Obama says McCain would be better than Bush  —  READING, Pa. (AP) — Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said Sunday that Republican rival John McCain would be better for the country than President Bush has been over the past eight years.  —  “You have a real choice in this election.

Secretary of State Rice Mocks Muslim Cleric Muqtada al-Sadr as a Coward  —  BAGHDAD — Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice mocked anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr as a coward on Sunday, hours after the radical leader threatened to declare war unless U.S. and Iraqi forces end a military crackdown on his followers.

Trailing in Pennsylvania, Obama's Tone Is Sharper  —  READING, Pa. — Senator Barack Obama sharpened his tone against Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton on Sunday as the six-week Pennsylvania primary contest raced to a close, with the rivals marshaling extensive resources in a battle for undecided voters …

This Week: Bringing Up McCain's Life-Long, Federally-Provided Health Care Is “A Cheap Shot”  —  Wow.  George Stephanopoulos actually listened to us and asked John McCain some pretty tough questions today on This Week.  Who knew that George read teh blogs?  McCain's body language …

Debate Analysis: ABC Asked Most Scandal Questions, Obama Was Clear Target  —  The furor over ABC's Democratic debate last week was not universally shared.  —  While Obama supporters (and many media critics) decried what they saw as biased, gotcha-style questioning, a vocal minority (mostly Clinton supporters) was unmoved.

WTF Toddler Threatens To Kill President Bush!  (This Video Is Banned From YouTube)[All 3 Parts Full Version]  —  Some toddler throws threatning remarks about President Bush!  The video has been taken down from youtube.  Heres what they didnt want you to see.

Bloody Weekend: 32 Shot, 2 Stabbed, 6 Dead  —  CHICAGO (CBS) ― A violent and deadly weekend continues in Chicago.  At least 12 people have been shot, two of them killed, since Saturday morning.  Two others were stabbed in a home invasion.  This comes after at least 20 people were shot …

Neo-Nazis Clash With Protesters  —  3 Arrested as White Supremacist Group Marches on Capitol  —  A march by a busload of neo-Nazi activists on Constitution Avenue yesterday wreaked havoc on a balmy afternoon in the capital, bringing traffic to a halt, filling the streets with hundreds …

Everyone an Anti-Semite  —  For reasons I can't quite comprehend, even some pretty hardened TNR-haters seem to see Leon Wieseltier as making a positive contribution to the world.  Certainly, some very good stuff appears in the back of the book over there, but the man's own work is a kind of writing-as-thuggery.

Obama: Can't ‘Swift Boat’ Me  —  Charles Ommanney / Getty Images for Newsweek  —  Seeing Ghosts: Obama's ties to Ayers and Auchi are distant, but his foes plan to pounce  —  The Obama campaign is planning to expand its research and rapid-response team in order to repel attacks it anticipates …

Pentagon Pimps  —  If you thought the US media had hit a new low with last week's ABC Debate Debacle, read Sunday's New York Times's 10,000 (plus) word cover story, “Behind TV Analysts, Pentagon's Hidden Hand.”  —  Using 8000 pages of e-mail messages, transcripts and records …

MoveOn Wants To Move On  —  MoveOn.LOL wants to move on past its opposition to the war in Afghanistan.  This is in the news becasue Hilary was caught on tape denouncing the MoveOn wing of the Democratic Party; the admirable and always readable Hilzoy of Obsidian Wings sends us to the Huffington Post …

So How Do We Fight An Information War?  —  The usual suspects are going bonkers - bonkers! - over the notion that the Pentagon briefed a cadre of retired military men who served as ‘expert commentators’ in the media.  —  So here's my problem.  If we're engaged in counterinsurgency …