Rockets Fired From Lebanon Into Northern Israel  —  JERUSALEM — Israel's conflict with Hamas in Gaza threatened to broaden on Thursday as at least three rockets were fired into the north of Israel from Lebanon.  —  The rockets, presumably launched in support of Hamas, could presage the opening of a second front.

The Gaza Boomerang  —  At a time when Israel is bombing Gaza to try to smash Hamas, it's worth remembering that Israel itself helped nurture Hamas.  —  When Hamas was founded in 1987, Israel was mostly concerned with Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement and figured that a religious Palestinian organization would help undermine Fatah.

MO-Senate: Bond to Retire  —  Missouri Sen. Kit Bond (R) will retire in 2010, a decision that hands Democrats a prime pickup opportunity in a state where the party has made strides in recent years.  —  “In 1972, I became Missouri's youngest Governor,” Bond said this morning in an address to the Missouri General Assembly.

Obama to Name Lawyer Friend To Regulatory Affairs Position  —  President-elect Barack Obama will name Cass R. Sunstein, a close friend and one of the nation's top constitutional lawyers, to a senior-level post in charge of government regulation, a transition official said.

Why Obama Will ‘Own’ the Recession  —  For eight decades, Democrats have successfully blamed Republican Herbert Hoover for the decade-long Great Depression.  That, even though Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal failed to restore prosperity or dramatically lower unemployment, and his tax increases in 1937 snuffed out a nascent recovery.