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 …

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!"

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.

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.

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 …

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.

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 …

Crisis Looms in Mortgages  —  On March 1, a Wall Street analyst at Bear Stearns wrote an upbeat report on a company that specializes in making mortgages to cash-poor homebuyers.  The company, New Century Financial, had already disclosed that a growing number of borrowers were defaulting …

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:

Caught On Tape: Mugger Attacks 101-Year-Old Woman In Queens  —  NEW YORK — New York City police are searching for a mugger whose attack on an elderly woman was caught on tape.  —  View Images  —  In surveillance footage recorded at around 12:30 p.m. Sunday, the man is seen punching Rose Morat …

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.

Cameron considers tax hikes on air travel  —  Harsh new taxes on air travel, including a strict personal flight "allowance", will be unveiled by the Conservatives tomorrow as part of a plan that would penalise business travellers, holidaymakers and the tourist industry.

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.