The New York Times is sticking by today's story which said that CBS News is surrendering its news gathering to CNN. The greater implication of the Times account — which used unnamed sources — was that the traditional broadcast network which once showcased Walter Cronkite was yielding to the pressures of the marketplace and the demands of new audiences.

The Drudge Report led with the news, sparking immediate coverage in Variety, Hollywood Reporter, Reuters and other new outlets. CBS would get "a huge makeover," said one story. Bloggers followed, many accusing CBS of "selling out," among other sins.

CBS firmly denied the Times' claims this morning. "We're extremely satisfied with and proud of our news-gathering operation," said CBS News spokeswoman Sandy Genelius. "No outside arrangements are being negotiated."

But Tim Arango, the Times corporate media reporter, is not giving an inch, and says so in very straightforward terms.

"Of course I stand by the story 100 percent," Mr. Arango said in an email to The Washington Times.

-- Jennifer Harper, national reporter, The Washington Times

The Washington Times is evaluating the items on our Comics page, and we'd like your input.

As it stands, we've got 17 comic strips running on our page. We want to know what you like, what you don't like and even what you feel we're missing.

Our collection ranges from a playful pair of fraternal twins and their grandmother in Grand Avenue to the saucy quips of Fred Basset and the motherly musings of Rose is Rose.

We've also got the indomitable Crankshaft, the geeky but genial Monty and the lovable pup Buckles.

And of course, we've got the daily high school dramas in the long-running Funky Winkerbean, The Buckets' family foibles and the good-natured ribbings of Herb & Jamaal .

The dashing Dick Tracy sniffs out criminals on our page, and the characters of Crock lampoon society and each other out in the desert while the cavemen of B.C. escape the jaws of dinosaurs.

Our Rubes strip is biting but side-splitting, and Bizarro is, well, bizarre.

Rounding out our team is the intrepid maid Hazel, the self-titled strip of Harry Bliss and feline frolicking in Cats With Hands.

We're asking our readers to e-mail us the names of their four favorite comic strips. We'd also like to know which ones don't tickle your funny bone and even the names of 'toons we aren't running but are worth a look.

Please send your comments to comics@washingtontimes.com. We look forward to hearing from you.

Update: Thanks to everyone who has responded so far. We're still accepting feedback until April 11 and would love to hear from you. Thus far, we're hearing not much love for Hazel or Rubes, and folks are interested in seeing us pick up maybe Dilbert or Snuffy Smith. Please keep your responses coming!

Update II:Our comics survey is now closed. Thank you to everyone who has participated.

--Carrie Sheffield, Web editor, The Washington Times

The elaborate twin stories in The Washington Post and New York Times which suggested Sen. John McCain is guilty of favoring — and romancing — Vicki Iseman, an attractive female lobbyist, way back in the year 2000 have rankled dozens of analysts. Some support the Arizona Republican, some don't. Collectively, they were annoyed by the tag team timing of the stories, their use of unnamed sources and because they were based on an event which happened eight years ago.

The critics smelled a rat, and were particularly irked by the New York Times' accusations that lawmaker was sweet on lobbyist.

"The story is not the story. The story is the drive-by media turning on its favorite maverick and trying to take him out. The media picked the GOP's candidate, the New York TImes endorsed him while they sat on this story, and is now, with utter predictability, trying to destroy him," said talk radio host Rush Limbaugh.

Media Research Center president Brent Bozell Rush Limbaugh called the Times story a "patently politically motivated, hit job. A 10-year old piece of gossip." Human Events editor Jed Babbin said, "The New York Times is not in the news business. They're political activists posing as news people."

MSNBC's Keith Olbermann, meanwhile, said the unfolding McCain situation was "eerily similar" to the Monica Lewinsky matter of a decade ago. In January, 1998, rumor-fueled news coverage revealed that former President Bill Clinton had dallied with a White House intern — sparking stringent White House defense work, a story within itself.

-- Jennifer Harper, reporter, The Washington Times

The Washington Times' Patrice Hill writes on the Times Web site today that American consumers are more worried about rising fuel and energy costs than the subprime mortgage crisis.

What economic issue has hit your household the hardest?

