3:20 PM ET: AP via NY Times: The Justice Department and CIA announced a joint inquiry Saturday into the spy agency’s destruction of videotapes of interrogations of two suspected terrorists. The review will determine whether a full investigation is warranted. AND THE LAST PARAGRAPH OF THE ARTICLE: The decision to destroy the tapes was made by Jose Rodriguez, then the head of the CIA’s clandestine directorate of operations under CIA Director Porter Goss. Neither works at the agency today.

PRESIDENTIAL POLITICS: NOT ALWAYS EASIER THE SECOND TIME “It’s always easier the second time around,” goes the lyrics of the old song. But while that may be true in love and romance, it is certainly not the case in presidential politics. And that is not good news for Republican John McCain and Democrat John Edwards (or for that matter, Democrats Joe Biden and Dennis Kucinich) who are making second tries for the White House in 2008 after failing to win their party’s nomination...

From my high school classmate and fellow athlete, Christine Brennan of USA Today: My Heisman pick? How ’bout C. Brennan? I Don’t Know, Chris, I’d Rather See YOU Get An Award!

Just saw part of his speech HERE. Now he is being congratulated by George H. W. and Barbara Bush. Earlier this morning, I read excerpts from the speech he planned to give and concluded that Romney does not sufficiently respect the necessary separation of Church and State. MSNBC First Read comments on the excerpts. According to Political Wire, Robert Novak says Romney’s advisers opposed giving this speech at this time. As a religious Jew, it is obvious to me that religion (yours, mine, anybody...

John Edwards channels Ralph Nader and Nader isn’t even dead. Perhaps Nader is John’s choice for running mate (should John get that far). Bonus Quote of the Day — Political Wire “And we can say as long as we get Democrats in, everything’s gonna be O.K. It’s a lie. It’s not the truth. Do you really believe if we replace a crowd of corporate Republicans with a crowd of corporate Democrats that anything meaningful’s gonna change?” – John Edwards,...

Remember when this used to be called “Going Postal” because the attacks were in post offices and by postal employees? MSNBC: Gunman opens fire at Omaha mall, killing 9 Police: Shooter committed suicide; at least 5 hospitalized with wounds

I actually heard most of this one while I was out running errands. As a Democrat who is dubious of the new NIE, I am not happy with our candidates’ insistence that the military option be “off the table” with Iran. I hope I don’t have to cast my first vote for a Republican presidential candidate in November of 2008. You can download and listen to the 2-hour debate from NPR: Iran Sparks Fireworks at Democratic Debate. You can also listen to several brief audio “highlights.” Debate...

Introduction This week, the Crystal Ball publishes another installment in our intermittent series of observations on the 2008 campaign and the politics of the day. We offer these musings as a supplement to our usual essays focusing on one subject, which will still appear regularly. Jefferson aficionados will find the title familiar, and they know he penned just one book in his lifetime, Notes on the State of Virginia. As a salute to the man from Monticello, here are a few more modern tidbits, including...

Republicans Debate: Winners and Losers Last night’s Republican debate in Florida provided plenty of fodder for folks like The Fix. The candidates unloaded on one another time and time again, a sign that voting is just around the corner in crucial states like Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. The Fix spent late last night and this morning sifting through the remains of the debate, looking for who stood out and who stood down. Below you’ll find our analysis but, as always, we want...

This should make it perfectly clear that negotiating with Arab terrorists is not just wrong but also futile: Jerusalem Post: Hamas demands UN rescind ’47 partition Hamas on Thursday called on the UN to rescind the 1947 decision to partition Palestine into two states, one for Jews and one for Arabs. The group said in a statement, released on the 60th anniversary of the UN vote, that “Palestine is Arab Islamic land, from the river to the sea, including Jerusalem… there is no room...

Last night, while answering a question on space exploration, one presidential candidate suggested that another presidential candidate be sent to Mars. This is NOT funny and may constitute a threat (which might be investigated by the Secret Service). CNN Political Ticker: Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee outlined one special plan he’d consider for NASA’s exploration of space. “Maybe Hillary can be on the first rocket to Mars,” he said, referring to the Democratic presidential...

You can watch it on CNN.com. LIVE-BLOGGING: CNN Political Ticker Caucus Blog of the New York Times MSNBC First Read Michelle Malkin AMERICAblog: Okay, it’s finally over. I’d say this was Mike Huckabee’s night. He gave great answers, held his own against the big dogs. Romney looked pathetic and often uncertain. He’s clearly not good when he’s not scripted. McCain had some moments, but overall just doesn’t have it. Rudy was just too much of a smarty pants. This...

