Bear Stearns Closes in on Deal To Sell Itself to J.P. Morgan  —  Bear Stearns Cos. was closing in on a deal Sunday afternoon to sell itself to J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., as worries deepened that the financial crisis of confidence could spread if Bear failed to find a buyer by Monday morning.

Obama's church accuses media of character assassination  —  The Chicago church attended by Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) issued a statement Sunday contending that coverage of his pastor's inflammatory remarks amounted to character assassination and “an attack on ... the history of the African American church.”

Pastor Wright Erased From Obama's Website  —  Just like in the bad old days of the Stalinist Soviet Union, an inconvenient personage has been airbrushed from the Barack Obama campaign's website.  —  Before, via Google's cache (as retrieved on Mar 8, 2008 20:01:06 GMT): … And the current page:

One Year Later, Market Where McCain Strolled ‘Freely’ Is Controlled By Sadr, Too Unsafe For Americans To Visit  —  On April 1, 2007, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) strolled through the open-air Shorja market in Baghdad in an effort to prove that Americans are “not getting the full picture” of what's going on in Iraq.

Bill Clinton: ‘Chill Out,’ Let Voters Decide  —  Former President Says Most Democrats Like Both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama  —  Bill Clinton, in an exclusive interview with Robin Roberts, said he thinks Democrats are torn between two candidates they like, and that it's time to “chill out” …

Op-Ed Contributors: Reflections on the Invasion of Iraq  —  To mark this week's fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, the Op-Ed page asked nine experts on military and foreign affairs to assess their previous and current outlook.

McGreevey aide says he had sexual trysts with ex-governor, wife  —  A former aide to James E. McGreevey said today that he had three-way sexual trysts with the former governor and his wife before he took office, challenging Dina Matos McGreevey's assertion that she was naive about her husband's sexual exploits.

Video: Juan Williams lowers the boom on Obama  —  By special request of Ace, who tells me his commenters were buzzing about it this morning.  Williams has never had much patience for grievance culture so this shouldn't surprise.  He's juggling a lot of balls here — the “authenticity” …

Newsweek Examines Eliot Spitzer's Life  —  In a very long article, Evan Thomas examines the life and background of Eliot Spitzer, trying to understand why he engaged in such reckless conduct.  Shorter version: He was trying to please Daddy.  —  He describes Spitzer's family: … More...

Gallup Daily: McCain at 47% to Obama's 44%  —  PRINCETON, NJ — The latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking update on registered voters' general election preferences for president finds that John McCain has opened up a slight advantage over Barack Obama, 47% to 44%, while McCain and Hillary Clinton remained tied at 46% each.