Reporting and preparing this story for publication sparked quite a few conversations in the newsroom about how families and households are dealing with rising prices. It seems like everyone is lowering the thermostat and easing off the gas pedal. Any tips for fellow consumers?

-- David Eldridge, managing editor, WashingtonTimes.com

The Washington Times' Bill Gertz reports this morning that the Pentagon's proposed shoot-down of a deteriorating spy satellite will serve more than one purpose:

The Pentagon's plan to shoot down a failed satellite with a missile defense interceptor in the coming days is aimed at preventing toxic fuel from reaching earth. But U.S. officials and experts said yesterday it would also signal that U.S. missile defenses can be used to counter China's strategic anti-satellite weapons.

China conducted its first successful test of an anti-satellite (ASAT) weapon on Jan. 11, 2007, in what defense and military officials called a new strategic threat to the United States.

If intended as a message to the Chinese, the Pentagon must be confident the shoot-down is going to work.

We'll be back with more details after this afternoon's briefing.

-- David Eldridge, managing editor, WashingtonTimes.com

Barack Obama has failed to get a significant Oprah Winfrey-endorsement bounce in New Hampshire, a new poll finds.

The 7News-Suffolk University poll also suggests that the Mike Huckabee-mania that has moved the former Southern Baptist minister into the lead in some Iowa polls and in second place in some national polls hasn't hit New Hampshire.

Mitt Romney, at 31 percent, still leads by a hefty margin, with John McCain surging past Rudy Giuliani into second place, at 19, in the Republican presidential primary field, according to the new poll.

Mr. Giuliani has 17 percent, and Mr. Huckabee has 10 percent and fourth place, though 3 percentage points higher than last month.

Appearing to be candid with voters, which some political analysts thought might be nearly as imortant as likeability in this election, plays to Mr. McCain's strength, the poll found.

More New Hampshire voters — 15 percent — said Mr. McCain is the most candid candidate, 13 percent named Mr. Obama and 11 percent named Hillary Clinton.

The poll sampled 300 voters likely to participate in the Jan. 8 Democratic primary and was conducted Monday and Tuesday, after Miss Winfrey's appearance in the state with Mr. Obama on Sunday.

The poll also sampled 300 voters likely to vote in the Republican primary and was conducted on Sunday and Monday.

Significantly, the poll found that Mrs. Clinton benefits from John Edwards staying in the Democratic nomination contest.

Among his supporters, 57 percent had a favorable view of Mr. Obama and 26 percent had an unfavorable view. But 46 percent view Mrs. Clinotn favorably, while 39 percent see her unfavorably.

"If Edwards were to fold after Iowa, most of his voters would probably migrate to Mr. Obama," said poll director David Paleologos.

In another significant trend, Mr. Paleologos noted that Democratic voters were deserting the lowest-tier candidates and moving to Mr. Obama or to the undecided column, which shifted from 12 percent to 19 percent in the same poll last month.

Mr. Paleologos said Mr. Romney's three-point decline decline from last month may be related, in part, to "a disagreement about the role of religion in government."

"When likely Republican voters were asked if freedom requires religion, as Romney claimed in his speech on 'Faith in America' last week, 55 percent said 'no' while 34 per cent said 'yes,' " he said. "And 53 percent said there should be complete separation of church and state, while 35 percent said no."

— Ralph Z. Hallow, senior national correspondent, The Washington Times

Capitol Hill is buzzing today over Sara Carter's story about Iraqis who've gone missing from their U.S. training assignments:

Numerous Iraqi military and law-enforcement officials brought to the U.S. as part of special intelligence and training programs have run away and are seeking asylum in this country or disappeared altogether, The Washington Times has learned.

Intelligence officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity, say nearly a dozen Iraqis fled military training facilities in the U.S., including a brigadier general who went to Canada with his family earlier this year.

Army officials yesterday confirmed that five Iraqi military personnel whom the Army had been training disappeared between 2005 and 2007. They did not know how many other Iraqis sponsored by the Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy may have done the same. . . .
Defense officials said the Iraqis' backgrounds are checked by the State Department before they are accepted into the program.

And why don't I feel better knowing that it was the State Department who checked these people out?

