William F. Buckley Jr. Is Dead at 82  —  William F. Buckley Jr., who marshaled polysyllabic exuberance, famously arched eyebrows and a refined, perspicacious mind to elevate conservatism to the center of American political discourse, died Wednesday at his home in Stamford, Conn.

Rove: Don't “Hussein” Obama  —  No less an authority figure than Karl Rove has warned Republican operatives from demagoguing Barack Obama's middle name.  —  At a closed door meeting of GOP state executive directors in late January, Rove said the safest way to refer to Obama would be to use his honorific, “Sen. Obama.”

OBAMA'S SILENCE ON KADDAFI  —  Can we ignore Sen. Obama's silence about Muammar Kaddafi?  —  We know that Louis Farrakhan has said positive things about Barack Obama.  And he's not the only one.  This is the same Louis Farrakhan who has travelled to Libya to meet with and say positive things …

24% Have Favorable Opinion of New York Times  —  Just 24% of American voters have a favorable opinion of the New York Times.  Forty-four percent (44%) have an unfavorable opinion and 31% are not sure.  The paper's ratings are much like a candidate's and divide sharply along partisan and ideological lines.

Lewis says he's supporting Obama  —  WASHINGTON — Hoping to put an end to a month of confusion and dismay, Rep. John Lewis on Wednesday said he's switching his support from Sen. Hillary Clinton to Sen. Barack Obama in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Micro Mark  —  Hillary Clinton's Svengali, Super Micro-Trend Pollster Mark Penn: ‘People Misunderstand,’ He Says Campaign ‘Never About the Small Things,’ And, ‘If We Lose, I Will Take My Share of the Responsibility’  —  ‘When you wake, you will have won!’  The Great  —  Penn-gali with Senator Hillary Clinton and

Expertinent: Why the Obama “Brand” Is Working  —  Logo at left; ‘Change We Can Believe In’ is written in Obama's signature ‘Gotham’ typeface.  —  Expertinent is a regular Stumper column featuring interviews with experts on the news of the day.  (For more on Obama's branding, check out this addendum.)

Christmas!:  Barack Obama Cuts A Campaign Ad... For John McCain  —  I thought this was going to be a negative ad against Barack Hussein Obama.  —  It is.  It's just that he made it himself.  —  Big props to the Real Revo for this ad.  I hate swiping vids usually (except from Hot Air …

White House Blames Clintons for Document Delay  —  ABC News' Rick Klein Reports: The White House on Wednesday blamed the Clintons for a month-long delay in the release of some 11,000 pages of records relating to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's years as first lady, despite Sen. Clinton's contention …

Automated killer robots ‘threat to humanity’: expert … Increasingly autonomous, gun-totting robots developed for warfare could easily fall into the hands of terrorists and may one day unleash a robot arms race, a top expert on artificial intelligence told AFP.

Begrudging His Bedazzling  —  A huge Ellen suddenly materialized behind Hillary on a giant screen, interrupting her speech Monday night at a fund-raiser at George Washington University in Washington.  —  What better way for a desperate Hillary to try and stop her rival from running off …