Retreating to the friendly confines of the Weekly Standard magazine neoconservatives have reignited a conservative civil war over foreign policy.

While the Iraq Study Group led by James Baker and Lee Hamilton appears to have backed key elements of a progressive strategic redeployment plan put forth by the Center for American Progress more than a year ago, neoconservatives — reflecting their growing irrelevance and detachment from reality — are still insisting that the U.S. send more troops to Iraq and continue to oppose dialogue with Iraq’s neighbors.

The writers at the Weekly Standard have focused their attacks on the reemergence of Bush 41 “realist” foreign policy conservatives. In a clear effort to knee-cap the Baker-Hamilton report before it comes out, the Weekly Standard has a slew of articles attacking the Iraq Study Group, James Baker, and conservative “realists” like Robert Gates. Here is a sampling of some of the articles currently on the magazine’s website:

– “A Perfect Failure” by Robert Kagan and William Kristol, “At home and abroad, people have been led to believe that Jim Baker and not the president was going to call the shots in Iraq form now on. Happily, that is not the case.”

– “Surge and Run” by Thomas Donnelly, “The ‘adults’ of the Bush 41 administration were supposed to talk Bush 43 off the ledge…but the main recommendation of the Baker-Hamilton…has little value outside Washington, and none in Baghdad or the region…the insurgents have nearly won the war inside the Beltway.”

– “Surrender as ‘Realism’” by Robert Kagan and William Kristol, “realism has come to be a kind of code word for surrendering”

– “From Metternich to Jim Baker” by Ralph Peters, “Baker is the dean emeritus of a reactionary school of diplomats… It was the “realist” elevation of stability above all other strategic factors…gave us not only the radical regime in Iran, but, ultimately, al Qaeda and 9/11.”

– Max Bergmann

Princeton economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman went on Fox News this afternoon to talk about his new article in Rolling Stone Magazine, “How the Super-Rich Are Screwing America.”

Krugman’s article is about how income inequality is getting worse and, as a result, even though some aggregate economic indicators are positive, most people aren’t benefiting. Cavuto told Krugman, “Here’s what I’m saying that you’re doing: You are lying to people.” Cavuto claims that income inequality isn’t “dramatically worse now than 10 years ago, 20 years ago.” Watch it:

Actually, Krugman is completely right: things are dramatically worse now than 10 or 20 years ago. Here’s a chart from the Economic Policy Institute that tracks the ratio of the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans to median income in the United States, a standard measure of income inequality:

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voted unanimously to approve Robert Gates’ nomination as defense secretary, 21-0. A full Senate vote is expected tomorrow.

Right-wing talk show host Dennis Prager has raised a firestorm charging that Rep.-elect Keith Ellison (D-MN), the first Muslim elected to Congress, must swear in using a Bible. He said that if Ellison swears in with a Quran, it would “undermin[e] American civilization” and be akin to swearing in with a copy of Hitler’s “Mein Kampf.”

Prager is not a typical talk radio host. In September, he was appointed by President Bush to a five-year term on the taxpayer-funded United States Holocaust Memorial Council. A statement announcing Prager’s appointment praised his “unique moral voice.”

Yesterday, the Council on American Islamic Relations called on Prager to be removed from this position:

No one who holds such bigoted, intolerant and divisive views should be in a policymaking position at a taxpayer-funded institution that seeks to educate Americans about the destructive impact hatred has had, and continues to have, on every society. As a presidential appointee, Prager’s continued presence on the council would send a negative message to Muslims worldwide about America’s commitment to religious tolerance.

Likewise, the Anti-Defamation League, a group battling anti-Semitism and other bigotry, issued a statement calling Prager’s views “intolerant,” “misinformed on the facts,” and “downright un-American.”

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“A new investigation by National Public Radio looked at troops diagnosed with mental health disorders and concluded that ‘officers at Ft. Carson punish soldiers who need help, and even kick them out of the Army.’” Paul Rieckhoff, head of the Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans of America, has details.

“Remember Dick Cheney? The Vice President, rarely seen at public events these days, will preside over the Senate on Thursday during Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist’s farewell speech on the Senate floor.”