Some on left target McCain's war record  —  The highest voltage third rail of this presidential campaign may not be race, sex, or age, but Senator John McCain's military service.  —  McCain's campaign Sunday issued a pair of outraged statements after retired general and Barack Obama supporter Wesley Clark …

In Flag City USA, False Obama Rumors Are Flying  —  FINDLAY, Ohio — On his corner of College Street, Jim Peterman stares at the four American flags planted in his front lawn and rubs his forehead.  Peterman, 74, is a retired worker at Cooper Tire, a father of two, an Air Force veteran and a self-described patriot.

Amid Policy Disputes, Qaeda Grows in Pakistan  —  WASHINGTON — Late last year, top Bush administration officials decided to take a step they had long resisted.  They drafted a secret plan to make it easer for the Pentagon's Special Operations forces to launch missions into the snow-capped mountains …

Lack of funds hobbling the ‘Republican attack machine’  —  WASHINGTON — Democrats and the media have used the term so much that it's almost an article of faith.  But the so-called “Republican attack machine” waiting with piles of unregulated cash to chew up Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is anything but.

The Obama Agenda  —  It's feeling a lot like 1992 right now.  It's also feeling a lot like 1980.  But which parallel is closer?  Is Barack Obama going to be a Ronald Reagan of the left, a president who fundamentally changes the country's direction?  Or will he be just another Bill Clinton?

Who's responsible for shutting down a number of anti-Obama Blogspot accounts?  —  When Carissa Snedeker went to log into her Blogspot account Wednesday evening at about 7:30, she had no idea what would be waiting for her.  She had created her blog, Blue Lyon, three years ago and up until …

OBAMA'S IRAQ PROBLEM  —  In February, 2007, when Barack Obama declared that he was running for President, violence in Iraq had reached apocalyptic levels, and he based his candidacy, in part, on a bold promise to begin a rapid withdrawal of American forces upon taking office.

The Choice They Made  —  Half a century ago the philosopher Leo Strauss remarked that the passage in which the Declaration of Independence proclaims its self-evident truths “has frequently been quoted, but, by its weight and its elevation, it is made immune to the degrading effects …

Nixonian Fallacy  —  Oil Futures and the Folly of Price Controls  —  A few years back, when “subprime” generally referred to beef, economists used to congratulate themselves on their progress since the 1970s.  Central banks had learned to tame inflation.  Politicians had learned to appreciate the folly of price controls.

A silver bullet for Obama?  —  WHEN IT comes to gun control, the Democratic Party is a house divided against itself.  That helps explain Barack Obama's dizzyingly inconsistent positions on District of Columbia v. Heller, the landmark Second Amendment case decided by the Supreme Court last week.

The Voters of Appalachia ...  A - Are Hicks, B - Are Hillbillies, C - Are Rednecks, D - Don't appreciate where you're going with this  —  “Hick.”  “Hillbilly.”  “Redneck.”  “Inbred.”  “Cracker.”  “Ridge Runner.”  I heard and self-effacingly used them all when I left the mountains …

Obama Camp Thinks Democrats Can Rise in South  —  WASHINGTON — As they look to the fall election, Democrats face a strategic decision that has bedeviled their party for 40 years: How hard should they fight in the South?  —  And how does having Senator Barack Obama at the top of the ticket affect that calculation?

Feds probe S.F.'s migrant-offender shield  —  San Francisco juvenile probation officials - citing the city's immigrant sanctuary status - are protecting Honduran youths caught dealing crack cocaine from possible federal deportation and have given some offenders a city-paid flight home with carte blanche to return.

McCain's Delicate Immigration Dance  —  Back on the campaign trail late last year, amid snow drifts and ice storms, candidate Tom Tancredo spoke often about the possibility of defecting from the Republican Party if its eventual nominee failed to meet his benchmarks of conservatism …