Pelosi asks congressman snared in bribery probe to resign post  —  House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has formally asked Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA) to resign from the powerful Ways and Means Committee.  —  Jefferson wrote Pelosi quickly in reply, refusing to surrender his seat.

Inconvenient Truths Indeed  —  Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" opens around the country this week.  In the film Gore pulls together evidence from every corner of the globe to convince us that climate change is happening fast, we are to blame, and if we don't act immediately, our Earth will be all but ruined.

Bill Frist: A Doctor at Heart  —  The houses were dark on Bill Frist's street.  A morning bird chirped; the others were waiting for dawn.  But Frist was awake, and his bedroom light was on.  "I'm going to take a shower," the Senate majority leader said brightly.  Ten minutes later, the blow dryer roared.

Is U.S. Ready for Hurricane Season?  —  Chertoff Expresses Confidence, but Katrina's Impact Lingers  —  U.S. disaster-preparedness officials declared themselves ready yesterday for the June 1 onset of hurricane season, amid mounting anxiety in Gulf Coast states hit by last year's devastating storms …

Armed Groups Propel Iraq Toward Chaos  —  Haider Hamid was arrested in Baghdad on April 15 by officers wearing Interior Ministry uniforms, according to Mr. Hamid's brother, Majid.  Majid Hamid found his brother's body, above, showing signs of torture, five days later in the city morgue.

An Amnesty by Any Other Name ...  IN the debate over immigration, "amnesty" has become something of a dirty word.  Some opponents of the immigration bill being debated in the Senate assert that it would grant amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants.  Supporters claim it would do no such thing.

In need of moral clarity  —  "I was aiming to follow in the footsteps of one of my role-models, Muhammad Atta." … Do you remember Taheri-azar?  The 25-year-old Iranian graduate of the University of North Carolina rented an SUV in March and drove it into The Pit, a campus gathering place for UNC students.

Officials: Hastert "In the Mix" of Congressional Bribery Investigation  —  Brian Ross Reports:  —  The Speaker of the House Representatives, Dennis Hastert, is under investigtaion by the FBI, which is seeking to determine his role in an ongoing public corruption probe into members of Congress …

Desperate for Supporters, DeLay Turns to Stephen Colbert  —  A good sign that Tom DeLay doesn't have the facts on his side: the top source for his latest defense against his critics is Stephen Colbert.  —  This morning, DeLay's legal defense fund sent out a mass email criticizing the movie …

Keep 'America' in Michigan schools  —  State bureaucrats want to do what Stalin, Osama could only dream about  —  C ensoring the word "America" from our own schools is something Josef Stalin, Adolf Hitler and Osama bin Laden would never have thought possible.  Michigan has done it without a whimper.

Senator McCain Worked Blue  —  On New York Stage  —  Behind Closed Doors, Republican Works in Material: 'I'd Tell Shiites and Sunnis, "Stop the Bulls**t"'; Fresh From Falwell, Attacks Right-Wing Nativism  —  For all the national attention surrounding John McCain's two highly anticipated …

A.C.L.U. May Block Criticism by Its Board  —  The American Civil Liberties Union is weighing new standards that would discourage its board members from publicly criticizing the organization's policies and internal administration.  —  "Where an individual director disagrees with a board position …

Desperate Telcos: When the Going Gets Tough, the Absurd Rumors Get Going  —  Opponents of Internet freedom seem shocked that Google, MoveOn, the Christian Coalition, and 700 other diverse organizations are fighting on the same side to preserve the Internet that has revolutionized democratic participation …

Any differences between Democrats in 2003 and today?  —  (updated below)  —  Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee yesterday essentially assured that President Bush's nominee to head the CIA, Gen. Michael Hayden, would not only be confirmed by the full Senate, but confirmed overwhelmingly.

Congress Upset About FBI On Capitol Hill?  You Reap What You Sow  —  It's very entertaining to see the House and Senate GOP become unnerved at the thought that BushCo reserves the right to pillage through their Capitol Hill offices whenever it wants to.  Those of us on the center-left …

Senate Advances Sweeping Immigration Bill  —  WASHINGTON, May 24 — The Senate voted on Tuesday to require employers to use a vast new employment verification system that would allow businesses to distinguish between legal and illegal workers.  —  The chances of the bill's passage increased sharply today …