Documents: Gonzales OK'd firing attorneys  —  Attorney general had been said not to have been closely involved  —  Politicians in both major parties have called for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' resignation amid the furor over the firings of U.S. attorneys.

Hostage fears over troops seized by Iran  —  Richard Beeston, Diplomatic Editor, and James Bone in New York  —  Britain's crisis with Iran deepened last night after Tehran justified seizing 15 British servicemen by claiming that they had strayed into Iranian territorial waters "illegally".

Public Takes Up Pros and Cons of Edwards Bid  —  Important policy debates about the course of the nation in the next presidential election are still out there and will no doubt return.  But for one day, many people all over the country seemed able to pause and reflect on something deeper …

Executive Overreach  —  The White House Is Taking Privilege Too Far  —  The Framers of our Constitution envisioned that in the exercise of their authorities, the two political branches would assert their prerogatives against each other.  A process of negotiation and accommodation between the branches is what one would expect.

Rudeness mars peace message  —  If the cause of peace is worth supporting — and we believe it is — then peace protesters must demonstrate the values they promote.  The vast majority of the estimated 15,000 protesters who took part in a peace march Sunday in downtown Portland did just that.

Iran's President Cancels U.N. Appearance  —  UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has canceled his trip to New York to address the U.N. Security Council before a vote on whether to impose further sanctions against his country for refusing to stop enriching uranium, the Foreign Ministry spokesman said Friday.

Justice's new U.S. attorneys have partisan records  —  WASHINGTON - Under President Bush, the Justice Department has backed tougher state voter identification laws and steered U.S. attorneys toward investigating voter fraud _ policies that critics say have been intended to suppress Democratic votes.

New Study Offers More Bad News For GOP  —  The midterm elections dispelled for the time being the notion that the Republican Party had established an enduring grip on power — and now a new study sees some dark clouds over the future of the GOP.  —  The analysis of 20 years of polling data …

THE LAB RAT THEORY....I have a theory that the combination of Romenesko, who pioneered 24/7 media navel gazing, and the rise of the blogosphere, which amplifies every jaywalking ticket into Murder 1, has turned American journalists into quivering masses of jelly.

Parliament of fools  —  The headline over the column by Tom Curry of MSNBC on Dec. 5, 2006, was clear: "Pelosi: 'We will not cut off funding' for Iraq"  —  Curry quoted her then: … The vote today was clear: Pelosi is cutting the funding for Iraq.  Out by Sept. 1, 2008.

Breaux to run if AG says he is qualified  —  BATON ROUGE — Former U.S. Sen. John Breaux said Friday that he will run for governor this fall if an opinion from state Attorney General Charles Foti says he meets the legal qualifications to do so.  —  Breaux, a Democrat, said he will be a candidate …