Progressive Messaging Wins: Tester, Angelides, Winograd, and Bilbray?  —  Brian Bilbray ran to the left of Francine Busby.  I know it sounds weird, but he did.  That he won on a progressive platform is biggest story of the night.  Busby's loss was a loss no matter how it's spun …

Supporters lose in gay marriage ban vote  —  WASHINGTON - The Senate on Wednesday rejected a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, dealing a defeat to President Bush and Republicans who hoped to use the measure to energize conservative voters on Election Day.

9/11 Widows respond to Coulter  —  9/11 Widows respond to Coulter  —  After Coulter attacked the 9/11 families on the TODAY Show yesterday- I enquired to see how they felt.  Here is their initial response.  —  Statement of September 11th Advocates Response to "Godless"

Retirement Account of DeLay's Wife Traced  —  With Disclosure, Family's Known Benefits From Ties With Lobbyist Exceed $490,000  —  A registered lobbyist opened a retirement account in the late 1990s for the wife of then-House Whip Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) and contributed thousands of dollars …

Official of U.N. Says Americans Undermine It With Criticism  —  UNITED NATIONS, June 6 — Secretary General Kofi Annan's deputy assailed the United States on Tuesday for withholding support from the United Nations, encouraging its harshest detractors and undermining an institution that he said Washington needed more than it would admit.

A SMEAR YOU CAN'T TAKE BACK  —  The London Times is getting praise for issuing an apology over falsely captioning an April 2005 picture of fishermen executed at a Haditha, Iraq stadium by insurgents as depicting victims of Marines in the Nov. 19 incident still under investigation—which I reported over the weekend.

Louisiana Governor Plans to Sign Anti-Abortion Law  —  BATON ROUGE, La., June 6 — Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco's office said Tuesday that she would shortly sign into law a strict ban on abortion that would permit abortion only in the case where a woman's life was threatened by pregnancy.

McKinney deal may be in works  —  Lawyer rejects talk of any negotiations  —  WASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors investigating the confrontation between Rep. Cynthia McKinney of Georgia and a Capitol police officer have been talking privately with McKinney's office in hopes of resolving …

Salvaging Iraq  —  The images from Iraq are of hell on earth: On Sunday 12 Iraqi students traveling to Baqubah to take their final exams were dragged from a bus and killed because they practiced the wrong religion.  The next day gunmen dressed in police uniforms kidnapped 56 people near …

President Bush's victories receiving little attention  —  SAN FRANCISCO - When President Bush nominated Gen. Michael Hayden to run the CIA, the press focused on disapproving Democrats and even some Republicans who were dubious about confirmation.  —  A month later, when the Senate confirmed Hayden …

Block the Vote, Ohio Remix  —  If there was ever a sign of a ruling party in trouble, it is a game plan that calls for trying to win by discouraging voting.  —  The latest sign that Republicans have an election-year strategy to shut down voter registration drives comes from Ohio.