Blue Radar

As I post each morning, here are some of the political stories thatmight not be worthy of their own posts, but are nonetheless newsworthy:

• SCANDAL Former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan is blaming Bush and Cheney for his own misstatement about the Valerie Plame leak.
• FOREIGN POLICY A number of retired generals are supporting the Democrats' interrogation plan.  "Retired Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, a former commander of U.S. forces inIraq whose name was tarnished by the Abu Ghraib scandal, said Saturdaythat a war funding bill passed by the House on November 14 puts 'America on the path to regaining our moral authority' by requiring allgovernment employees, including CIA agents, to abide by the military’spermissible interrogation methods," wrote Roxana Tiron of The Hill.
• IRAQ The US is blaming Shiites for an up-tick in violence that killed 15 in Baghdad late this week.
• IRAQ US troops levels in Iraq will decrease by 5,000 by next month.
• IRAQ The US military has been imprisoning an Iraqi journalist for 18 months.
• 2008 ELECTION/PRESIDENTIAL Just one day after Hillary Clinton claimed that Barack Obama would need on-the-job training in order to become president, the Illinois Senator fired back.  "My understanding is that she wasn't Treasury secretary in the Clintonadministration," Obama said. "I don't know exactly what experience she's claiming."
• 2008 ELECTION/PRESIDENTIAL The Politico's Ben Smith is adding more life to the speculation that Lou Dobbs, or some other conservative populist, will run for president as an independent.  "But his hints — not to mention the high ratings for his opinionated CNNshow — served as a reminder that while the Texas billionaire (Ross Perot) may havevanished from the political scene, his ideas, and his appeal, arerattling around this year as loudly as ever," wrote Smith.
• 2008 ELECTION/PRESIDENTIAL This weekend, Barack Obama criticized Hillary Clinton's health care proposal, which would force every American to purchase private health insurance.  Obama says the real problem is cost.  "Cost is the number one reason that 47 million Americans do not havehealth insurance and thousands more are edging toward bankruptcy everyday," said. "That is wrong, and it's why my plan doesmore to cut the cost of health insurance than any other proposal inthis race.  "What I have said repeatedly is that the reason people don't havehealth insurance is not because they don't want it, it's because theycan't afford it."
• 2008 ELECTION/PRESIDENTIAL In the Orange Country Register, a GOP-friendly newspaper, columnist Mark Steyn delivered a blistering ad hominem attack against the Democratic candidates.  "Democrats, meanwhile, have got a woman, a black, a Hispanic and a preening metrosexual -- and they all think exactly the same."  (Obama and Hillary think exactly the same?  Looks like someone hasn't been following this race closely.)
• 2008 ELECTION/PRESIDENTIAL GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul is expected to raise $12 million in the 4th quarter of 2007.

If we left something out, it's because we either wrote about ityesterday or are scheduled to do so in an individual post later today. Otherwise, feel free to add any stories to the commentbox.