Harry Reid — compare and contrast  —  Russ Feingold, today, on the effects of Harry Reid's pro-administration dirty work: … All of this stems from Reid's refusal to honor the "hold" placed on that bill by Chris Dodd, who has been in the Senate for 24 years.

That picture of Hillary on Drudge right now.  —  Have you seen it?  —  Caption: "The Toll of a Campaign."  It seems so cruel.  Immodest Proposals writes: … My first reaction to that picture is simple disbelief.  How can she suddenly look that much older?

Obama racial subtext surfaces in Iowa  —  Edwards parries a voter's question about Obama and the O.J. verdict  —  Presidential hopefuls former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., and Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., await the start of last Thursday's Des Moines Register Presidential Debate in Iowa.

A tantalizing peek at history's greatest book  —  Thanks to a certain Christmas elf who sent us this early present:  —  Personally, I think the chapter about liberals being seKKKret racists will be the most LOL-worthy, although "The 1960s: Fascism Takes to the Streets" should be good for giggles as well.

USAT/Gallup Poll: Giuliani & Clinton hold slightly wider leads  —  Fresh off the presses, so to speak — the latest numbers from the national USA TODAY/Gallup Poll, taken over the weekend.  They appear to show that the front-runners are still front-running:  —  Republicans.

Navarrette: Attempts to destroy Obama backfire  —  SAN DIEGO, California (CNN) — Ever since Barack Obama began to pierce the inevitability that we were told surrounded the presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton, I've wondered how the Clintonistas would react.  Now we know: not well.

Nava '09 admits to fabricating assault, threatening e-mails  —  Francisco Nava '09 has admitted to fabricating an alleged assault on himself that he said occurred Friday evening and to sending threatening emails to himself, other members of the Anscombe Society and prominent conservative …

IT'S PERFECTLY REASONABLE TO REJECT A CANDIDATE BECAUSE OF HIS RELIGIOUS VIEWS.  —  Just before this gets completely out of hand and becomes a mantralike repetition, let us please recall what the careful phrases of Article VI of the U.S. Constitution actually and very carefully and deliberately say:

Ron Paul For The Republican Nomination  —  By now, readers will know who I favor in the Democratic race.  Here's my most considered case.  But what of the GOP?  For me, it comes down to two men, Ron Paul and John McCain.  That may sound strange, because in many ways they are polar opposites …

Reid Wants Full Senate to See Warrantless Surveillance Docs  —  Today's the big day: the Senate debates a permanent overhaul of surveillance law to replace the administration's sweeping Protect America Act, which expires February 1.  (Didja see Sen. Feingold's TPMCafe post on all this?)

The Return Of The Partisan Press?  —  The Washington Independent went online a week ago yesterday (the official launch is next month), but don't let the citizen journalism outfit's name fool you.  Politically speaking, it is no more "independent" than sister blogs funded by the Center for Independent Media.