The Power of Hillary  —  "Hillary Clinton really is one of the weakest . . . nominees with whom the Democrats could be saddled."  —  "Democrats are worried sick about her chances."  —  "Just give someone else a chance, so we in the Democratic Party can elect a Democrat."  —  "She cannot possibly, possibly win."

Court finds a right to jihad in the Constitution  —  There are several ways to fight a war.  On the one hand, you can put on a uniform, climb into a tank, rumble across a field and fire on the other fellows' tank.  On the other, you can find a 12-year-old girl, persuade her to try …

Has Israel lost the spirit of '76?  —  THIRTY YEARS AGO this week, on July 4, 1976, Israel carried out one of the most spectacular rescue missions in history — the raid on Entebbe airport in Uganda that freed more than 100 Jewish hostages being held by Arab and German terrorists.

Secrecy, Security, the President and the Press  —  THE Bush administration's unusually harsh attacks on The New York Times for exposing a secret banking-data surveillance program have turned a glaring spotlight on the paper's decision to publish the article.

GOP Aims to Use a War to Win an Election Battle  —  Republicans are once again making the fight against terrorism a campaign cornerstone.  So far, Democrats have not been as engaging.  —  WASHINGTON — President Bush says Democrats want to "wave the white flag of surrender" in Iraq.

COPYCATTY COULTER PILFERS PROSE: PRO  —  July 2, 2006 — Conservative scribe Ann Coulter cribbed liberally in her latest book, "Godless," according to a plagiarism expert.  —  John Barrie, the creator of a leading plagiarism-recognition system, claimed he found at least three instances of what he calls …

Did Gonzales lie to Congress?  —  Jonathan Singer at MyDD and John Aravosis at AmericaBlog are both pointing to the significance of Andrew Harris' story at Bloomberg News regarding the initiation of President Bush's authorization of the NSA domestic surveillance program, which says:

LAST STAND  —  On May 31st, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced what appeared to be a major change in U.S. foreign policy.  The Bush Administration, she said, would be willing to join Russia, China, and its European allies in direct talks with Iran about its nuclear program.

CNN RELIABLE SOURCES  —  Is White House Scapegoating "New York Times"?  ; Bloggers Respond to Recent Political Developments; Why the Media Hoopla Over Star Jones Departure?  —  THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT.  THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.  —  HOWARD KURTZ, HOST (voice-over): Targeting the "Times."

The Democrats' New Populism  —  The best symbol of how the party hopes to take back the Senate this year may be Montana candidate Jon Tester's flattop  —  When Jon Tester was 9 years old, he lost the middle three fingers of his left hand in a meat grinder.

Hiring Federal Lobbyists, Towns Learn Money Talks  —  TREASURE ISLAND, Fla. — Rebuffed on several requests for state and federal financing to help rebuild its crumbling bridge, this small resort town was all but resigned to raising the money by doubling the 50-cent bridge toll, increasing property taxes and issuing bonds.

Dana Priest's Cheap Shot (Video)  —  On this morning's Meet The Press, Washington Post reporter Dana Priest got downright nasty during a discussion of leaking and press responsibility.  Guest host Andrea Mitchell quoted Bill Bennett (also on the panel) who said on his radio program …

Farm Program Pays $1.3 Billion to People Who Don't Farm  —  EL CAMPO, Tex. — Even though Donald R. Matthews put his sprawling new residence in the heart of rice country, he is no farmer.  He is a 67-year-old asphalt contractor who wanted to build a dream house for his wife of 40 years.

Baghdad Market Bombing Kills 66  —  BAGHDAD, July 1 — A truck bomb killed at least 66 people and injured more than 100 on a market street in the Shiite Muslim heart of Baghdad on Saturday, the deadliest such attack since Iraq's national-unity government took office in May.