ON DEADLINE: Chickens Come Home to Roost  —  For years, Bill and Hillary Clinton treated the Democratic National Committee and party activists as extensions of their White House ambitions, pawns in a game of success and survival.  She may pay a high price for their selfishness soon.

Obama Campaign: We're On The Verge Of Wrapping This Thing Up  —  On a conference call this morning, Obama advisers sounded as confident a note as they ever have, arguing that yesterday's victories have left them with an all but insurmountable lead in delegates.

Obama's Wiretap Votes  —  Now and then sanity prevails, even in Washington.  So it did yesterday as the Senate passed a warrantless wiretap bill for overseas terrorists while killing most of the Lilliputian attempts to tie down our war fighters.  —  “We lost every single battle we had on this bill …

Mohammed cartoon reprint: Show your solidarity  —  Two years ago, the Mohammed cartoon conflagration consumed the world and the blogosphere helped lead the way in fighting back.  Longtime readers will remember that this site hammered the issue in support of Denmark.

Edwards Weighs Clinton Endorsement  —  Former Candidate Torn Between Clinton and Obama in Democratic Race  —  As he weighs a possible endorsement in the Democratic race, former Sen. John Edwards is as split as the party he once hoped to lead — and is seriously considering supporting …

A Master Terrorist Is Killed  —  According to multiple press accounts, Iran's and Hezbollah's master terrorist, Imad Mugniyah, is dead.  He was reportedly killed by a car bomb in Damascus last night.  Hezbollah is claiming that he was killed by the Israelis.

Bush plays hardball on FISA legislation  —  In a move that puts great pressure on the House, President Bush said Wednesday that he would not sign any more temporary extensions to legislation updating the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).  —  Bush praised the Senate for passing …

Jewish Rep. Cohen Battles Antisemitism and Racism In Re-Election  —  If you thought race was an uncomfortable issue in the Democratic presidential primary, wait 'til you get a load of what's going on in the Democratic primary in the Memphis area's 9th District of Tennessee …

Berkeley backs down  —  (02-13) 01:33 PST Berkeley — After a day of enraged confrontation outside Berkeley City Hall between anti-war and pro-military demonstrators, the City Council backed down early Wednesday from its controversial decision to tell the U.S. Marines they are “unwelcome intruders” …

THE SURGE....McClatchy reports that the surge may be starting to lose its effectiveness: … Overall civilian fatalities in February, though still running at less than half the peak rate of 2006-07, are noticeably higher than in the past few months.  Tension in the Sunni Awakening movement seems to be on the rise.

Muslim leader drops Ezra Levant cartoon complaint  —  Western Standard publisher plans to launch a civil lawsuit  —  CALGARY — Calgary Muslim leader Syed Soharwardy says he is withdrawing his Alberta Human Rights Commission complaint against former Western Standard publisher Ezra Levant.

Was there a Housing Bubble?  —  The conventional wisdom is that there was a housing bubble which has now popped.  The data, however, tell a different story.  Remember, that the evidence for the bubble was that real house prices had increased tremendously since around 1997 leading to prices …

Matthews: Obama Speech Caused ‘Thrill Going Up My Leg’  —  During MSNBC's live coverage of Tuesday's presidential primary elections, after the speeches of Barack Obama and John McCain had aired, Chris Matthews expressed his latest over the top admiration for Obama's speaking skills …

BLOGGER LOSES DAY JOB WITH CNN OVER BLOGGING  —  Let's file this one under unreal.  —  Chez Pazienza, a producer at CNN assigned to American Morning, was unceremoniously fired from his job today — without severance — over the content of his popular and edgy blog, Deus Ex Malcontent (warning: adult language).

Huckabee questions McCain's ability to ‘energize’ base  —  Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, showing no signs of giving up in his quest for the GOP nomination, on Tuesday questioned presumptive nominee Sen. John McCain's (Ariz.) ability to turn out conservatives in a general election.

IMAGINE.  —  I think Matt is right to say that Obama's great advantage is that “he's the kind of person whose support for an idea makes the idea seem more compelling than it otherwise would have.  You can imagine him getting people interested in things that didn't previously interest them …