Bhutto's Assassination Deals Blow to U.S. Goal for Pakistan  —  The assassination today of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto is a major blow to the U.S. goal of stabilizing Pakistan, a volatile ally with nuclear weapons that has served as a frontline against extremism since the Sept. 11 …

Be Reasonable  —  As Iowa sizes up the candidates, so do I.  —  By next week politically active Iowans will have met and tallied their votes.  Their decision this year will have a huge impact on the 2008 election, and a decisive impact on various candidacies.  Some will be done in.  Some will be made.

Iowa Saturated by Political Ads  —  DES MOINES — One week before Iowa kicks off the presidential nomination contest, the campaigns are spending three times as much money flooding the airwaves and the Internet as candidates did in 2004, hoping to sway the huge number of undecided voters after months of on-the-ground appeals.

Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron & America's Enemies  —  Derb, your first two questions really have nothing to do with my response to your earlier post.  I am unaware of anyone who argues that foreign policy should not be a subject for debate, including our policy.  I debate it here on occasion myself.

Trouble With Trade  —  While the United States has long imported oil and other raw materials from the third world, we used to import manufactured goods mainly from other rich countries like Canada, European nations and Japan.  —  But recently we crossed an important watershed …

Under Attack, Drug Maker Turned to Giuliani for Help  —  In western Virginia, far from the limelight, United States Attorney John L. Brownlee found himself on the telephone last year with a political and legal superstar, Rudolph W. Giuliani.  —  For years, Mr. Brownlee and his small team …

Bhutto death makes McCain man of the moment  —  URBANDALE, Iowa — John McCain, older than dirt and with more scars than Frankenstein as he likes to say, suddenly wasn't looking so bad.  —  Benazir Bhutto had been assassinated in Pakistan and the political conversation in America had changed.

Military Paper Challenges Defense Dept.  —  WASHINGTON — Top editors at the military newspaper Stars and Stripes are asking for full disclosure of the paper's relationship with a Department of Defense publicity program, called America Supports You, after disclosures that money for the program was funneled through the newspaper.

Defaults moving beyond sub-prime  —  Joan Olsen, a retired welfare worker, fears she'll join the ranks of the delinquent.  She said she didn't fully understand the loan terms when she refinanced her San Diego condominium 15 months ago with an option ARM.  “I have no one but myself to blame …

Pastors Urged To Caucus By Huckabee Supporters  —  Here's an explicit example of how Mike Huckabee is relying on an outsourced Get-Out-The-Caucusers effort and on the implied support of pastors — under the radar.  —  Pastor Rick Scarborough is hosting a conference call with Iowa pastors …