Rove Is Using Threat of Loss to Stir G.O.P.  —  WASHINGTON, May 5 — To anyone who doubts the stakes for the White House in this year's midterm Congressional elections, consider that Representative John Conyers Jr. of Michigan, the Democrat who would become chairman of the Judiciary Committee …

In GOP, Doubts On Likely CIA Pick  —  Gen. Hayden Is 'Wrong Man,' Hoekstra Says  —  The Republican chairmen of the House and Senate intelligence panels raised serious concerns about Gen. Michael V. Hayden on the eve of his expected nomination today as CIA director, with Rep. Peter Hoekstra …

Jimmy Carter: Punishing the innocent is a crime  —  Jimmy Carter International Herald Tribune  —  Innocent Palestinian people are being treated like animals, with the presumption that they are guilty of some crime.  Because they voted for candidates who are members of Hamas …

It's Checks and Balances, Mr. Russert  —  It's not every day a Congressman from Detroit has his name mentioned on, not one, but two Sunday morning news shows.  —  First, on ABC's This Week, I was taken to task by none other than the soon-to-be-ex-Congressman Tom DeLay.

How '06 Will Affect the '08 Electoral Map  —  Ron Brownstein had an interesting article in the Los Angeles Times yesterday about how the 2006 elections could lay the playing field for pivotal battleground states in 2008.  Brownstein correctly points out that Democrats are looking to the West …

"KILLIN' PIGS AIN'T KOSHER, SARGE!"  "CAN THE WISE LIP, SLIBBERBERG!"  Andrew Klavan wants Hollywood (conservative for "somebody else") to make movies that praise our War Against Whatchamacallit: … I really don't see what the problem is.  The Fightin' Keyboarders have a film unit — put them on the job.

THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, THE DA VINCI CODE, AND "CENSORSHIP ENVY": As senior Conspirator Eugene Volokh has warned, one of the dangers of censoring "offensive" speech is "censorship envy."  If one group is given the power to suppress speech offensive to it, others are likely to press harder to get the same privilege for themselves.

The Enemy Within  —  Democrats may not be able to win the House, but Republicans could lose it.  —  Ken Mehlman is the unflappable efficiency expert who chairs the Republican National Committee.  Because he's not known for histrionics, his warning last week to GOP congressional staffers …

Mark Steyn: New coalition of willing needed in Darfur  —  Hollywood stars are naive to expect the UN to stop the bloodbath in Sudan  —  I SEE George Clooney and Angelina Jolie have discovered Darfur and are now demanding "action".  Good for them.  Hollywood hasn't shown this much interest …

At Home, Cynicism and Support  —  Many of Kennedy's Constituents Suspect Story but Don't Mind  —  PAWTUCKET, R.I. — The bad news for Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy: The voters of Rhode Island do not, by and large, seem to believe his version of what led to a car crash early Thursday outside the U.S. Capitol.

The USDA on Iraq: Everything's Coming Up Rosy  —  Career appointees at the Department of Agriculture were stunned last week to receive e-mailed instructions that include Bush administration "talking points" — saying things such as "President Bush has a clear strategy for victory in Iraq" — in every speech they give for the department.

Italy MPs vote for new president  —  Voting is to begin in Italy's parliament for a new president to replace Carlo Azeglio Ciampi.  —  Mr Ciampi, 85, is stepping down after seven years in office.  —  Only when the president is elected can centre-left leader Romano Prodi …

A journey into the most savage war in the world  —  My travels in the Democratic Vacuum of Congo  —  This is the story of the deadliest war since Adolf Hitler's armies marched across Europe.  It is a war that has not ended.  But is also the story of a trail of blood that leads directly to you …

Many Youths Disregard Their Virginity Pledges, Harvard Study Says  —  According to interviews, more than half have sex within a year.  But one pro-abstinence group disputes the findings.  —  BOSTON — Virginity pledges, in which young people vow to abstain from sex until marriage …

On One Of Iraq's Top Journalists Being Beheaded (UPDATED)  —  The barbaric terrorists beheadings that go beyond most definitions of murder in terms of their brutality have continued in Iraq.  —  WARNING: This Times Online piece about the merciless on-camera butchery of Atwar Bahjat …