Kristol: The New York Times ‘Should Be Prosecuted,’ 'It Isn't A First-Rate Newspaper'  —  For years, Bill Kristol has been at the forefront of a vitriolic right-wing crusade against the New York Times.  Sadly, the Times has chosen to reward him for it.  —  After the New York Times …

The Pakistan Test  —  Some presidential candidates show they can respond quickly to a foreign policy crisis.  Some flunk or foul.  —  THE ASSASSINATION of Benazir Bhutto presented U.S. presidential candidates with a test: Could they respond cogently and clearly to a sudden foreign policy crisis?

Days Before Voting, Gloves Come Off  —  DES MOINES — In the last weekend before the Iowa caucuses, the Republican presidential candidates are bloodying the field with a blizzard of negative attacks, showing the strains of a wide-open and unpredictable race.

“You may have seen that some Hillary Clinton ‘sock puppets’ were recently outed on a New Hampshire blog, to the campaign's great embarrassment."  —  Thanks, Matt Bai, NYT Magazine writer who is now also blogging on the NYT website.  I'm extremely interested in that story, which I missed.

Edwards pledges not to hire lobbyists  —  WASHINGTON, Iowa - Democrat John Edwards pledged Saturday to ban lobbyists from jobs in his administration if he is elected.  —  He said people who have lobbied for a foreign government or on behalf of a corporation will not be allowed to work in his White House.

Paul: Fox News is ‘scared of me’  —  PLAISTOW, N.H. — Ron Paul said the decision to exclude him from a debate on Fox News Sunday the weekend before the New Hampshire Primary is proof that the network “is scared” of him.  —  “They are scared of me and don't want my message to get out …

Thompson: Doesn't like campaign process, ‘will not be devastated’ if he loses  —  Bill Theobald of Gannett News Service has been following Republican Fred Thompson around Iowa.  In a dispatch today from Burlington, Bill quotes the former Tennessee senator as saying he doesn't like modern campaigning …

Bin Laden issues warning on Iraq, Israel  —  CAIRO, Egypt - Osama bin Laden warned Iraq's Sunni Arabs against fighting al-Qaida and vowed to expand the terror group's holy war to Israel in a new audiotape Saturday, threatening “blood for blood, destruction for destruction.”

Vatican denies exorcist expansion  —  The Vatican is denying reports it plans to install more exorcists around the world so possessed people can get help quickly.  —  “Pope Benedict XVI has no intention of ordering local bishops to bring in garrisons of exorcists to fight demonic possession …

THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION'S DUMBEST LEGAL ARGUMENTS OF THE YEAR.  —  This time last year, I offered up a top 10 list of the most appalling civil-liberties violations by the Bush administration in 2006.  The grim truth is, not much has changed.  The Bush administration continues to limit our basic freedoms …

Because Oil Companies And Pizza Hut Couldn't Afford It  —  I've figured out how to get conservatives and liberals together on the issue of pork.  All we need to do is show how earmarks put money in the pockets of a progressive bete noir, and if possible, throw in a dash of Congressional cluelessness.

Shake, Rattle and Roil the Grand Ol' Coalition  —  AS a Republican presidential primary candidate, Mike Huckabee is a puzzle.  —  A Southern Baptist pastor and thoroughgoing social conservative, Mr. Huckabee has struck a distinctly populist chord when it comes to economics.

Texas Prosecutor Apologizes for Messages to His Secretary  —  HOUSTON — A day after a federal court slip-up exposed intimate office e-mail exchanges with his executive secretary, Texas' most powerful prosecutor, the district attorney of Harris County, issued a public apology Friday to his family and others.

Obama robocall: HRC's ‘misleading attacks’  —  Obama's campaign is out with a sharp-edged robocall from an Ames physician, “Dr. Bob” (his last name isn't clearly audible in this recording), pushing back on Clinton's criticism of his health care plan.  —  The opening: “Hillary Clinton and her allies have launched misleading attacks.”

Bill Clinton Won't Attend NSC Meetings in a Hillary White House  —  ABC News' Jonathan Greenberger reports: If she makes it to the White House, Sen. Hillary Clinton said today her husband will take on the same responsibilities as traditional presidential spouses, with no access to National Security Council meetings.

Bhutto Killing Puts EuroLeaders On Notice: Time to Choose  —  The assassination of Benazir Bhutto has put on notice the leaders of every European nation.  —  Your secularism, your democracy will not stand.  The growing Muslim populations in your own lands that you have done so much to tolerate …

Ahh!  Romney and the Screamer  —  Elizabeth Holmes reports from Altoona, Iowa, on the presidential race.  —  Romney in Altoona — Photo by Reuters  —  At a coffee shop here this morning, his first of six stops today, Mitt Romney told the crowd about a woman he met while jogging last summer in Iowa.