The Monster: A Loyal Clinton Soldier Turns in His Badge  —  She has no idea.  —  She has no idea how many times I defended her.  How many right-leaning friends and relatives I battled with.  How many times I played down her shady business deals and penchant for scandals …

McCain's Daunting Task  —  Buried inside Sunday's papers was a noteworthy election result.  In a special election to replace former Speaker Dennis Hastert, an Illinois Republican, first-time Democratic candidate Bill Foster emerged victorious.  George Bush easily carried the district in 2004 …

Carbon Output Must Near Zero To Avert Danger, New Studies Say  —  The task of cutting greenhouse gas emissions enough to avert a dangerous rise in global temperatures may be far more difficult than previous research suggested, say scientists who have just published studies indicating …

I TOOK QUARTERWATER AND SOLD IT IN BOTTLES FOR TWO BUCKS:  —  The blogosphere has driven Michael O'Hanlon bats**t insane.  His latest assault on his own reputation comes in his latest New York Times Iraq update: … But but but what?  What the f**k is a Brookings Benchmark?

2 Clinton Backers Offer a Way to Stage New Primaries  —  Two of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton's biggest supporters, who are also two of the Democratic Party's most successful fund-raisers, have offered to help raise millions of dollars to stage new primaries in Florida and Michigan.

Guitar Heros  —  Guitar Heroes … Men crept in darkness to plant a bomb.  They moved in an area where last year I was helping to collect fallen American soldiers from the battlefield.  —  Terrorists.  The ones who murder children in front of their parents.  The ones who take drugs and rape women and boys.

Seven new deadly sins: are you guilty?  —  Drug pushers, the obscenely rich, environmental polluters and “manipulative” genetic scientists beware - you may be in danger of losing your mortal soul unless you repent.  —  After 1,500 years the Vatican has brought the seven deadly sins up to date …

John Heilemann and Joe Trippi Discuss the Democratic Primary Race Over Instant Messenger  —  Last night, Democratic strategist Joe Trippi sat down to discuss the Democratic primary with New York's John Heilemann from his home on the eastern shore of Maryland.

MSNBC cancels ‘Tucker’  —  Tucker Carlson's MSNBC show “Tucker” has been canceled, with an announcement from the network coming tomorrow.  —  I spoke with Carlson this evening, and the host confirmed reports on media blogs in the past few days about the show getting canceled.

NSA's Domestic Spying Grows As Agency Sweeps Up Data  —  Terror Fight Blurs  —  Line Over Domain;  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — Five years ago, Congress killed an experimental Pentagon antiterrorism program meant to vacuum up electronic data about people in the U.S. to search for suspicious patterns.

GOP Pork, Imperiled By McCain  —  The congressional Republican establishment, with its charade of pretending to crack down on budget earmarks while in fact preserving its addiction to pork, faces embarrassment this week when the Democratic-designed budget is brought to the Senate floor.

FOR THE THOUSANDTH TIME: BLACKS ALREADY TURN OUT AT HIGH RATES AND VOTE OVERWHELMINGLY DEMOCRATIC IN THE SOUTH.  —  In the past 18 months since my book was published, I feel like I have had to repeat nearly a thousand times that the “problem” of blacks not turning out to vote in the South …

The Clintons, a horror film that never ends  —  It's alive!  We thought it might be over but some of us never dared fully believe it.  Last week was like one of those moments in a horror movie when the worst terror recedes, the screen goes blank and then reopens on green fields or a lover's tender embrace.

In the Villages of Al Anbar  —  ANBAR PROVINCE, IRAQ - The Iraqi town of Al Farris looks like a model Soviet city up close and a rounded square from the sky.  Saddam Hussein built it to house workers in the now-defunct weapons factory to the east, and they live in neighborhoods called City 1, City 2, City 3, City 4, and City 5.

One Clinton Hometown Sees Her in Images Befitting a '50s Movie  —  SCRANTON, Pa. — She is about 3 1/2 years old, a prim little blonde in a light dress, road-testing her white anklets and Mary Janes.  Her mother, slim and stylish in a 1940s fitted suit, hat and strapped white heels …