herbert Walker Bush, CIA dedication ceremony, April 26, 1999.

Musharraf Rival Prepares for Return to Pakistan  —  Nawaz Sharif, a Pakistani opposition leader and former prime minister living in Saudi Arabia, flew to Riyadh from Jidda today to see the Saudi royal family in what appeared to be the final preparation for his departure for Pakistan.

Nominations may be decided in one quick blitz  —  New Hampshire sets its earliest primary yet.  Presidential hopefuls will probably campaign through the holidays.  —  After months of suspense, New Hampshire on Wednesday scheduled its presidential primary for Jan. 8 — the state's earliest date ever …

Liberal Pretzel Logic On Iraq  —  Boy, the far left is tying itself into mental knots trying to throw cold water on the Iraq war and its path to success.  Needless to say the Twisted Logic Express is being led by the Gray Lady herself.  Check out this headline, and then compare …

J.F.K.'s Death, Re-Framed  —  FORTY-FOUR years ago today, a clothing company owner named Abraham Zapruder filmed the assassination of John F. Kennedy in Dallas.  And for 44 years, most people have presumed that his home movie captured the assassination in its entirety.  This presumption has led to deep misunderstandings.

Musharraf and the Con Game  —  There always seems to be a good reason to support a dictator.  In the late 1970s, Jeane Kirkpatrick argued that it was better to support a "right-wing" dictator lest he be replaced by communists.  Right-wing dictatorship — today some call it "liberal autocracy" …

Excusing Chavez  —  At The Newshoggers.  Libby writes: "Now I don't want to get into a debate over whether Chavez is crazy, or a communist or pursuing the right policies for Venezuela.  I honestly don't know the answer to that, but I do know that he is a democratically elected leader …

Thanksgiving '07: Happy Birthday to Me  —  Thanksgiving was supposedly started as a feast and joyous celebration of making it through another year, of acknowledging the toil and strife and the people that helped us along the way.  Lincoln (a personal favorite) made it an official holiday …

Why Your Tax Refund Will Be Late  —  Habitual congressional gridlock usually has no impact on the lives of ordinary Americans.  But what happened on the Senate floor last Friday just before lawmakers left for their Thanksgiving break will delay tax refunds next year for some 50 million taxpayers who count on them.

Snarls, smears and innuendo as attack dogs get ready for the fray  —  The anonymous e-mails and letters began dropping into inboxes and through front doors this summer.  —  One claimed that Hillary Clinton was having a lesbian affair with Huma Abedin, her beautiful aide.

My Father and FDR  —  Bill Moyers gave the following remarks at the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute's twentieth-anniversary Four Freedoms ceremony, where he received the Freedom of Speech award.  —The Editors  —  Thank you for this recognition and the spirit of the evening.

Nebraska attorney general yields to Johanns  —  Former Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns (R) has a clear path to the Senate, at least for the time being, after Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning (R) dropped out of the race for retiring Sen. Chuck Hagel's (R-Neb.) seat on Tuesday.