Doing the Marxist Slide— Venezuela Votes on Chavista Rule... Update: CHAVEZ WINS!... Update 2: Maybe Not?  —  CHAVEZ WINS!!!  (4:30 PM CST)  —  Aljazeera reports: … Reuters reports that "Government Sources" have confirmed that Chavez has won.  —  Sky News and China News are reporting the win for Chavez.

What This is Not  —  A few additional words on what the situation with the Smith Lebanon reporting is and what it isn't: It isn't a case of fabrication, as some of Smith's accusers have alleged.  With regard to the two posts in question, it is my belief, based on an investigation …

More on Romney Religion Speech  —  The venue is not a surprise, since Romney has given a previous major address (on defense policy) at the Bush library, and the two families are very close.  And Texas, of course, was also the venue for John F. Kennedy's famous speech on religion in 1960 …

Jay Leno turns traitor: Fires his writers  —  I guess passing out some donuts while wearing his Republican lapel pin to striking writers was as far he was willing to go.  What a putz. … Bob Cesca says:

Edwards Wins a Key Iowa Backer  —  DES MOINES - John Edwards is set to collect a key Iowa endorsement tomorrow from one of the state's Democratic members of Congress, a coveted prize that each of Mr. Edwards' rivals have been aggressively courting.  —  Representative Bruce Braley …

For Justices, Another Day on Detainees  —  Observers at the Supreme Court on Wednesday should probably be excused in advance for concluding that they have wandered into a time warp.  —  The question before the court will be whether federal judges have jurisdiction to hear cases brought by detainees at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

CNN'S VIRTUAL REALITY  —  ITS ORDINARY WORLD IS ANYTHING BUT  —  By now you've probably heard that CNN made such a laughingstock of itself at the recent YouTube debate in Florida that it could only have been worse if host Anderson Cooper conducted it in fluent Klingon.

An Old Face Resurfaces  —  The Bush administration has offered the former World Bank president a new public service position.  —  Don't ever say the Bush administration doesn't take care of its own.  Nearly three years after Paul Wolfowitz resigned as deputy Defense secretary and six months …

Memo to Obama: win Iowa or lose the race  —  Not that you have asked for advice, but here it is anyway: Iowa is your chance to best her.  If you do not do it there, odds are you never will anywhere.  You are way behind her in most national polls.  The only way to change that is to beat …

A loss for civilisation  —  ACCORDING to my Oz-watching pals in Britain and the US, John Howard is not a failure but a victim of his own success.  He made Australia safe for the Labor Party: or, at any rate, safe enough that a sufficient number of bored electors were willing to take a flier …

Bagpipes a threat to the environment (and we're not talking noise pollution)  —  THEY were once outlawed for being used as seditious weapons of war.  Now, bagpipes have been blasted as an environmental menace.  —  Over-intensive logging means that the African wood used to make Scotland's national instrument faces being wiped out.

TRYST FUND 'SICKENS' EX-OFFICIAL  —  A former Giuliani administration official says he's "sick" over reports that his little-known agency was used to hide taxpayer money that funded police escorts during the ex-mayor's romantic rendezvous in the Hamptons.  —  "The cover-up of this and the explanations …

An Attack, From the Candidate's Mouth  —  CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - At a news conference here just now, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton expanded her attacks on Senator Barack Obama by suggesting that he has a character issue because of his assertions that his health insurance plan covers all Americans …