Spitzer choked her during sex, says call girl  —  His political rivals used to accuse Eliot Spitzer of going for the jugular.  Now a new call girl is claiming the former governor literally went for hers — claiming he wrapped his fingers around her neck during some kinky role-playing.

DAVID BROOKS GETS SHRILL.... Just yesterday I argued that respectable figures of the political establishment are reluctant to call obvious stupidity “stupid,” especially when it comes to truly painful ideas like a spending freeze in the midst of the economic crisis.

G.O.P. Senators Say Some Big Banks Can Be Allowed to Fail  —  John McCain and Richard C. Shelby, two high-profile Republican senators, said on Sunday that the government should allow a number of the biggest American banks to fail.  —  “Close them down, get them out of business,” Mr. Shelby …

His words, the president's voice  —  Obama has called his head speechwriter a mind-reader.  And at age 27, his prose is being acclaimed worldwide  —  Head speechwriter Jon Favreau talks with President Barack Obama in the Oval Office on Jan. 29, 2009.  (White House Photo by Pete Souza / January 29, 2008)

Terror-War Fallout Lingers Over Bush Lawyers  —  WASHINGTON — When John C. Yoo, a former Justice Department lawyer, was selected by President George W. Bush in May 2004 to join a government board charged with releasing historical Nazi and Japanese war crimes records, trouble quickly followed.

Democrats Have No Right To Be Snooty About Rush Not Wanting the President to Succeed  —  Let's put aside arguments about Rush Limbaugh for the time being and recognize that he's undeniably right about this: … I think we all know the answer to that — but here's some hard proof.

A Rising Dollar Lifts the U.S. but Adds to the Crisis Abroad  —  As the world is seized with anxiety in the face of a spreading financial crisis, the one place having a considerably easier time attracting money is, perversely enough, the same place that started much of the trouble: the United States.

Open Letter to the Republican Traitors (From a Former Republican)  —  Dear Republican Leaders: The Republican Party has become the party dedicated to sabotaging the American future.  Check out the sermon I just delivered about the Republican Party on CNN when being interviewed by D.L. Hughley — and/or read on.

Diversions (III)  —  Remember the Iraq drawdown you heard about last month?  The one where a Brigade originally scheduled for Iraq was going to Afghanistan instead?  Well, a funny thing about that...  Last weekend we noted this obscure bit of news from ABC:

Iran test-fires new missile - media  —  TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran has test-fired a new air-to-surface missile, Iranian media reported on Sunday, in the Islamic Republic's latest display of its military capability.  —  The missile test was carried out despite the offer by the administration …

The Inflection Is Near?  —  Sometimes the satirical newspaper The Onion is so right on, I can't resist quoting from it.  Consider this faux article from June 2005 about America's addiction to Chinese exports: … Let's today step out of the normal boundaries of analysis of our economic crisis …

Defending Chas Freeman  —  The Chas Freeman saga continues with the publication of the following letter in The Wall Street Journal: … The authors are Thomas Pickering (ambassador to Jordan, then Nigeria, then El Salvador, then Israel, then the United Nations, then India …

Clarence Thomas, Supreme Court liberal?  —  In a decision last week against the drug company Wyeth, it was the court's most conservative justice who most harshly criticized a Bush administration legal policy.  —  Reporting from Washington — The Supreme Court opinion that drew the most praise …

Mexico morgues crowded with drug-war dead  —  Bodies awaiting autopsies tell the story of an escalating drug war  —  Bodies awaiting autopsies crowd a walk-in refrigerator at the morgue in the border city of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.  —  Slideshow  —  Mexico under siege

Tea Parties?  What Tea Parties?  Predictably, Established Media Coverage of Tea Party Protests Is Sparse  —  Coverage of “tea party” protests in various cities around the country (this March 4 Pajamas Media press release, HT to FreeRepublic, cited 22 locations on February 27 and seven this weekend) …

Fatal Distraction  —  Forgetting a child in the back seat of a hot, parked car is a horrifying, inexcusable mistake.  But is it a crime?  —  The defendant was an immense man, well over 300 pounds, but in the gravity of his sorrow and shame he seemed larger still.

WHAT PRICE CHURCHILL?  —  Ted Bromund notes that upon entering office President Obama returned a bronze bust of Winston Churchill that had been on loan as a symbol of the Special Relationship from the British Government to the United States since 9/11.  According to Newsweek's report …