Big States' Plan for Earlier Primaries Scrambles Race  —  As many as four big states — California, Florida, Illinois and New Jersey — are likely to move up their 2008 presidential primaries to early next February, further upending an already unsettled nominating process and forcing candidates …

Talking Ourselves Into Defeat  —  The United States is talking itself into defeat in Iraq.  Its political culture is now in a downward spiral of pessimism.  In the halls of Congress, across endless newspaper columns, amid the punditocracy and on Sunday morning talk shows—all emit a Stygian gloom about America.

Hillary in Blogistan: On Blogads, The Netroots and Peter Daou  —  Hillary Clinton did not wait long after her weekend presidential campaign announcement to step foot in the blogosphere: By Monday her technically fledgling but long-assumed campaign had a major step toward engaging web users …

IS THE NEW YORK TIMES A LAW UNTO ITSELF?  —  Last summer, against the advice of a few of our best friends, John and I hosted a Frontline crew for interviews over the better part of a Saturday afternoon.  The interview footage may have been left on the cutting room floor …

Senate Shows Its Age; Health Problems Pose Challenge For Governing  —  The average age of members of the U.S. Senate is older than it has ever been, according to Senate Historian Richard Baker.  For many senators, advanced age is starting to show, raising questions about their ability to govern.

Our Supreme General has spoken  —  (updated below - updated again)  —  There is nothing like a feeling of besiegement and desperation to make a political movement — one that knows it is in its "last throes" — show its true colors.  The Supreme General-Commander has now decreed that any opposition to the "surge" helps The Enemy.

THE YEAR THAT DARE NOT SPEAK ITS NAME?  —  In China, it's the Year Of The P-P-P-Pig!  —  Yay!  Right?  —  Not in China.  According to this detailed WSJ report, the Chinese government is systematically censoring all mentions of pig and pig images — putting Western advertisers in a mad editing scramble:

Incomes and Inequality: What the Numbers Don't Tell Us  —  The growing inequality in wealth and income has led many people to question whether the contemporary American economy is rigged in favor of the rich.  While there is little doubt that the gap between the wealthy and everybody else …

GLAAD Criticizes CNN Host Glenn Beck's On-Air Use Of Anti-Gay Slur  —  media center > press releases > GLAAD Criticizes CNN Host Glenn Beck's On-Air Use Of Anti-Gay Slur  —  Contact: Marc McCarthy, Senior Director of Communications  —  Phone: (323) 634-2051 Email: mccarthy@glaad.org

Of Gay Sheep, Modern Science and the Perils of Bad Publicity  —  Charles Roselli set out to discover what makes some sheep gay.  Then the news media and the blogosphere got hold of the story.  —  Dr. Roselli, a researcher at the Oregon Health and Science University, has searched …

Rumsfeld's transition raises questions  —  Former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has left the Pentagon, but not the Defense Department.  —  On Jan. 4, Mr. Rumsfeld opened a government-provided transition office in Arlington and has seven Pentagon-paid staffers working for him, a Pentagon official said.

Yes, Rudy Giuliani Is a Conservative  —  And an electable one, at that.  —  Not since Teddy Roosevelt took on Tammany Hall a century ago has a New York politician closely linked to urban reform looked like presidential timber.  But today ex-New York mayor Rudy Giuliani sits at or near …

The Democrats' Rude Rebuff  —  When President Bush called for a bipartisan "special advisory council" of congressional leaders on the war against terrorism in his State of the Union address, he had in his pocket a rude rejection from Democratic leaders.  Thank you very much …

The Secret War Against Iran  —  Bringing democracy to Iraq has forced the Islamic world to confront the terrorism monster they have created.  Before Saddam was taken down, the Gulf Arabs depended on Saddam, as loathsome as he was, to keep Iran busy.  Since 1979, Shia radicals have been running Iran, and supporting Islamic terrorism.

Being Inmate No. 1187055  —  Genarlow Wilson is standing on a threshold all right, at the end of the last hall of Burruss Correctional Training Center, an hour and a half south of Atlanta.  He's just a few feet from the mechanical door that closes with a goosebump-raising whurr and clang.

2 election workers convicted of rigging '04 presidential recount  —  CLEVELAND (AP) — Two election workers in the state's most populous county were convicted Wednesday of illegally rigging the 2004 presidential election recount so they could avoid a more thorough review of the votes.

Ayatollah's snub pressures Iran president  —  Internal pressure on President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran to abandon his confrontational policies with the West has intensified after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country's supreme spiritual leader, snubbed a request for a meeting on the country's controversial nuclear programme.

In a New Joint U.S.-Iraqi Patrol, the Americans Go First  —  In the battle for Baghdad, Haifa Street has changed hands so often that it has taken on the feel of a no man's land, the deadly space between opposing trenches.  On Wednesday, as American and Iraqi troops poured in …