Obama's church accuses media of character assassination  —  The Chicago church attended by Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) issued a statement Sunday contending that coverage of his pastor's inflammatory remarks amounted to character assassination and “an attack on ... the history of the African American church.”

One Year Later, Market Where McCain Strolled ‘Freely’ Is Controlled By Sadr, Too Unsafe For Americans To Visit  —  On April 1, 2007, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) strolled through the open-air Shorja market in Baghdad in an effort to prove that Americans are “not getting the full picture” of what's going on in Iraq.

It's Not the Execution  —  The NY Times has its five year retrospective on the Iraq War and I gotta say I'm not impressed.  There are nine pieces: Bremer, Perle, Slaughter, Pollack, Pletka, Fick, Eaton, Kagan, and Cordesman.  I understand the need to bring in more conservatives for this piece …

Obama prepares for full assault on Clinton  —  Contender to take aim at Clinton's ethics  —  PLAINFIELD, Ind. - Sen. Barack Obama is trying to air his dirty laundry — even some items that might appear just a little wrinkled — as he prepares a full assault on Sen. Hillary Clinton over ethics and transparency.

Bear Stearns Closes in on Deal To Sell Itself to J.P. Morgan  —  Bear Stearns Cos. was closing in on a deal Sunday afternoon to sell itself to J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., as worries deepened that the financial crisis of confidence could spread if Bear failed to find a buyer by Monday morning.

Axelrod: A “Major” Reason Wright Didn't Speak At Obama's Announcement Was...It Was Too Cold  —  Top Obama adviser David Axelrod just told reporters that the weather was one of the reasons Rev. Jeremiah Wright did not speak at Obama's presidential candidacy announcement last year in Springfield, Illinois.

Oklahoma Rep. Sally Kern on YouTube Clip: Homosexuality Bigger Threat Than Terrorism  —  OKLAHOMA CITY — A YouTube audio clip of a state lawmaker's screed against homosexuality, which she called a bigger threat than terrorism, has outraged gay activists and brought death threats rolling in.

The Intelligence Cover-Up  —  For more than two years now, Congress, the news media, current and former national security officials, think tanks and academic institutions have been engaged in a profound debate over how to modernize the law governing electronic spying to keep pace with technology.

The Wit & Wisdom of Barack Obama  —  Some of it may sound familiar.  —  There's still room for whimsy at the New Yorker magazine, I don't care what you've heard.  Just the other day two of the New Yorker's bloggers (now there's a phrase to send Harold Ross spinning) were chewing over the widely noted eloquence of Barack Obama.

Perino: men know more about war ‘by osmosis.’  —  Perino: men know more about war ‘by osmosis.’  —  On Fox News Sunday today, White House press secretary Dana Perino was named the “Power Player of the Week.”  She explained to host Chris Wallace that, in addition to the pressure to look good …

Why the #$@! is AG Mukasey speaking out against execution for 9/11 plotters and suggesting US justice is sadist?  —  I have never quite figured out what's going on with the Justice Department under the leadership of AG Michael Mukasey, but this new piece from ABCNews has me really scratching my head.