Bush's Shift: Being Patient With Foes  —  WASHINGTON, July 9 — President Bush has never made apologies for enshrining pre-emption as the defining doctrine of his first term.  He has declared many times that in a post-9/11 world, presidents no longer have the luxury of waiting for the slow grinding …

It's WWIII, and U.S. is out of ideas  —  Last week's headlines prove the point: North Korea fires missiles, Iran talks of nukes again, Iraq carnage continues, Israel invades Gaza, England observes one-year anniversary of subway bombing.  And, oh, yes, the feds stop a plot to blow up tunnels under the Hudson River.

Purely foolish Democrats  —  Sen. Joe Lieberman's irritating, but his enemies in the party are worse.  —  NED LAMONT'S challenge to Sen. Joe Lieberman in next month's Connecticut primary has blossomed into a full-scale Democratic civil war.  What's at stake is the legitimacy of partisanship.

Attention Pundits  —  Memo to: Jon Chait, Joe Klein, Lee Siegel, Richard Cohen, and the rest.  —  From: Some guy with a blog.  —  Gentlemen, it has come to my attention that your strings of pearls are being worn thin from clutching, at the intemperate and potty-mouthed "fascism" of liberal blogs.

Scores Of Sunnis Killed in Baghdad  —  Neighborhood Residents Describe Signs of Torture  —  BAGHDAD, July 9 — Shiite Muslim militiamen rampaged through a Sunni Arab neighborhood in Baghdad early Sunday morning, killing more than 50 people and discarding bodies in the streets, according to Iraqi officials and witnesses.

Congressman Says Program Was Disclosed by Informant  —  WASHINGTON, July 9 — The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee said Sunday that the Bush administration briefed the panel on a "significant" intelligence program only after a government whistle-blower alerted him to its existence and he pressed President Bush for details.