Obama staffer gave warning of NAFTA rhetoric  —  Barack Obama has ratcheted up his attacks on NAFTA, but a senior member of his campaign team told a Canadian official not to take his criticisms seriously, CTV News has learned.  —  Both Obama and Hillary Clinton have been critical …

Clinton raises $35 million in February  —  Hillary Clinton's camapign is set to announce later today that she's on track to raise roughly $35 million in the month of February, a huge month by any standard measure of political fundraising and her best of the campaign.

Disturbing New Photos From Abu Ghraib  —  NSFW: VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED.  As an expert witness in the defense of an Abu Ghraib guard who was court-martialed, psychologist Philip Zimbardo had access to many of the images of abuse that were taken by the guards themselves.

McCain's Canal Zone Birth Prompts Queries About Whether That Rules Him Out  —  WASHINGTON — The question has nagged at the parents of Americans born outside the continental United States for generations: Dare their children aspire to grow up and become president?

“60 Minutes” Too?!!... MAJOR SCANDAL Brewing Over Rove Hit Piece!  —  Alabama GOP Asks For Proof on Karl Rove Hit Piece...  Or, demands that the network retract the story!  —  Did CBS learn nothing from their last major scandal?  —  The chairman of the Alabama Republican Party sent a letter to …

Today's Must Read  —  You can understand their exasperation.  The administration and Congressional Republicans have done everything in their power to protect the telecoms.  They used every legislative tactic at the ready, made every speech or public pronouncement possible …

POLL: MCCAIN LOOKING GOOD IN FL  —  From NBC's Domenico Montanaro  —  McCain leads both Obama and Clinton in potential general-election match ups with either candidate in the all-important swing state of Florida, according to a Mason-Dixon poll out today.  —  McCain leads Obama 47%-37% and Clinton 49%-40%.

Some hateful, radical ministers — white evangelicals — are acceptable  —  One of this week's hysterical press scandals was that Minister Louis Farrakhan praised Barack Obama's candidacy even though Obama had previously denounced numerous Farrakhan remarks and the Obama campaign did nothing to seek out the Farrakhan praise.

McCain in A Glass House  —  Certain kinds of conservatives, distrusting Richard Nixon's ideological elasticity, rejected him — until 1973.  Although it had become clear that his administration was a crime wave, they embraced him because the media were his tormentors.

Heralded New Law Is Vetoed by Iraq's Presidency Council  —  BAGHDAD — Political momentum in Iraq hit a sudden roadblock on Wednesday when a feud between the largest Shiite factions led to the veto of a law that had been passed with great fanfare two weeks ago.

Geldof and Bush: Diary From the Road  —  I gave the president my book.  He raised an eyebrow.  “Who wrote this for ya, Geldof?” he said without looking up from the cover.  Very dry.  “Who will you get to read it for you, Mr. President?”  I replied.  No response.

Louisiana Governor Pierces Business as Usual  —  BATON ROUGE, La. — Downstairs, legislators gnashed their teeth, while upstairs at the Capitol here this week, the new governor claimed victory against the old customs down below.  —  Six weeks into the term of Gov. Bobby Jindal …

The Future with Europe  —  The Swiss newspaper Junge Freiheit interviews VDH  —  JF: Professor Hanson, you criticize U.S. immigration policy in your recent book Mexifornia.  What is it that bothers you about the development at the Southern border?  —  VDH: Many things.

Prediction  —  In the next few days, there will be a wave of liberals — Frank Rich comes particularly to mind — who will use WFB's memory to beat up on today's conservatives.  Ramesh and I wrote a piece about this tendency last year.  Liberals today bemoan how wonderful the conservatives …

The “Race Card” let us count the ways  —  There are a few themes developing that should be called out now for what they are.  —  First, the racist junk that right-wing radio. blogs, and conservative interest groups are going to throw out.  That somehow a black candidate secretly hates …