NBC: CIA officer fired after admitting leak  —  Officer allegedly failed polygraph, admitted giving reporter information … MSNBC TV  —  WASHINGTON - In a rare occurrence, the CIA fired an officer who acknowledged giving classified information to a reporter, NBC News reported on Thursday.

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 …

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

Lawyer: Rice Allegedly Leaked Defense Info  —  ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice leaked national defense information to a pro-Israel lobbyist in the same manner that landed a lower-level Pentagon official a 12-year prison sentence, the lobbyist's lawyer said Friday.

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.

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.

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.

If Past Is Prologue, George Bush Is Becoming An Increasingly Dangerous President  —  President George W. Bush's presidency is a disaster - one that's still unfolding.  In a mid-2004 column, I argued that, at that point, Bush had already demonstrated that he possessed the least attractive …

Overreacting to Protest  —  WENYI WANG acted rudely when she yelled and waved a banner at visiting Chinese President Hu Jintao during his White House appearance Thursday.  The Secret Service was right to hustle her off the grounds.  President Bush was right to apologize.

Ask Not What Your Bloggers Can Do For You, Ask What You Can Do For Your Bloggers  —  *UPDATE* - Due to popular demand (and by 'popular,' I mean a couple requests), it's time to start captioning these photos.  I'll start.  Photo #9, me at the beginning of the night.  Photo #36, me at the end of the night.