Gingrich had affair during Clinton probe  —  WASHINGTON - Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich acknowledged he was having an extramarital affair even as he led the charge against President Clinton over the Monica Lewinsky affair, he acknowledged in an interview with a conservative Christian group.

Frequent Errors In FBI's Secret Records Requests  —  A Justice Department investigation has found pervasive errors in the FBI's use of its power to secretly demand telephone, e-mail and financial records in national security cases, officials with access to the report said yesterday.

'What Has Happened to Dick Cheney?'  —  Is the vice president losing his influence, or perhaps his mind?  That question, even if it is phrased more delicately, is creeping through foreign ministries and presidential offices abroad and has become a factor in the Bush administration's relations with the world.

SENATE DEMOCRATS ANNOUNCE JOINT RESOLUTION TO TRANSITION THE MISSION IN IRAQ  —  Washington, DC — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid today joined Assistant Democratic Leader Dick Durbin, Democratic Conference Vice Chairman Charles Schumer, Democratic Conference Secretary Patty Murray …

Elite Iranian general defects with Hezbollah's arms secrets  —  An Iranian general who went missing on a visit to Turkey last month appears to have defected to America, taking with him a treasure trove of his country's most closely guarded secrets.  —  Ali Resa Asgari, 63 …

Net worth of U.S. households skyrockets  —  WASHINGTON - The net worth of U.S. households climbed to a record high in the final quarter of last year, boosted mostly by gains on stocks, the Federal Reserve reported Thursday.  —  Net worth — the difference between households' total assets …

Update on Gilly—Not out of the Woods Yet  —  Still here  —  Jen here.  I just got off the phone with Gilly's Mom.  Last night, her message was that "they brought him down from surgery, but he's still under sedation."  I called her this morning to get more details, and here they are:

THE BATTLE EPIC 300.  —  If 300, the new battle epic based on the graphic novel by Frank Miller and Lynn Varley, had been made in Germany in the mid-1930s, it would be studied today alongside The Eternal Jew as a textbook example of how race-baiting fantasy and nationalist myth can serve as an incitement to total war.

Rove: Prosecutor Purge Is "Normal and Ordinary"  —  The Arkansas Times' blog has video of Karl Rove speaking today on the topic of the prosecutor purge.  I've typed up a transcript of the remarks, but I'll leave it to readers in comments to point out the many distortions (and some plain lies) in Rove's comments.

Senate Republicans Deliver Sharp Criticism of Gonzales  —  Senators Say Attorney General Fired Prosecutors Without Explanation  —  Senior Senate Republicans today delivered scathing criticism of Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales for his handling of the firing of eight U.S. attorneys …

Cubans sneak ashore during U.S. security drill  —  MIAMI (Reuters) - While hundreds of U.S. law enforcement agents intercepted imaginary Cuban migrants during a massive training exercise in south Florida, two boatloads of actual Cubans sneaked ashore on Miami Beach on Thursday.

Good News Bad News  —  Hope lost, hope maintained, dreams and longing on International Women's Day in Iraq.  —  It's time for the news:  —  Bad news, Dem Cong war plan still calls for surrender.  Good news, they probably won't be able to agree on this either.  "Son of Slow-Bleed" if you will.

Prof pays price for causing offense  —  Sensitivities take precedence over truth and academic freedom  —  When UW Law School professor Leonard Kaplan ended his legal-process class on Feb. 15, there was no sign that he had offended anyone.  There were no questions or complaints, and no one approached him afterward.