Hezbollah Says Israeli Response a Surprise  —  A senior Hezbollah official said Tuesday the guerrilla group did not expect Israel to react so strongly to its capture of two Israeli soldiers.  —  Mahmoud Komati, deputy chief of Hezbollah's political arm, also told The Associated Press …

50 percent of U.S. says Iraq had WMDs  —  Half of Americans now say Iraq had weapons of mass destruction when the United States invaded the country in 2003 — up from 36 percent last year, a Harris poll finds.  Pollsters deemed the increase both "substantial" and "surprising" …

Palestinian groups agree deal for return of Israeli  —  Hamas leaders in Damascus are last obstacle to Gaza ceasefire  —  Conal Urquhart in Ramallah  —  Palestinian factions, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, have agreed to stop firing rockets at Israel and to free a captured Israeli soldier …

Access Denied  —  What do you do when the people you represent want to be represented by someone else?  What do you do when the your highest approval ratings come from members of the party you claim to differentiate yourself from?  What do you do when you're down and desperate?

Why People Don't Think Democrats Believe What They Say  —  The habit of the Democratic Party to kill itself via self-referential meta-talk was on full display at the DLC meeting yesterday.  Tell me if you can find what is wrong with the message coming out of the conference.  From the Mercury News:

U.N.: Israeli airstrike hits U.N. observer post  —  Sources: Condoleezza Rice floats plan to end conflict  —  BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNN) — An Israeli airstrike hit a United Nations post in southern Lebanon late Tuesday, killing at least two of the agency's observers, according to the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon.

50 Most Beautiful People on Capitol Hill  —  #1 Michelle Persaud, 27  —  Staff counsel  —  Michelle Persaud's delicate features burst into a smile as she describes the mistake many men make with her.  —  Seeing her dark eyes and mocha skin, her flowing black tresses and expansive lashes …

Stand up to US, voters tell Blair  —  63% say PM has tied Britain too close to White House  —  Britain should take a much more robust and independent approach to the United States, according to a Guardian/ICM poll published today, which finds strong public opposition to Tony Blair's close working relationship with President Bush.

60 years later, NPR's Schorr is still a 'precious resource'  —  The media mix By Peter Johnson  —  Daniel Schorr is used to producers popping into his Washington, D.C., office at National Public Radio to ask, on deadline: Which war came first, Korea or Vietnam?  (Answer: Korea.)

Fox News Calls Olbermann 'Over the Line'  —  PASADENA, Calif. (AP) - Fox News Channel chairman and CEO Roger Ailes responded to Keith Olbermann's latest critical volley against Bill O'Reilly on Monday, saying the MSNBC host's behavior "is over the line."  —  Ailes, appearing Monday …

Rales uses addicts at rally  —  Josh Rales, a Democratic candidate for Maryland's U.S. Senate seat, paid a drug-treatment center in Baltimore to drive its recovering addicts to last week's debate in College Park, where they held signs supporting his campaign.

Matthews on Imus: Pencil Neck Foreign Policy  —  Chris took a hard stance against Bush's foreign policy...  Matthews has been against the Iraq War all along, but today he whaled on Bush's foreign policy-or should I say, his lack of one-that has made things much worse for the US and the world.

The good humor man … WASHINGTON // Back when Tony Snow was free to speak his mind, he lambasted the news media and President Bush with almost gleeful abandon.  —  Journalists were elitists who "tend to look on the American public with finicky disdain," Snow wrote in a 2004 Web column.