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.

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 …

Italy Beats France for 4th World Cup Title  —  Italy let France do nearly anything it wanted Sunday, except win the World Cup.  That belongs to the Azzurri, 5-3 in a shootout after a 1-1 draw.  —  Outplayed for an hour and into extra time, the Italians won it after French captain Zinedine Zidane …

Hatemania!  Goldstein's stalker wants right-wingers' heads cracked (Update: PW hit with another DOS)  —  Quoting another brave, plain-speaking truthteller.  In fairness, they don't seem too adamant about bludgeoning; the main thing is having us put down like "rabid animals," so presumably injections would be okay.

One Hug at a Time  —  John Edwards is back-with a retooled résumé and a lot of love for Iowans.  —  July 17, 2006 issue - It's Friday night in Iowa and an old politician is trying some new tricks.  John Edwards is back-back, with the familiar deep drawl, dark tan and honeyed hair.

ANALYSIS OF THE DISTRICT COURT DECISION ON TOM DELAY'S CANDIDACY  —  I have just had a chance to read Texas Democratic Party v. Bensiker, the case from last week in which a federal district court reached the conclusion that Tom DeLay's name could not be removed from the Texas ballot and replaced …

What's an Iraqi Life Worth?  —  In Iraq, lives differ in value — and so do deaths.  In this disparity lies an important reason why the United States has botched this war.  —  Last November in Haditha , a squad of Marines, outraged at the loss of a comrade, is said to have run amok …

What Chief Justice Roberts Forgot in His First Term: Judicial Modesty  —  At the confirmation hearings for John Roberts, there were two theories about what kind of a chief justice he would be.  His critics maintained that he was an extreme conservative whose politics would drive his legal rulings.

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.

Is Hamdan "Our Brown"?  —  It is sometimes said of today's progressives that our agenda is a defensive crouch.  More energy is spent [rehashing] defending old decisions than imagining new victories.  I've always thought that this criticism, like critiques of democrats generally, is easy to exaggerate.