McCain closing gap with Romney  —  In N.H. poll, Obama inches ahead of Clinton  —  Senator John McCain of Arizona, whose bid for the Republican presidential nomination was all but dead this summer, has made a dramatic recovery in the Granite State 2 1/2 weeks before the 2008 vote …

Dec. 23: Ron Paul  —  MR. TIM RUSSERT: Our issues this Sunday: Our Meet the Candidates 2008 series continues, an exclusive interview with Republican Ron Paul.  He has served in the U.S. House of Representatives for 18 years.  In 1988 he was the Libertarian Party candidate for president.

Daily Kos Supporting the Troops for Christmas  —  As I write, this is currently the number one recommended diary at Daily Kos: a long exercise in crackpot moral equivalence that compares US troops holding Bibles with a Palestinian female suicide bomber holding a Koran.

Times Democratic caucus endorsement: Hillary Clinton passes the test  —  Hillary Clinton passes test after test after test.  This Clinton arrived for the caucus campaign with much, much more experience than the first Clinton to stump across Iowa.  In campaign speeches and in an interview …

Giuliani Claims It Would Have Been ‘Impossible’ To Give 9/11 Firefighters Working Radios  —  Today on ABC's This Week, host George Stephanopoulos pushed former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani on why the radios for the 9/11 firefighters didn't work.  Giuliani dodged the question …

Gaza's Christians keep low Xmas profile  —  GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Gaza's tiny Christian community is keeping a low profile this Christmas, traumatized by the killing of a prominent activist in the wake of Hamas' takeover of the coastal territory.  —  Few Christmas trees are on display …

CIA chief to drag White House into torture cover-up storm  —  THE CIA chief who ordered the destruction of secret videotapes recording the harsh interrogation of two top Al-Qaeda suspects has indicated he may seek immunity from prosecution in exchange for testifying before the House intelligence committee.

U.S. illegal immigrants ‘self deport’ as woes mount  —  PHOENIX (Reuters) - Mexican illegal immigrant Lindi sat down with her husband Marco Antonio in the weeks before Christmas to decide when to go back to Mexico.  —  She has spent three years working as a hairdresser in and around Phoenix …

Aquatic Apes  —  Someone calling himself “Scylla” decided to try waterboarding himself on an experimental basis to see if he thought it should qualify as torture: … Seth Roberts read the account and made some musings about human evolution: … Well, someone else read that post …

Rush responds to Huck peace offering  —  Rush Limbaugh — responding to Mike Huckabee's peace offering — said today that he doesn't need to talk with the former Arkansas governor.  —  “I saw his comments and accept them as honest, sincere and genuine,” Limbaugh wrote in an e-mail.

William “The Bloody” Makes His New Year's Predictions  —  Somebody has been hitting the eggnog really hard.  William “The Bloody” Kristol makes his predictions for the coming year.  They would be scary if they weren't just so completely ridiculous, but at least Kristol is continuing his habit of being completely and utterly wrong.

Billions in Aid to Pakistan Was Wasted, Officials Assert  —  ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — After the United States has spent more than $5 billion in a largely failed effort to bolster the Pakistani military effort against militants from Al Qaeda and the Taliban, some American officials now acknowledge …

Vote for me & gas costs will skid, says Hil  —  MANCHESTER, N.H. - Hillary Clinton predicted Saturday that just electing her President will cut the price of oil.  —  When the world hears her commitment at her inauguration about ending American dependence on foreign fuel, Clinton says …

Unpaid credit cards bedevil Americans  —  SAN FRANCISCO - Americans are falling behind on their credit card payments at an alarming rate, sending delinquencies and defaults surging by double-digit percentages in the last year and prompting warnings of worse to come.

GI saves Iraqi boy in long-shot adoption  —  MAUSTON, Wis. - Capt. Scott Southworth knew he'd face violence, political strife and blistering heat when he was deployed to one of Baghdad's most dangerous areas.  But he didn't expect Ala'a Eddeen.  —  Ala'a was 9 years old …