McCain surrogate defends Swift Boaters  —  One of the participants in McCain's conference call today was Colonel Bud Day, a longtime McCain ally who was also a member of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth in 2004.  —  I asked Day whether how he'd compare the attacks he was saying McCain faces today …

Note to the religious right: auto-replace is not your friend  —  Auto-correct can be a very helpful feature of any word-processing program.  But when conservatives use it, they run the risk of embarrassing themselves.  —  Some far-right sites that subscribe to the Associated Press feed …

Our World: Livni the leader, or Livni the lamb?  —  What is one to make of Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni?  Is she the next Golda Meir?  Is she a woman of steel who can stand before world leaders and demand that they treat Israel with respect?  Can she win a war?

Google and the Anti-Obama Bloggers  —  Is Google using its network of online services to silence critics of Barack Obama?  That was the question buzzing on a corner of the blogosphere over the last few days, after several anti-Obama bloggers were unable to update their sites, which are hosted on Google's Blogger service.

Fox and Kristol claim McCain's VP choice will cause gas prices to ‘plummet.’  —  On Fox News today, host Alexis Glick previewed an interview with Bill Kristol by claiming that the Weekly Standard editor believes “the second John McCain announces his VP pick, gas prices will plummet.”

Firm gets big cut of campaign donations  —  GOP candidates see little of funds raised; Some clients, donors unaware of numbers  —  Charles A. Morse, a conservative Republican gadfly from Brookline, ran a brief write-in campaign to unseat US Representative Barney Frank in 2006.

Hillaryland at War  —  Hillary Clinton's campaign had it all: near-death moments, hard-won triumphs, dysfunctional relationships—and a staff consumed with infighting over how to sell their candidate.  It was a battle that revealed why she came so close to victory, as well as why she didn't make it.

Bringing Down Bear Stearns  —  On Monday, March 10, the rumor started: Bear Stearns was having liquidity problems.  In fact, the maverick investment bank had around $18 billion in cash reserves.  But soon the speculation created its own reality, and the race was on to keep Bear's crisis from ravaging Wall Street.

Prosecutor: Couple's crimes related to cult  —  DURHAM, N.C. — A Durham couple charged with kidnapping, rape and assault was involved with a satanic cult, a prosecutor said Monday.  —  Joy Johnson and Joseph Craig appeared at a bond hearing Monday.  A judge set Craig's bond at $590,000 …

Yes, society is gendered  —  I've had about ten requests from men to explain the phrase “winning the cocktail party”.  None from women.  —  A male friend, who spends a not inconsiderable time cruising feminist sites, was one of those who asked what it meant.

It's the 1930s, and You Are There  —  [Updated below.] … I have several complicated essays in the works concerning the nature of the attraction that Barack Obama holds for many of his supporters.  Once I complete some other articles, I will turn my full attention to them.