Obama Campaign: “McCain Is Not A Warmonger”  —  Yesterday evening, Senator Barack Obama dropped by a fundraiser for North Dakota Democrats.  The campaign arranged with the state party to allow a print pool reporter to accompany the senator, but no cameras were allowed, which has been typical at fundraisers …

North Carolina Democratic Primary  —  North Carolina: Obama 56% Clinton 33%  —  In North Carolina, Barack Obama has opened up a twenty-three percentage point lead over Hillary Clinton.  The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey finds that Obama attracts 56% of the vote while Clinton earns 33%.

MCCAIN, OBAMA, CLINTON, PETRAEUS  —  Gen. David Petraeus' return engagement on Capitol Hill next week will be of particular interest to a few of the senators on committees hearing his testimony: Sens. McCain, Obama and Clinton.  —  McCain, as the AP's Liz Sidoti points out today …

Colombia to Penn: You're Fired  —  More fallout from the Mark Penn Colombia episode:  —  The Colombian government said on Saturday that it was ending its relationship with Burson-Marsteller, the global public relations firm headed by Mark Penn, who is also Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton's pollster and chief strategist.

Walls close in on Phelpses  —  Judge orders liens on church building, law office  —  A federal judge in Maryland on Thursday ordered liens on the Westboro Baptist Church building and the Phelps-Chartered Law office.  —  If the case presided over by U.S. District Court Judge Richard D. Bennett …

British fear US commander is beating the drum for Iran strikes  —  British officials gave warning yesterday that America's commander in Iraq will declare that Iran is waging war against the US-backed Baghdad government.  —  A strong statement from General David Petraeus about Iran's intervention …

Army Worried by Rising Stress of Return Tours to Iraq  —  WASHINGTON — Army leaders are expressing increased alarm about the mental health of soldiers who would be sent back to the front again and again under plans that call for troop numbers to be sustained at high levels in Iraq for this year and beyond.

In Web World of 24/7 Stress, Writers Blog Till They Drop  —  SAN FRANCISCO — They work long hours, often to exhaustion.  Many are paid by the piece — not garments, but blog posts.  This is the digital-era sweatshop.  You may know it by a different name: home.

The Media's defense of McCain's 100-years in Iraq comment  —  It's not surprising that McCain's Media must defend him at every turn.  Here's a typical example from emailer Candice: … We know that wasn't the case, Mr.Williams.  —  Bob Somerby asks: “Are these life-forms actually human?”

Pinched to Death at the New York Times … Ironman @ Political Calculations: The Accelerating Decline of the New York Times notes, with data to back him up, … Here's what the years from 1993 to 2007 looked like at the New York Times:  —  Click to enlarge

Reality Check  — Worst-Case Scenarios by Cass Sunstein Buy this book  —  Two months after the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, Dick Cheney was told about a meeting that Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri had had a month before the attacks around a campfire in Kandahar …

Sen. Biden: Troop buildup is failure  —  WASHINGTON - A leading Democrat on Saturday declared last year's troop buildup in Iraq a failure.  —  Sen. Joe Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the military push didn't succeed because U.S. troops remain committed …

Phil Gramm: McCain's Terrorist In Pinstripes  —  There is a ticking time bomb in the John McCain campaign and the sooner that Barack Obama can turn his full attention to exploiting it the bigger and consequential the explosion should be for this phony maverick.

SPEAKOUT: Debunking the top 10 myths of jury trials  —  The public holds many misconceptions regarding the criminal justice system.  Here are the top 10 myths of jury trials:  —  1. Your only chance as a defendant is to have lots of money.  —  This is largely false …

HOW WE GOT HERE!  McCain could still win it.  Here's why:  —  WHERE THE WH*RES ARE: In our view, it's been a sad and sobering week for “liberal” and “progressive” values.  We'll start with the suspension of Randi Rhodes, who displayed appalling bad judgment in letting us know “Where the Wh*res Are.”

Lawmaker apologizes for comment on Iraq guard  —  A North Carolina congressman has apologized for calling a contract employee in Baghdad a “two-bit security guard.”  —  Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., used that term when talking about a visit to Iraq where he was denied access to a gymnasium.