Hastert tells President Bush FBI raid was unconstitutional  —  House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) told President Bush yesterday that he is concerned the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) raid on Rep. William Jefferson's (D-La.) congressional office over the weekend was a direct violation of the Constitution.

Bush-hatred a threat to national security  —  ENOUGH already!  It's harmful enough that ideological conflict and partisan politics are preventing this country from solving its long-term challenges on health care, fiscal policy and energy.  Now it's threatening our national survival.

STOP THE LIES  —  Iowahawk Guest Commentary  —  by Jesse Macbeth  —  Iraq War Veterans Against Google  —  Breakfast Shift Associate, Wendys of Tacoma  —  As a decorated combat veteran of Bush's Iraq misadventure, I am all too familiar with the saying "the first casualty of war is truth."

Iran test-fires long-range missile  —  Iran conducted a test launch Tuesday night of the Shihab-3 intermediate-range ballistic missile, which is capable of reaching Israel and US targets in the region, Israel Radio reported.  The test came hours before Prime Minister Ehud Olmert met …

Seven Indonesian Bird Flu Cases Linked to Patients (Update1)  —  May 23 (Bloomberg) — All seven people infected with bird flu in a cluster of Indonesian cases can be linked to other patients, according to disease trackers investigating possible human-to-human transmission of the H5N1 virus.

Iran Requests Direct Talks on Nuclear Program  —  TEHRAN, May 23 — Iran has followed President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's recent letter to President Bush with explicit requests for direct talks on its nuclear program, according to U.S. officials, Iranian analysts and foreign diplomats.

Exxon-Backed Pundit Compares Gore To Nazi Propagandist  —  Sterling Burnett is a senior fellow at the National Center for Policy Analysis, an organization that has received over $390,000 from ExxonMobil since 1998.  This afternoon on Fox, Burnett compared watching Al Gore's movie …

McCain calls for more nukes  —  'We've got to get over it,' senator says  —  May 23.  —  he United States needs to overcome its fear of nuclear power and embrace the technology as a way to wean itself from fossil fuels, Sen. John McCain told an audience in Manchester yesterday.  —  Nuclear power "is safe.

Madonna concert review: 'Even the bouncers looked scared'  —  Video: Madonna rehearsing  —  Gallery: Pictures of Madonna in concert More: Madonna's mock crucifixion  —  Riding crop in hand, leather boots gripping her legs, equestrian-cum-bondage gear strapped across her body and, of course …

Bin Laden: Moussaoui not linked to 9/11  —  CAIRO, Egypt - Osama bin Laden purportedly said in an audio tape Tuesday that neither Zacarias Moussaoui — the only person convicted in the U.S. for the Sept. 11 attacks — nor anyone held at Guantanamo had anything to do with the al-Qaida operation.

John Kerry's encore  —  JOHN KERRY may just be charting his path back to the future.  —  The man who cast a vote he now acknowledges was a mistake on the Iraq war resolution, and then spent two years awkwardly confronting the fallout as he ran for president, has finally come to a position where he seems comfortable.

Harry Reid & The End of Liberal Thought  —  The highest-ranking Democrat in America, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, described the Senate bill making English the national language of the American people as "racist."  And the New York Times editorial page labeled the bill "xenophobic."

Country radio nixes Dixie Chicks  —  NASHVILLLE, Tenn., May 22 (UPI) — It appears the war U.S. country radio stations mounted against the politically outspoken Dixie Chicks has not abated in the least.  —  The band is promoting "Taking the Long Way," its first album since Natalie Maines told …

Eye On White House  —  Dodd Building Foundation For Presidential Race  —  WASHINGTON — Sen. Christopher J. Dodd said Monday he has "decided to do all the things that are necessary to prepare to seek the presidency in 2008."  —  The Connecticut Democrat will hire staff …

Former Sen. Lloyd Bentsen dies at 85  —  He also served as treasury secretary, ran for vice president  —  HOUSTON - Former Senator and Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen, a courtly Texan who as the Democrats' vice presidential nominee in 1988 famously told rival Dan Quayle he was "no Jack Kennedy," died Tuesday.

House-Senate Battle On Immigration Likely  —  With the Senate marching toward completion of an immigration bill that is more generous to illegal immigrants than the House-passed version, House leaders said yesterday that it will be difficult to reach a compromise and enact a measure.