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On Feb. 12 in a village near Gardez, in Paktia Province, Afghan police special forces paired with American Special Operations forces raided a house late at night looking for two Taliban suspects, and instead killed a local police chief and a district prosecutor when they came out, armed with Kalashnikov rifles, to investigate. Three women who came to their aid, according to interviews with family members and friends, were also killed; one was a pregnant mother of 10, the other a pregnant mother of 6.

In fact, two recent polls, including one with the most negative ratings on health care, reveal through follow-up questions that a significant number of people who oppose current plans do so because they don't go far enough rather than because they go too far. Not only is it absurd to suggest that these people would rise up against Democrats for passing the president's plan, it is far more likely that they would join others who support the plan and punish those who tried to block reform or voted against it.

JERUSALEM -- After spending most of Tuesday celebrating what he called the "unshakable" bond between the United States and Israel, Vice President Biden ended the day strongly condemning the longtime U.S. ally for approving 1,600 new housing units in disputed east Jerusalem -- an awkwardly timed move that threatened to kill a new push for Mideast peace by the Obama administration.

In fact, Obama's budget boosts NASA's funding by $6 billion over the next five years. The extra money is less than the $3 billion-a-year hike that a presidential advisory panel said would be necessary for a robust human space flight, but it's still an increase when many agencies are being squeezed.

“If a school continues to fail its students year after year after year, if it doesn’t show signs of improvement, then there’s got to be a sense of accountability,” Mr. Obama said. “And that’s what happened in Rhode Island last week.”

Lauren K. Saunders, a lawyer at the National Consumer Law Center, said advocates feared that in the effort to reach a compromise, the agency’s power would be so watered down as to be ineffectual. “We’re completely outgunned,” she said. “Despite the millions of consumers who are affected, the money and the resources of the banking industry clearly overwhelm us. Even in this crisis, it’s hard for our voice to be heard.”

The U.S. military has prepared contingency plans to delay the planned withdrawal of all combat forces in Iraq, citing the prospects for political instability and increased violence as Iraqis hold national elections next month.

In the past year, the number of active Republican town and city committees has jumped from 300 to 400, said Tarah Donoghue, communications director for the state Republican Party. “I think the groundswell will continue and there’s tremendous momentum . . . people are ready to hold the party in power accountable’’ she said.

"If Iran is indeed becoming a military dictatorship, this probably qualifies it for American aid and hugs, rather than sanctions and threats," wrote Rami Khouri, editor at large of Beirut's Daily Star. "The United States has adored military dictatorships in the Arab world, especially states dominated by the shadowy world of intelligence services."

Looked at dispassionately, those political attacks essentially buttress the consensus around global warming. If that much money and attention can be aimed at the data and all anyone can find is a few mistakes and a collection of nasty e-mails, it's a pretty good sign that the science is sound (though not as good a sign as the melting Arctic). The British newspaper the Guardian just concluded a huge series on the "Climategate" e-mails with the words: "The world is still warming. Humanity is still to blame. And we still, urgently, need to do something about it."