Hastert Rejects Calls to Disinvite al-Maliki to Speak to Congress  —  WASHINGTON — House Speaker Dennis Hastert has rejected calls Tuesday by congressional Democrats to cancel an address Wednesday by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to a joint session of Congress.

Annan: Israel bombed UN base for hours  —  Staff and agencies  —  The UN general secretary, Kofi Annan, today accused the Israeli military of carrying out a sustained bombing of the UN base on the Lebanon-Israel border that culminated in the killing of four unarmed monitors.

Senate Removes Abortion Option for Young Girls  —  WASHINGTON, July 25 — The Senate passed legislation Tuesday that would make it a federal crime to help an under-age girl escape parental notification laws by crossing state lines to obtain an abortion.  —  The bill was approved on a 65-to-34 vote …

A Knife-Thrower at the Carnival  —  Kofi Annan has accused Israel of deliberately targeting UN position in southern Lebanon.  According to the Independent: … In order to have some sense of how plausible this accusation is, it would be useful to examine the statements of the UNIFIL itself prior to this incident.

Dump Condi: Foreign policy conservatives charge State Dept. has hijacked Bush agenda  —  Conservative national security allies of President Bush are in revolt against Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, saying that she is incompetent and has reversed the administration's national security and foreign policy agenda.

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" …

Tax Cuts May Come At a Price, Study Says  —  The federal government will need to either cut spending or raise taxes down the road to pay for extending President Bush's recent tax cuts, the Treasury Department said in a report released yesterday, dismissing the idea popular with many Republicans that such sacrifices can be avoided.

Seixon vs. Leopold and Johnson: The creepiest blog scandal ever  —  So creepy, in fact, that I feel guilty now for having done that jaunty little scandal round-up.  —  Your quote of the day, from an e-mailer whom Seixon claims is media whore/former CIA operative Larry "Rove drove his mother to suicide" Johnson:

Case Closed  —  THE TRUTH ABOUT THE IRAQI-NIGER "YELLOWCAKE" NEXUS.  —  Now that Joseph and Valerie Wilson's fantasies of having been persecuted by high officials in the administration have been so thoroughly dispelled by Robert Novak (and now that it seems the prosecutor has determined …

Senator Santorum Repugnant Remarks on Islam, Iran, and Syria  —  Sen. Rick Santorum (R., Pa.) remarks at the National Press Club on Wednesday July 19th 2006 calling for regime change in Iran and described "Islamic fascism" as the "great test" of this generation, as threatening to the United States …

Chris Matthews comes unglued on the Imus In The Morning program.  —  If you're a rancher, according to Matthews, you can't be president.  —  Here is an excerpt of audio from Chris Matthews from earlier today on the Imus In The Morning program.  Listening is fine, but you need to really read what he had to say.

Fox News' Ailes says he's just getting started  —  Firing poison darts at his cable-news competitors and taunting his critics in the media, Fox News Channel boss Roger Ailes celebrated the 10th birthday of his network but instead of cake, served notice that his conquest of other television empires already is under way.

The Next Front  —  Pressure is building on Ankara to deal more harshly with cross-border terrorist attacks from Iraq.  —  Mustafa Ozer / AFP-Getty Images  —  Newsweek International  —  July 31, 2006 issue - Israel launched airstrikes on Lebanon in response to attacks by Hizbullah earlier this month …