McCain makes unannounced trip to Iraq  —  BAGHDAD - Sen. John McCain, the Republican Party's presumptive nominee for president who has linked his political future to U.S. success in Iraq, was in Baghdad on Sunday for meetings with Iraqi and U.S. diplomatic and military officials, a U.S. government official said.

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.

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.

Pastor Wright Erased From Obama's Website  —  Just like in the bad old days of the Stalinist Soviet Union, an inconvenient personage has been airbrushed from the Barack Obama campaign's website.  —  Before, via Google's cache: … And the current page: … Now is that keeping the faith?

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.

Obama, Clinton brace for three-month deadlock  —  The Democratic race has entered its World War I phase, a bloody fight between two adversaries making only the most incremental of gains.  And there is no reason to think either side will emerge from the trenches anytime soon.

Clinton campaign wants Texas to postpone party conventions  —  As final results from the Texas Democratic caucus remain unknown, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign wants signatures from the March 4 contest verified before party conventions are held around the state later this month.

A Novel Take on an Ending  —  Back when I was teaching fiction writing, I used to pitch my students, especially the beginners, on complexity.  They seemed to think that readers would be attracted to their characters' virtue and would recognize shared humanity in their strength and courage …

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 …

The Clinton Rules and The Obama Rules  —  One of the useful side-effects of the Jeremiah Wright brouhaha is its ample illustration of The Clinton Rules and The Obama Rules for this campaign.  These rules are based on the Brilliant and Thought-Provoking JournalismTM of some of the major …

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.

Through Bush-Colored Glasses  —  President Bush admitted on Friday that times are tough.  So much for the straight talk.  —  Mr. Bush went on to paint a false picture of the economy.  He dismissed virtually every proposal Congress is working on to alleviate the mortgage crisis, sticking to his administration's inadequate ideas.

Iraq Insurgency Runs on Stolen Oil Profits  —  BAIJI, Iraq — The Baiji refinery, with its distillation towers rising against the Hamrin Mountains, may be the most important industrial site in the Sunni Arab-dominated regions of Iraq.  On a good day, 500 tanker trucks will leave the refinery filled …