Iran tells US to set timetable for Iraq exit  —  Iranian officials last night demanded a timetable for US troop withdrawal from Iraq as they attended a rare meeting with American diplomats in Baghdad.  —  The conference was aimed at stopping Iraq being used as a sectarian battleground by Sunni and Shia neighbours.

Meltdown over Fox  —  Network co-sponsors state Democratic debate — oh my!  —  Hard-core liberals can't stand the Fox News Channel.  Passing a television that's tuned to the conservative favorite forces many of them to close their eyes, cover their ears and scream, "La la la la la la la la la!"

The Failed Attorney General  —  During the hearing on his nomination as attorney general, Alberto Gonzales said he understood the difference between the job he held — President Bush's in-house lawyer — and the job he wanted, which was to represent all Americans as their chief law enforcement officer …

McCain goes over to the dark side  —  John McCain goes over to the dark side  —  'THIS IS NOT Luke Skywalker here," said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), discussing his friend and Senate colleague John McCain's second run for the presidency. "  This is a totally different campaign.

Rove was asked to fire U.S. attorney  —  WASHINGTON - Presidential advisor Karl Rove and at least one other member of the White House political team were urged by the New Mexico Republican party chairman to fire the state's U.S. attorney because of dissatisfaction with his job performance including …

General Eaton: "Republican Congress worst thing that's happened to US Army and Marine Corps"  —  Friday night on Real Time, Bill Maher interviewed retired Army Major General Paul D. Eaton who was the original Commander in charge of training Iraqi troops.  Maher tries to get a laugh …

On Bush Veto Threat of Military Funding Bill  —  President Bush's Iraq policies weaken our military's readiness, dishonor our nation's promises to our veterans, and fail to hold the Iraqi government accountable for overdue reforms.  —  By threatening to veto the House's military funding bill …

HISTORICAL IRONY IN SOUTH AMERICA  —  President Bush is in South America, and whatever he is actually doing there is generally overshadowed in news accounts by the fact that protesters have turned out to accuse him of being a Nazi.  This is typical:  —  And this:

In Romney's Bid, His Wallet Opens to the Right  —  In the months before announcing his bid for the Republican presidential nomination, former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts contributed tens of thousands of dollars of his personal fortune to several conservative groups in a position to influence his image on the right.

Did Privatization Undo Walter Reed?  —  The focus of blame for the deplorable conditions of a portion of Walter Reed Army Medical Center has now fallen on the Army's decision to privatize its maintenance workforce.  After the canning the Secretary of the Army and the commander in charge of Walter Reed …

Video: UPI reporter gets emotional over Iraq; Update: Clip added  —  A reader in Thailand e-mails to say he caught this on C-SPAN yesterday and remembered our post about her from January 14.  That clip got plenty of play at the time from righty blogs simply due to the gawk factor involved …

Kasparov, Building Opposition to Putin  —  GARRY KASPAROV, the former world chess champion, took a pen and notebook and diagramed the protesters' march through St. Petersburg on March 3.  Like a general reliving a battle or a player analyzing a winning combination, he sketched Uprising Square …

Warming Report to Warn of Coming Drought  —  WASHINGTON (AP) - The harmful effects of global warming on daily life are already showing up, and within a couple of decades hundreds of millions of people won't have enough water, top scientists will say next month at a meeting in Belgium.

300  —  My less political friends were mostly focused on the gay undertones, but from a foreign policy perspective it's hard to avoid noticing that this is a movie wherein your heros battle the insidious forces of [Iran] Persia.  At one point, Xerxes even unleashes a rhinoscerous of mass destruction.

Says Zell: Military shortages, Social Security crisis, and illegal immigration all linked to abortion  —  It hasn't gotten widespread play yet, but former U.S. Sen. Zell Miller made a little news this week in Macon when he declared that abortion has contributed to the military's manpower shortage …

AGAIN, MADRID has taken to the streets in protest against Zapatero's anti-terror policies:  —  The rally is organized by the conservative Popular Party, now in opposition, and follow 65 smaller demonstrations across the country's cities yesterday evening.  They're all against Zapatero's decision …

House Dems face uphill battle over Iraq  —  WASHINGTON - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (news, bio, voting record), her party deeply divided and holding only a narrow majority, faces long odds in passing legislation that would bring troops home from Iraq before the 2008 presidential election.