New York Times: 77 Police Officers Hurt in Paris Riots Nearly 80 French police officers were injured during clashes with youths in a working- and lower-class suburb north of Paris last night, and six are in serious condition, police officials said, after some of the youths used hunting shotguns as well as more conventional guns, fire bombs and rocks.

Although our own Shaun Mullen posted earlier concerning Trent Lott’s planned resignation from the US Senate, we thought a round-up might be in order. The New York Times: Senator Trent Lott of Mississippi, who was forced to step down as majority leader in 2002 after making a remark that seemed to support segregation, announced today that he will resign by the end of the year. Speaking to a crowd of supporters at a televised news conference in Pascagoula, Miss., Mr. Lott said he and his wife,...

That must be why it features root vegetables! JTA via LA Jewish Journal: Thanksgiving’s Sukkot Roots Did you know that Thanksgiving is really a Jewish holiday? Although Thanksgiving is not on the Jewish calendar, historians believe that Sukkot may have inspired America’s favorite farewell to fall, often nicknamed “Turkey Day.” “The pilgrims based their customs on the Bible,” said Gloria Kaufer Greene, author of the “New Jewish Holiday Cookbook” (Times Books,...

Israelis eat Persian pistachios imported from Turkey and the US is upset. Ynet: US asks Israel to stop importing pistachio from Iran Jerusalem Post: Iranian pistachio nuts sold in Israel

Pray Tell by Jonathan Chait in The New Republic The wrong reason to hate Mitt Romney. The secularism that has generally prevailed since World War II is precisely what has allowed a Catholic to be elected president and a Jew to be nominated as vice president, among other ways that religious tolerance has expanded. Latter-Day Skeptics by Josh Patashnik in The New Republic Mormons against Romney. Ever since they made their peace with the federal government and won statehood for Utah more than a century...

The extent of polarization is apparent. Does POTUS Hear the Banging? The Senate’s eerily empty pro forma sessions this week and next have raised an age old question, with a twist: If a gavel bangs in the Senate and no one is around to hear it, does it still bang? Yes, if you look at it from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s perspective. That gavel — banged once to open the Senate, twice to close it, and all within 30 seconds, as was the case Tuesday — is a boisterous defense...

Tonight’s Debate is at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) and is hosted by CNN and the Nevada Democratic Party. The moderator is CNN’s Wolf Blitzer. The debate will be broadcast to the paying folks on CNN at 5 p.m. PT (8 p.m. ET) while non-paying folks like me might get to see it on C-SPAN in a day or two. Watch it online HERE. PRE-DEBATE ARTICLES: CNN AP via MSNBC: Clinton faces another debate after rough patch WashingtonPost’s The Trail: Spoiling for a Fight WP’s...

Rhodes Cook on Party-building success through the lens of history: During his first term, George W. Bush was arguably the most successful party-building president since Franklin D. Roosevelt. Like FDR, who fashioned a Democratic coalition that dominated American politics for a generation, Bush during his first four years in office helped the Republicans post gains in Congress and around the country that many in the party viewed as the cornerstone for a similarly long-lived GOP majority. But during...

Chris Cillizza’s The Fix: Fifty days out from Iowa, Clinton must still be considered the frontrunner in the race, but she is increasingly vulnerable to attacks from her rivals. Clinton’s vulnerability (real or imagined) comes just as Obama seems to have found his voice. Dismissing Edwards is a mistake, if only for his willingness to directly attack Clinton (a move that could well accrue to Obama’s benefit) and his continued base of support in Iowa. Iowa’s importance in the...

Brian Rothenberg’s SHADOWS ON HIGH: APPALACHIA: Southeast Ohio and south-central Ohio will once again determine our nation’s and the free-world’s future. How will two New Yorker’s fit in to Appalachia – and will Ted Strickland and Bill Clinton’s popularity in the area have coat-tails. Think about it!

NOTES ON THE STATE OF POLITICS Election ’07, Colbert, Congress and Beyond! We’ve been away for a while, traveling America discussing our new book, A More Perfect Constitution. The opportunity to discuss the U.S. Constitution–and what might be done to improve it–has been a special one, and I thank the thousands of people who have attended lectures and come to book-signings and participated in webchats on the topic. The National Constitutional Convention in Washington, D.C....

GWB’s veto of the water bill has been over-ridden by Congress. Senate Overrides Bush Veto on Water Bill By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS 7 minutes ago The enactment of the $23 billion water resources bill marked the first veto override of the Bush presidency.

The 2008 Primaries: A Long, Hard Slog? For a while, it looked as if the 2008 presidential primary season would be over in the blink of an eye, with a few big names raising and spending unprecedented sums and the outcome for both parties determined by early February. This scenario gained traction after more than two dozen states moved up their caucuses and primaries to the first six weeks of 2008 in a bid to enhance their influence over the presidential contest and undercut the traditional role of...