Bauer Replaces McClellan as Press Secretary  —  What better way to reign in the White House Press Corps than to install Jack Bauer as Press Secretary?  Let's see if David Gregory has the guts to ask Jack Bauer about "sloppy seconds".  Imagine Jack Bauer trying to sit still while Helen Thomas goes on one of her diatribes.

Bravo  —  And bravo again.  —  Whether or not you care for Michelle Malkin's political positions, you should be honest enough to admit that this crusade to try to intimidate her and her family—a crusade being waged by mostly anonymous cowards who no person in the blogosphere, left OR right …

The Worst President in History?  —  One of America's leading historians assesses George W. Bush  —  George W. Bush's presidency appears headed for colossal historical disgrace.  Barring a cataclysmic event on the order of the terrorist attacks of September 11th, after which the public might rally around …

Attorneys: Photos Will Exonerate Players  —  DURHAM, N.C. — NBC has obtained exclusive photos that defense lawyers for the Duke University lacrosse players feel will exonerate their clients of rape charges.  —  Collin Finnerty, 19, and Reade Seligmann, 20, were charged Tuesday with first-degree rape …

Yahoo accused of helping jail China Internet writer  —  BEIJING (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc. may have helped Chinese police to identify an Internet writer who was subsequently jailed for four years for subversion in the third such case, an advocacy group for journalists said on Wednesday.

U.S. Records Drastic Decline in Death Rate  —  ATLANTA - In what appears to be an amazing success for American medicine, preliminary government figures released Wednesday showed that the annual number of deaths in the U.S. dropped by nearly 50,000 in 2004 — the biggest decline in nearly 70 years.

Muslim students 'being taught to despise unbelievers as filth'  —  Pupils protest as college linked to Iran puts fundamentalist text on curriculum, reports our correspondent  —  MUSLIM students training to be imams at a British college with strong Iranian links have complained …

Party in Search of a Notion  —  From our May issue: The opportunity before the Democrats is far bigger than a few House and Senate seats if they can recognize — and seize — this unique historical moment.  —  The Democrats are feeling upbeat these days, and why not?

A Lobby, Not a Conspiracy  —  IN its March 23rd issue the London Review of Books, a respected British journal, published an essay titled "The Israel Lobby."  The authors are two distinguished American academics (Stephen Walt of Harvard and John Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago) …

Tilting at Windmills  —  To my eye, they are lovely: Graceful, delicate, white against green grass and a blue sky.  Last summer my children and I stopped specially to watch a group of them, wheels turning in the breeze.  —  But to those who dislike them, the modern wind turbine is worse than ugly.

Death Lists and Dissenters  —  Allegations of "apostasy" among Muslims are presently a topic for global controversy.  To Westerners, apostasy from Islam seems to denote conversion to Christianity, since the persecution of Muslims who have changed their religion has gained media attention …

New WH Policy Chief Was "Brooks Brothers" Rioter  —  To the Burberry ramparts!  —  The man Bush tapped to fill Karl Rove's spot as his policy wizard is none other than Joel Kaplan, who took part in the infamous "Brooks Brothers riot" of 2000.  That's when a bunch of Washington GOP operatives …

Hundreds nabbed in immigration raid  —  Executives, workers arrested in nationwide move against pallet maker … WASHINGTON - Immigration agents arrested seven executives and hundreds of employees of a manufacturer of crates and pallets Wednesday as part of a crackdown on employers of illegal workers.