Foster takes seat from GOP  —  Democrat to succeed Hastert in Republican stronghold  —  In a stunning upset Saturday that could be a sign of trouble for Republicans this fall, a little-known Democratic physicist won the special election for a far west suburban congressional seat long held by former GOP House Speaker Dennis Hastert.

Ex-Defense Official Assails Colleagues Over Run-Up to War  —  In the first insider account of Pentagon decision-making on Iraq, one of the key architects of the war blasts former secretary of state Colin Powell, the CIA, retired Gen. Tommy R. Franks and former Iraq occupation chief L. Paul Bremer …

Mich., Fla. Dilemma Consumes Democrats  —  Howard Dean, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, warned today that a divisive nomination battle could cost Democrats the presidency in November.  —  “[T]he only thing that can beat us is that we're divided,” Dean said on ABC's “This Week.”

From the Right, He Looks Too Blue  —  Think real conservatives will vote for John McCain?  Don't count on it.  —  The conservative talk-show community?  Don't mind them — they're irrelevant.  —  This message from John McCain surrogates and other members of the political class is filling the airwaves and op-ed pages.

The Monster Mash  —  I was covered in barbecue sauce, somewhere over Texas, when Barack Obama loped down the aisle of the plane to chat with reporters.  —  I felt guilty, because I had been covering his speeches urging parents to make their kids give up chips and Popeyes.

Ten worst countries for women  —  In spite of real progress around the globe, the bedrock problems that have dogged women for centuries remain  —  The image of the 21st century woman is confident, prosperous, glowing with health and beauty.  —  But for many of the 3.3 billion female occupants …

Obama and the Pet Rock  —  In fall 1975 I remember sitting in the Stanford student lounge watching two apparently educated and bright students compare their pet rocks, as the craze spread all over Silicon Valley and then went national.  By summer few would admit they had purchased one.

Clinton campaign drops Celebi  —  The Clinton campaign is no longer taking contributions from a Turkish American who financed a film that depicted an American Jew trading in Iraqi body parts.  —  Mehmet Celebi had been listed on the presidential campaign website of U.S. Sen. Hilalry Rodham Clinton …

Living With Bloggers  —  Very interesting story in the NYT today about how some top liberal bloggers (including Matthew Yglesias and Ezra Klein) live together in DC.  I love how in the picture, they all sort of look alike.  I wonder if they always looked alike, or if that happened after they moved in???

How government makes things worse  —  WHAT DO ethanol and the subprime mortgage meltdown have in common?  Each is a good reminder of that most powerful of unwritten decrees, the Law of Unintended Consequences - and of the all-too-frequent tendency of solutions imposed by the state to exacerbate the harms they were meant to solve.

Hillary and the Invisible Women  —  Up Against the Wall: Clinton is at her best when things look grim, as they did before the Texas vote, when her traveling press corps was stashed in a men's room … Hillary Clinton's run-up to the Texas and Ohio primaries was the political equivalent of Hell Week for a Navy SEAL.