China and Its President Greeted by a Host of Indignities  —  Chinese President Hu Jintao got almost everything he wanted out of yesterday's visit to the White House.  —  He got the 21-gun salute, the review of the troops and the Colonial fife-and-drum corps.

CIA Officer Fired for Leaking Classified Info to Media  —  WASHINGTON — A CIA officer has been relieved of his duty after being caught leaking classified information to the media.  —  CIA officials will not reveal the officer's name, assignment, or the information that was leaked.

Senate Democrats Ahead in Cash Race  —  The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee continued to outpace the National Republican Senatorial Committee in fundraising, bringing in more contributions and finishing the quarter with twice as much money in the bank, according to Federal Election Commission reports released yesterday.

Playing Freud with Hiltzik  —  I'm actually feeling a bit sorry for LAT columnist Michael Hiltzik who is undergoing something of a "skimmity ride" (see Thomas Hardy) across the blogosphere and now the mainstream media.  For those few who don't know, the Pulitzer Prize winner was caught posting

Shiites Agree on Pick for Prime Minister  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq, April 21 — Shiite leaders selected Jawad al-Maliki, a hard-line and outspoken Shiite leader, to replace the outgoing prime minister, Ibrahim al-Jaafari.  The move could resolve a two-month-long political deadlock …

A Spy Speaks Out  —  (CBS) A CIA official who had a top role during the run-up to the Iraqi war charges the White House with ignoring intelligence that said there were no weapons of mass destruction or an active nuclear program in Iraq.  —  The former highest ranking CIA officer in Europe …

Disinhibition Nation  —  When blogs rule, we'll all talk like —  Kevin Ray Underwood, the repressed Oklahoma cannibal, kept an Internet "blog" of his compulsions for years before kidnapping and killing a 10-year-old neighbor last week.  On his blog, Kevin wrote a lot about Kevin …

KATHERINE HARRIS GIVES EVERYTHING SHE HAS TO YOUNG REPORTER  —  She should have tried being "nice" to the Orlando Sentinel  —  A defense contractor seeking help from Rep. Katherine Harris for $10 million in federal money last year took her to one of Washington's most exclusive restaurants …

True Romance  —  Via Tristram Shandy I see that TIME's in-house faux liberal is at it again, this time giving Hugh Hewitt a private lap dance instead of dancing around the pole for everyone to see: … . And people wonder why liberals are popularly perceived as being cowards.

The Generals' Dangerous Whispers  —  Last time around, the antiwar left did not have a very high opinion of generals.  A popular slogan in the 1960s was "war is too important to be left to the generals."  It was the generals who had advocated attacking Cuba during the missile crisis of October 1962 …

Back to Iraq Part VI - Smuggling My Way Out of Iraq  —  This is the sixth and final installment in a Back to Iraq series which is basically a single long essay.  Don't miss Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, and Part Five.  —  ZAKHO, IRAQ - Getting into Iraq was easy.

Report documents major increase in terrorist incidents  —  WASHINGTON - The number of terrorist attacks documented by U.S. intelligence agencies jumped sharply in 2005, crossing the 10,000 mark for the first time, according to U.S. counterterrorism officials and documents obtained by Knight Ridder Newspapers.

Conrad Burns - Another Earmark to Remember  —  Another Conrad Burns earmark - maybe the best one yet.  —  Burns tried to push $20 million in federal funds to a company in which Ed Buckham, Tom DeLay's former chief of staff and a close associate of Jack Abramoff's, had a financial stake.