Bush's Public Approval at New Low Point  —  Americans have a bleaker view of the country's direction than at any time in more than two decades, and sharp disapproval of President Bush's handling of gasoline prices has combined with intensified unhappiness about Iraq to create a grim political environment …

Letter Shows Iran's President Seeking Bond  —  UNITED NATIONS - With his 18-page letter, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad delivered President Bush a history lesson, philosophy lecture and religious sermon laced with references to Jesus Christ.  —  The document gives rare insight …

GOP Reaches Deal on Tax Cuts  —  $70 Billion Measure Would Extend Breaks  —  House and Senate Republican negotiators reached a final agreement yesterday on a five-year, nearly $70 billion tax package that extends President Bush's deep cuts to tax rates on dividends and capital gains …

Ayaan Hirsi Ali: "I Really Wonder What You Are Doing Here at Harvard"  —  After listening to Ayaan Hirsi Ali's talk at Harvard JFK's School of Government this afternoon, I went up to shake her hand and let her know much I admired her.  She is physically a slight woman.  How can it be that such a small woman is so feared?

GOP rips lowering of nominee's ABA rating  —  Republicans yesterday blamed bias for the American Bar Association's decision to downgrade a Bush judicial nominee's rating from "well-qualified" to "qualified," before a second hearing demanded by Democrats.  —  "It's telling that the only thing …

Senator demands resignation of Housing Secretary after 'don't like Bush' dispute  —  Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) called on President Bush to ask for the immediate resignation of the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Alphonso Jackson if a report about government contracts being awarded based …

Ex-NSA Chief Assails Bush Taps  —  NEW YORK — Former National Security Agency director Bobby Ray Inman lashed out at the Bush administration Monday night over its continued use of warrantless domestic wiretaps, making him one of the highest-ranking former intelligence officials to criticize the program in public, analysts say.

U.S. has second worst newborn death rate in modern world, report says  —  Research: 2 million babies die in first 24 hours each year worldwide  —  (CNN) — An estimated 2 million babies die within their first 24 hours each year worldwide and the United States has the second worst newborn mortality rate …

The Year of the Black Republican?  —  GOP Targets Democratic Constituency in 3 High-Profile Races  —  COLUMBUS, Ohio — When J. Kenneth Blackwell took the stage here on May 2 to claim the Republican nomination for governor, he became something more than his party's standard-bearer in a bellwether state.

"Nine Fingers" and the Third Man  —  New connections between the CIA and the Cunningham Scandal  —  Justin Rood at TPM Muckraker posted an interesting story yesterday, explaining why the Bush Administration's explanation for Porter Goss's sudden departure from the CIA looks increasingly lame.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Mahmoud, son of Xerxes: "You know, he's obviously a communicator."  —  DR: Hugh Hewitt?  —  HH: Mr. Secretary, welcome back to the program.  —  DR: Thank you.  It's good to be with you.  —  HH: Good to have you here.

Protein Wisdom or Dutch Courage?  —  I'm sensing a wee bit of a projection epidemic going on these days.  Richard Cohen talks about a "they" who supported the war as if he wasn't one of them, Debbie "adios, motherf**kers" Howell wants to lecture liberal bloggers on civil discourse …

DHS: DENY, HEDGE, SPIN  —  The Customs and Border Protection agency at DHS has issued a statement, much-ballyhooed by blind Bush supporters, which calls the Inland Valley Bulletin's story on the Border Patrol/Minutemen/Mexican government "inaccurate."  Let's examine the full bluster: