Hostage to Hezbollah  —  Lesson for Nasrallah: "The violence done to Lebanon shall overwhelm you."  —  Pity Lebanon: In a world of states, it has not had a state of its own.  A garden without fences, was the way Beirut, its capital city, was once described.

Douglas Schwatrz breaks down latest Q-poll report  —  Douglas Schwartz, director of the Quinnipiac University Poll, gave a press conference where he talked about the latest Q-poll report released yesterday and what it means for the senate and governor's race.

Centrist Democrats Ponder How To Counter Netroots  —  At a time when centrism has become a dirty word in some Democratic Party circles, hundreds of the party's avowed moderates are convening in Denver this weekend to discuss their agenda for this fall's election and the presidential contest in 2008.

Count Ethnic Divisions, Not Bombs, to Tell if a Nation Will Recover From War  —  WITH repeated Shiite and Sunni killings in Iraq, the Hezbollah rocket attacks on Israel, Israeli attacks on Lebanon and Gaza, the assaults by the Taliban and counterassaults by American forces in Afghanistan …

Cynthia McKinney Missing In Action  —  Rep. Cynthia McKinney was a no-show this week in the U.S. House, as WSB Washington Correspondent Jamie Dupree reports that the Georgia Democrat missed all four days of legislative business and every vote on the House floor as well.

Massachusetts same-sex marriage pioneers split up  —Text+BOSTON (Reuters) - The lesbian couple whose landmark lawsuit helped Massachusetts become the only state in America where same-sex couples can marry legally have split up, a spokeswoman said on Friday.

A sign of courage in Madrid  —  El Manifestómetro (in Spanish) has video of the lone Israel sympathizer at a peace demonstration in Madrid.  —  The young man was alone, holding a sign that said,  —  on one side, "Israel wants peace!  Stop the killing!"  —  and on the other side, "Don't let them fool you!

Another Moment of Clarity  —  The conflict in the mideast has always had a certain kabuki element.  In the past when these situations would flare up, Israel would take an agrressive action to demonstrate that it wasn't a pushover and the US would step in like a Dutch uncle and reluctantly pull the pissed off Israelis back.

Sen. Inhofe: 'Gore Is Full of Crap,' 'All Recent Science...Confirms This Thing Is A Hoax'  —  Yesterday, Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) attacked Al Gore and global warming science, claiming that Gore was "full of crap" on global warming.  —  Appearing on Glenn Beck's radio show and CNN television program …

Banned cleric begs UK: Save me  —  LONDON, England (Reuters) — A hard-line Muslim cleric barred from Britain for glorifying violence said on Friday he tried to get on board a British warship to flee Beirut but was turned back.  —  "The answer was, 'unless you have a British passport …

White House Calls on Jewish Groups to Line Up Behind John Bolton  —  It's hard to imagine something more cynical than the White House exploiting Middle East convulsions — in which many innocents on all sides are dying in real time — to divide Americans at home in order to try and squeeze through …

Right-Wing Attacks American Evacuees: 'Ingrates,' 'Whining,' 'Spoiled-Rotten Little Children'  —  The Bush administration's evacuation of Americans in Lebanon has been disorganized and lagged behind the efforts of other countries.  As of yesterday, only a few thousand had been able to evacuate …

Privilege Breeds Bad Campaigning … TNR, via mcjoan: … There is a connection between the sense of privilege Lieberman and Lieberman supporters feel, and between his terrible campaigning.  Matt hinted at this back on Tuesday night, as has emptywheel over at The Next Hurrah.

Cheney uses Mideast as campaign issue  —  TAMPA, Fla. - Vice President Dick Cheney on Friday pointed to the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah as fresh evidence of the ongoing battle against terrorism that underscores the need to keep President Bush's Republican allies in control of Congress.