UPDATE 3:30 p.m.:

Linked at Outside the Beltway, where by James Joyner remarks:

Still, if we can't track Iraqi generals on our Army bases, it's no wonder we haven't gotten a handle on 20 million-odd illegal aliens.

Seriously, if you were from Iraq and here for training, you wouldn't go AWOL? In my mind, sweeping floors at the nearest Taco Bell is probably better than going back to pretty much anything in [Iraq]."

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) dispatched its Chicago office director Ahmed Rehab to the Heartland Presidential Forum in Des Moines, Iowa, on Saturday to ask Democratic candidate John Edwards "a question about American Muslims and the civil rights movement," the group announced yesterday.

CAIR issued a transcript of the question and answer, which it said was accepted with frequent applause.

AHMED REHAB: Senator, my name is Ahmed Rehab from Chicago, Illinois. I'm from the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Chicago and the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights.

REHAB: As a full-time civil rights activist, I receive hundreds of complaints from American Muslims regarding the sort of abuses, and prejudices, and discriminations that they face on a regular basis simply because of their name, physical appearance, or faith affiliation, whether it's housing discrimination, or employment discrimination, or having to wait two to five years over the average time limit in order to obtain their citizenship.

Sadly, it seems that we're facing a culture of fear-mongering that is replacing our collective constitutional vision for equal opportunity for all.

Senator, in the '60s, Malcolm and Martin gave up their lives fighting for justice for all. The civil rights movement is not over. It's not done yet. We're still fighting.

Senator, fighting the civil rights movement is what I do on a daily basis, and we would like to know if you will fight with us, if elected president. Thank you.

SEN. JOHN EDWARDS: … We've got to stop this racial profiling that's going on in the United States of America.

And we've got to change the entire atmosphere. Here's what I'll do as president: I will close Guantanamo, which I think is a national embarrassment.

We will have no more secret prisons, no more rendition, no more — and I use this word intentional — no more illegal spying on the American people by the president of the United States of America.

And then, finally, finally, it is so heartbreaking that we have a debate in America about what kind of torture is permissible. I have an answer to that: No torture is permissible in the United States of America. And those are all things that I would do as president.

CAIR does not appear to care much for Republican candidates Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani, whom they have criticized in past press statements.

Last week CAIR demanded a meeting with Mr. Romney to discuss a statement he made about placing Muslims in his Cabinet. In October, CAIR demanded Mr. Giuliani fire a campaign adviser who is a vocal critic of CAIR.

— Audrey Hudson, homeland security reporter, The Washington Times

In his Page 1 story in today's Washington Times, Joe Curl reports on the resilience of President Bush — and the impact his resurgence might play in upcoming elections:

Some Democratic presidential candidates, most notably Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, have continued to run against Mr. Bush. But that strategy will likely miss the mark, Mr. Rove told The Washington Times yesterday.

"If the Democrats make this about, as they seem to be inclined to do, 'I'm not Bush, and I'll do everything different than Bush did,' the American people understand that Bush is not on the ballot," he said.

"I think it's one of the reasons why Hillary Clinton is not doing well against named Republicans candidates, because all she can talk about is how she's not Bush."

The Mideast peace process is restarted, voters in Venezuela just rejected anti-Americanism, and, most importantly — as Rep. Jack Murtha says — the surge is working.

The Democrats (and more than a few Republicans, as well) may need to rethink the strategy of throwing rocks at Mr. Bush.

-- David Eldridge, managing editor, WashingtonTimes.com

Is good news from Iraq bad news for Democrats?

The Washington Times' S.A. Miller just filed this story from Capitol Hill:

House Democrats' point man in the war-funding showdown with the White House today dismissed U.S. military gains in Iraq and vowed to tighten the purse strings until President Bush accepts a pullout plan.

"Look at all the people that have been displaced, all the [lost] oil production, unemployment, all those type of things," said Rep. John P. Murtha, chairman of Appropriations defense subcommittee. "We can't win militarily."

I don't believe that. Most Americans don't believe that. I don't even think Mr. Murtha himself believes it.

And if he does, well ... then Democrats are in a lot of trouble.

-- David Eldridge, managing editor, WashingtonTimes.com