Exclusive Book Excerpt: How an Al-Qaeda Cell Planned a Poison-gas Attack on the N.Y. Subway  —  The plot was called off by Bin Laden's No. 2 only 45 days from zero hour, according to a new book by Ron Suskind  —  Al-Qaeda terrorists came within 45 days of attacking the New York subway system …

Antiwar Crucible in Connecticut  —  Back in 1962, when Joseph Lieberman was 20, he attended a raucous Democratic state convention in Hartford, Conn. Abraham Ribicoff, the former governor, had decided to leave his post in the Kennedy Cabinet to run for the Senate.

DIXIE CHICKS QUESTION YOUR PATRIOTISM  —  But don't question theirs (gallon-sized hat tip: Coalition of the Swilling)...  Here are country singers who aren't sickened by their country.  —  Support "ultra-patriotism" through Project Prayer Flag.  —  More photos of soldiers and American flags to turn Natalie Maines' stomach:

Bush: Iraq must know it won't be abandoned  —  CRAWFORD, Texas - President Bush, reminding listeners of his surprise trip to Baghdad, said Saturday it was important for the Iraqi people to know after three years of war that "America will not abandon them after we have come this far."

U.S. Muslim Clerics Seek a Modern Middle Ground  —  Every seat in the auditorium at the University of Houston was taken, and the crowd was standing in the back and spilling out into the lobby, straining to hear.  The two men onstage began to speak to the crowd in Arabic …

A hurricane of fraud?  —  FEMA did mismanage Katrina relief, but it's wrong to blame victims for spending irresponsibly.  —  MOVE OVER, RECKLESS CONSUMERS.  The Federal Emergency Management Agency has outdone your irresponsible spending by racking up a debit card bill so outrageous it could have been created using Mad Libs.

Moving Ahead, Rather Throws Sad Look Back  —  The 74-year-old man with the Mets cap pulled far down on his forehead slid into a booth at a diner on the Upper East Side of Manhattan and ordered a glass of milk without so much as turning a head — so quietly, in fact, that it was hard to believe it was Dan Rather.

Hard Sell  —  Warner flops with the Kossaks, gets a bounce with the MSM, and learns that courting the Democratic netroots is no simple thing.  —  LAS VEGAS — The YearlyKos convention that took place at the end of last week wasn't a bit like the bar scene in Star Wars.

HOMELAND SECURITY INC.  —  Contractor Pay Lures Counterterror Officials  —  WASHINGTON, June 17 — Dozens of members of the Bush administration's domestic security team, assembled after the 2001 terrorist attacks, are now collecting bigger paychecks in different roles …

THE SWIFTBOATING OF GENERAL HAGEE:  —  Yesterday bloggers picked a new military target—General Michael Hagee, the outgoing commandant of the Marine Corps.  Hagee, apparently, is a secondary target in the ongoing campaign to destroy Jack Murtha.  Yesterday, The Washington Times reported …

Karl Rove Laughs Last  —  THE LEFTIES AND THE MEDIA are right about Karl Rove.  That's why they're in a dither now that Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald has cleared Rove of any criminal wrongdoing in the overblown leak case involving CIA functionary Valerie Plame.

Police may let Muslims see terrorism intelligence  —  Vikram Dodd  —  The police are considering a proposal to let selected British Muslims examine the intelligence used to mount anti-terrorism raids before they take place, the Guardian has learned.  —  The proposal will be considered …

Forward Together faces a serious challenge.  —  The first time I checked on Iraq's news this morning I read about several violent incidents in Baghdad that included roadside bombs and car-bombs that left dozens of civilians and ISF members dead or injured.  I even did pass by close to the scene …

The Saturday Cartoons  —  Democrats.com shows some of the best of this week's political cartoons...  More cartoons are after the page break.

Democrats Call for a New Direction for America  —  Washington, D.C. — Responding to the pressing needs of working families across the country, House and Senate Democrats today joined to call for a New Direction for America.  Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi …

Contradictions Cloud Inquiry Into 24 Iraqi Deaths  —  What really happened in Haditha on Nov. 19, 2005?  —  On that day, marines killed 24 Iraqi civilians, including 10 women and children and an elderly man in a wheelchair.  But how and why it happened and who ultimately bears responsibility are matters of profound dispute.

Betting on Defeat?  —  It's far from a safe bet.  —  National Review Online  —  Lately, it has become popular to recant on Iraq.  When 2,500 Americans are lost, and when the improvised explosive device monopolizes the war coverage, it is easy to see why — especially with elections coming up in November …