The Cole Report  —  When it comes to Iran, he distorts, you decide.  —  In some ways, the continuing row over his call for the complete destruction of Israel must baffle Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.  All he did, after all, was to turn up at a routine anti-Zionist event and repeat …

Time to stop feeling guilty and start really bombing  —  (updated below)  —  The Wall St. Journal's Opinion Journal today published an Op-Ed by Shelby Steele that advances one of the most truly incoherent and just plain inane arguments I have read in a long time.

Congress Set to Drop Fuel Price Rebate Plan  —  WASHINGTON, May 2 — A Republican proposal to provide taxpayers with a $100 rebate to compensate for higher fuel prices appeared all but dead today as leading congressional Republicans said it had quickly run out of gas.

After Press Dinner, the Blogosphere Is Alive With the Sound of Colbert Chatter  —  Mark Smith, a reporter for The Associated Press who is president of the White House Correspondents' Association, acknowledges that he had not seen much of Stephen Colbert on Comedy Central before he booked …

Bush, Hill Republicans Agree To Extend Expiring Tax Cuts  —  Democrats Point to Deficit and Benefits for the Rich  —  President Bush and congressional Republicans agreed yesterday on a $70 billion package of tax-cut extensions that they hope will help halt the deterioration of their political fortunes.

MARY CHENEY SAYS HER FATHER SAID EXACTLY WHAT SHE WANTED TO HEAR WHEN SHE TOLD HIM SHE WAS GAY  —  Vice president tells VANITY FAIR his image might be better if he spent more time trying to improve it, "but that's not why I'm here"  —  New York, N.Y. - In her new memoir, NOW IT'S MY TURN …

Voters Oust Backers of Immigrants In Herndon  —  Three Incumbents Lose Who Supported Center  —  Herndon voters yesterday unseated the mayor and two Town Council members who supported a bitterly debated day-labor center for immigrant workers in a contest that emerged as a mini-referendum …

UPDATE: The National Anthem At Bush's First Inaugural  —  UPDATE: Contemporaneous media accounts (see here for example) report that Secada was singing "America the Beautiful," not the national anthem.  The story from Cox News below, reporting that Secada sang the national anthem in Spanish, appears to be in error.

In the Roberts Court, More Room for Argument  —  WASHINGTON, May 2 — This is the week that the Supreme Court, done with its regular argument sessions, enters the stretch run.  —  While it is too soon for substantive appraisals of the first year of the Roberts court, it is not too soon …

After Protests, Backlash Grows  —  Opponents of Illegal Immigration Are Increasingly Vocal  —  While a series of marches focused much of the nation's attention on the plight of illegal immigrants, scores of other Americans quietly seethed.  Now, with the same full-throated cry expressed …

Taliban Threat Is Said to Grow in Afghan South  —  TIRIN KOT, Afghanistan, April 27 — Building on a winter campaign of suicide bombings and assassinations and the knowledge that American troops are leaving, the Taliban appear to be moving their insurgency into a new phase …

Keeping perspective on draft week  —  Readers e-mails on draft, the truth about New Orleans … I sense that we in this country have Katrina fatigue.  The New York Times reported as much recently, saying that people in some of the areas that welcomed Katrina evacuees last September are sick …

Nifong to remain Durham's DA  —  FROM STAFF REPORTS  —  DURHAM - District Attorney Mike Nifong kept his job as the county's top prosecutor in a heated election that featured Nifong's handling of the Duke lacrosse rape investigation as its central issue.  —  Nifong received 45.17 percent of the vote, enough to avoid a runoff.