F.B.I. Raid Divides G.O.P. Lawmakers and White House  —  WASHINGTON, May 23 — After years of quietly acceding to the Bush administration's assertions of executive power, the Republican-led Congress hit a limit this weekend.  —  Resentment boiled among senior Republicans for a second …

Senate Panel Endorses C.I.A. Nominee  —  WASHINGTON, May 23 — The Senate Intelligence Committee strongly endorsed Gen. Michael V. Hayden on Tuesday to be the next director of the Central Intelligence Agency, with all but three members, all Democrats, voting to send General Hayden's nomination to the Senate floor.

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 …

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.

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.

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.

Premier Outlines Wider Iraqi Security Role  —  Maliki Sets Goal of Controlling Most Provinces by Year's End; Blair Hails 'New Beginning'  —  BAGHDAD, May 22 — The new Iraqi prime minister said Monday that his government would begin taking responsibility for the security of the country …

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 …

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.

Avoiding Another 'Slam-Dunk'  —  Amid all the debate about intelligence, there has been surprisingly little focus on the question the average citizen (and average policymaker, too) would probably have at the top of the list: Will these guys get it wrong again?

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."

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.

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.

THE DEATH OF POLICY....The White House has been searching for a replacement for Treasury Secretary John Snow for quite a while, but apparently Robert Zoellick isn't on the list.  Why not? … Rule #1 in the Bush White House: never admit that you take policy analysis seriously if you want to get ahead.

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 …

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.