Dodd's Filibuster Threat Stalls Wiretap Bill  —  Senator Chris Dodd won a temporary victory today after his threats of a filibuster forced Democratic leadership to push back consideration of a measure that would grant immunity to telecom companies that were complicit in warrantless surveillance.

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.

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?

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.

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:

Re: Mark Steyn is losing  —  Stanley, you may be right.  The Canadian Islamic Congress is arguing that my article is a "crime".  By accepting the case, the Canadian Human Rights Commission has indicated it's prepared at least to consider the possibility that it's a "crime".

It's jeers for Judi  —  A straying husband is bad.  But a home wrecker is worse - at least when it comes to who should end up in the White House.  —  That seems to be the judgment of women polled by the Daily News.  More were likely to punish Judith Giuliani for trysting with the then-married mayor …

Iran indicates it is building another nuclear plant  —  TEHRAN: Iran confirmed on Monday that it had received the first fuel shipment for its nuclear power plant at Bushehr, but also indicated for the first time that it was building a second nuclear power plant.

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.