On Scene: How Operation Swarmer Fizzled  —  Not a shot was fired, or a leader nabbed, in a major offensive that failed to live up to its advance billing … Four Black Hawk helicopters landed in a wheat field and dropped off a television crew, three photographers, three print reporters …

NPR Survey: Republicans Lose Ground on Foreign Policy, National Security; Opportunity for Democrats  —  Greenberg Quinlan Rosner and Public Opinion Strategies  —  "...in this poll, when asked which party they trust more on issues such as the Iraq war, foreign ownership of U.S. ports …

Time for Facts, Not Resolutions  —  We understand the frustration that led Senator Russell Feingold to introduce a measure that would censure President Bush for authorizing warrantless spying on Americans.  It's galling to watch from the outside as the Republicans and most Democrats refuse …

Teflon Europe  —  The prison at Guantanamo Bay was designed to interrogate terrorists and jihadists swept up from the battlefield: the idea was to keep them as prisoners of war in a war that was undeclared, and as enemy combatants without uniforms or officers.

DISCLAIM THIS  —  So, the MSM is slowly picking up on the historic release of thousands of documents from Saddam Hussein's archives.  But not without making a concerted effort to downplay and undermine the story.  Readers are calling attention to the disclaimers included in this ABC News story.

A MATTER OF DRAWING LINES.  Apropos of the debate over stalled bill H.R. 1606, which would pre-empt FEC regulation of Internet sites, and H.R. 4900, which could make blogs with over $10,000 in expenditures (excluding web hosting and news gathering expenses) register as political committees, Atrios asks:

What Democrats Want  —  JEROME ARMSTRONG AND MARKOS MOULITSAS are pioneers.  Armstrong founded MyDD.com, arguably the first political blog of real prominence.  As for Moulitsas, he's the founder and proprietor of Daily Kos, by far the most widely read of all political blogs.

Harris advisers urged her to quit  —  Katherine Harris' chief political strategist said Thursday that he suggested she abandon her bid for the U.S. Senate because it would be a "tough row to hoe" given the numerous setbacks the campaign had suffered.  —  But Harris refused.

Abramoff's sentencing delayed to further cooperation  —  Judge approves motion sought by federal investigators  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — A federal judge Friday delayed sentencing of Jack Abramoff, a move the prosecutors requested to further the former lobbyist's cooperation with their investigation.

Who were those guys?  —  Agents posed as journalists before visit  —  There was a whirlwind of activity in the days prior to President Bush's arrival at a home on the beach in Gautier last week, with government officials and Secret Service scouting a location and checking the neighborhood where Bush would stop.

It's three years since the disarmament of Saddam and all that followed . . .  IN MARCH 2003 Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei, of the UN, secured a remarkable, last-minute deal that averted war and seemed to guarantee the disarmament of Iraq.  "Saddam Hussein has finally consented to eliminate …

Jessica Simpson, Smiling Up a Storm  —  Jessica Simpson is 30 minutes late; the scrum in Room 1539 of the Longworth House Office Building is getting vicious.  AP, People and "Inside Edition" are here, bumping up against Christian Broadcasting Network, ESPN, Modern Health Care — all snarling for a good angle.

Harvard, Chicago, and the 'Lobby'  —  "The combination of unwavering U.S. support for Israel and the related effort to spread democracy throughout the region has inflamed Arab and Islamic opinion and jeopardized U.S. security. ...  Why has the United States been willing to set aside …