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 …

David Gregory To Anchor 6pm Show on MSNBC  —  First on TVNewser: NBC News chief White House correspondent David Gregory is being tapped to anchor a new MSNBC program called Race for the White House.  Gregory will take over the 6pmET time slot from Tucker Carlson who remains with the network …

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 …

Iraq benchmarks: false precision?  —  A lot of liberal bloggers are understandably skeptical of this Michael O'Hanlon piece on establishing political benchmarks in Iraq. … Spencer is probably the most pungent, Ezra's the soberest, and Matt wins the prize for best metaphor:

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.

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.

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 …

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.

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.

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.

The Top 10 Reasons Bloggers Don't Succeed  —  Last week, the Blogging While Female article that I did touched on, in passing, some recommendations for bloggers who want to become more successful.  I heard from a few people that they wanted to hear more on that topic and although …