Prosecutor's Firing Was Urged During Probe  —  The U.S. attorney in San Diego notified the Justice Department of search warrants in a Republican bribery scandal last May 10, one day before the attorney general's chief of staff warned the White House of "a real problem" with her, a Democratic senator said yesterday.

Voices From Iraq 2007: Ebbing Hope in a Landscape of Loss  —  National Survey of Iraq  —  A new national survey paints a devastating portrait of life in Iraq: widespread violence, torn lives, displaced families, emotional damage, collapsing services, an ever starker sectarian chasm …

BETRAYED  —  The Iraqis who trusted America the most.  —  Text Size: … On a cold, wet night in January, I met two young Iraqi men in the lobby of the Palestine Hotel, in central Baghdad.  A few Arabic television studios had rooms on the upper floors of the building, but the hotel was otherwise vacant.

News media and politics: an uneasy union  —  Some prominent journalists have mates who work for a presidential candidate.  They approach this potential conflict in different ways.  —  Some of America's most prominent political journalists are, quite literally, wedded to the 2008 presidential race …

The Blame-America-First Crowd  —  "They always blame America first."  That was Jeane Kirkpatrick, describing the "San Francisco Democrats" in 1984.  But it could be said about a lot of Americans, especially highly educated Americans, today.  —  In their assessment of what is going on in the world …

Military Is Ill-Prepared For Other Conflicts  —  Four years after the invasion of Iraq, the high and growing demand for U.S. troops there and in Afghanistan has left ground forces in the United States short of the training, personnel and equipment that would be vital to fight …

"I haven't opened up a law review in years.  No one speaks of them.  No one relies on them."  —  So says Second Circuit Judge Dennis G. Jacobs, quoted by Adam Liptak.  (TimesSelect.)  Liptak: … Many law professors seem to think they are under no obligation to say anything useful or to say anything well.

Christian right favors actor-pol Thompson over top three GOP candidates  —  Actor-politician Fred Thompson's unexpected expression of interest in seeking the Republican presidential nomination has attracted an equally unexpected favorable reaction, especially among social conservatives.

All the World's a Story  —  Journalism has always been a product of networks.  A reporter receives an assignment, begins calling "sources" — people he or she knows or can find.  More calls follow and, with luck and a deadline looming, the reporter will gain enough mastery of the topic …

Tony Snow 'Defensive' On Iraq Anniversary, Tells CNN's Ed Henry To 'Zip It'  —  President Bush will address the fourth anniversary of the Iraq invasion in a speech today at the White House.  —  During this morning's press gaggle, Tony Snow told reporters that Bush will use the speech to attack …

Whose Ox Is Gored?  —  The media discover the former vice president's environmental exaggerations and hypocrisy.  —  The media are finally catching up with Al Gore.  Criticism of his anti-global-warming franchise and his personal environmental record has gone beyond ankle-biting bloggers.

In '08 Race, Web Tactics Are Even More Integral  —  Handicapping Field  —  Is a Bigger Chore  —  As Goals Diverge  —  WASHINGTON — John Edwards topped the field of Democratic presidential contenders in the liberal blog DailyKos's latest straw poll.  But Barack Obama has the most "friends" on MySpace.

Smithsonian Documents Detail Chief's Expenses  —  Invoices Include Work on Home of Secretary Small  —  Internal Smithsonian documents offer a glimpse into what one senator called the "Dom Perignon" lifestyle of the taxpayer-supported institution's chief official, who turned in a $15,000 receipt …

Vietnam, Iraq & A Tale of Two Marches  —  Marches on the Pentagon: October 1967 (top) and March 2007 … In October 1967, I covered an anti-Vietnam War protest March on the Pentagon for my college newspaper.  That historic event, considered a turning point in opposition to the war …

John McCain Rips the Club For Growth  —  John McCain has taken some hits for not attending certain conservative events.  With CPAC, he says it was a simple schedueling conflict.  But he will not be speaking at the upcoming conservative Club For Growth meeting either.  Why not?