THE AMERICAN FLAG COMES SECOND  —  ***scroll for updates...new photo added below of a student in Dallas screamed at by an angry mob for carrying an American flag...plus fence-hopping at Montebello H.S...unreality-based Ted Kennedy gets the Clueless Blowhard of the Day Award...chanting in Las Vegas …

Abramoff Gets Minimum Sentence  —  Former Lobbyist to Spend 5 Years, 10 Months in Prison  —  MIAMI, March 29 — Jack A. Abramoff, the once-powerful Republican lobbyist at the center of a major corruption scandal, was sentenced Wednesday to five years and 10 months in prison for his role …

Card's Departure Seen as a Sign President Hears Words of Critics  —  A few weeks ago, President Bush's spokesman dismissed talk of an impending staff change as "inside Washington babble."  —  White House Chief of Staff Andrew H. Card Jr.'s resignation yesterday suggests that Bush was listening.

Judges on Secretive Panel Speak Out on Spy Program  —  WASHINGTON, March 28 — Five former judges on the nation's most secretive court, including one who resigned in apparent protest over President Bush's domestic eavesdropping, urged Congress on Tuesday to give the court a formal role in overseeing the surveillance program.

Democrats Pledge to 'Eliminate' Osama  —  WASHINGTON - Congressional Democrats promise to "eliminate" Osama bin Laden and ensure a "responsible redeployment of U.S. forces" from Iraq in 2006 in an election-year national security policy statement.  —  In the position paper to be announced Wednesday …

Senators End Right to Derail Votes Secretly  —  Nearing a vote on ethics and lobbying rules that many say are too weak, they also defeat a bid to create an independent public integrity office.  —  WASHINGTON — The Senate on Tuesday voted to strip its members of the power to secretly place a …

Thousands of Iraqis Flee to Avoid Spread Of Violence  —  BAGHDAD, March 28 — Sectarian violence has displaced more than 25,000 Iraqis since the Feb. 22 bombing of a Shiite Muslim shrine, a U.N.-affiliated agency said Tuesday, and shelters and tent cities are springing up across central …

'The Last Helicopter'  —  Mideast dictators try to "wait Bush out."  They may be miscalculating.  —  Hassan Abbasi has a dream—a helicopter doing an arabesque in cloudy skies to avoid being shot at from the ground.  On board are the last of the "fleeing Americans," forced out of the Dar al-Islam …

Democrats Opening Assault on Bush Security Policies  —  WASHINGTON, March 28 — Seeking to capitalize on President Bush's troubles overseas, leading Democrats in Congress are unveiling a broad attack this week on the administration's security policies at home and overseas along with a set …

Afghan Christian Convert Flees to Italy  —  ROME — Italy granted asylum Wednesday to an Afghan who faced the death penalty for converting from Islam to Christianity, and Premier Silvio Berlusconi said the man was in the care of the Interior Ministry after arriving in Italy earlier in the day.

Time Magazine's Michael Ware from Baghdad.  —  HH: Joining me now live from Baghdad is Michael Ware, bureau chief for Time Magazine.  Michael, welcome to the Hugh Hewitt Show.  —  MW: Thanks, Hugh.  —  HH: Michael, we met each other courtesy of CNN on a couple of editions of Anderson Cooper's program last week.

Saudis, with Pakistani help, working on nuclear programme  —  BERLIN (AFP) - Saudi Arabia is working secretly on a nuclear programme, with help from Pakistani experts, a German magazine reports in its latest edition, citing Western security sources.  —  The German magazine Cicero says that during …

Redemption Among the Faithful  —  There are those who would say Tom DeLay lost his job as House majority leader because he was indicted by a Texas grand jury on charges of money laundering and conspiracy, or because of his extensive ties to lawbreaking lobbyist Jack Abramoff.  But they would be wrong.

'War' on Christians Is Alleged  —  Conference Depicts a Culture Hostile to Evangelical Beliefs  —  The "War on Christmas" has morphed into a "War on Christians."  —  Last December, some evangelical Christian groups declared that the religious celebration of Christmas — and even the phrase …

Victory  —  Attempts to seriously regulate the internets are finally dead for the moment.  HR 1606 will provide a weapon to use against zombie reform efforts which will keep coming back to life.  —  To make something clear I'm not necessarily opposed to the idea that some day we might …

Iraq: Prosecutions threaten freedom of expression in northern Iraq  —  Amnesty International is greatly concerned by the prosecutions of two critics of the Kurdish authorities in northern Iraq and the threat these pose to freedom of expression in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region.

Appeals Court: Rep. McDermott Violated Law in Leaking Taped Call  —  WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that Rep. Jim McDermott violated federal law by turning over an illegally taped telephone call to reporters nearly a decade ago.  —  In a 2-1 opinion, the U.S. Court …

Bush blames Iraq's instability on Hussein  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — President Bush said Wednesday that Saddam Hussein, not continued U.S. involvement in Iraq, is responsible for ongoing sectarian violence that is threatening the formation of a democratic government.