Kerry Calls Lieberman the New Cheney  —  Senator Labels Bush Iraq Policy 'Disaster,' Lieberman Bid 'Huge Mistake'  —  Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., blasted fellow a Democrat, Sen. Joe Lieberman, for continuing his bid in the Connecticut Senate race despite a narrow loss to newcomer Ned Lamont in the Democratic primary earlier this month.

Dismantling the Liebermachine  —  I find it quite ironic that those best positioned to understand the implications of Lieberman's downfall are the most apt to describe the race as unimportant or meaningless instead of the momentus event it really is.  I would throw into this TPM reader DK …

Hezbollah night-vision gear was from Britain, Israel says  —  It's believed to be an export to Iran in drug-fighting effort  —  (08-20) 04:00 PDT Kiryat Shemona, Israel — Israeli intelligence officials have complained to Britain and the United States that sensitive night-vision equipment recovered …

Sen. Hagel says GOP has lost its way  —  WASHINGTON - Republicans have lost their way when it comes to many core GOP principles and may be in jeopardy heading into the fall elections, Sen. Chuck Hagel (news, bio, voting record), R-Neb. says.  —  Hagel, a possible presidential candidate in 2008 …

Minnesota's muddled election scene makes forecasts hazardous  —  Minnesota's electoral politics are deeply muddled as we head into the high election season next month.  —  The national political environment favors the Democrats, but the state's political situation benefits the Republicans.

The YouTube Election  —  AUGUST, usually the sleepiest month in politics, has suddenly become raucous, thanks in part to YouTube, the vast videosharing Web site.  —  Last week, Senator George Allen, the Virginia Republican, was caught on tape at a campaign event twice calling a college student …

IRAQ: QUIT OR COMMIT  —  I've been putting off writing this post for a couple of months.  Not out of any fear of blogospheric consequences although it would pain me if my honest opinion drove people away from this site.  But I realize many readers who have been following my evolving position …

MOMENT OF TRUTH  —  ISLAMO-FASCIST TERROR COULD TRIGGER A BRUTAL  —  WESTERN RESPONSE  —  IN the wake of Israel's strategic setback in Lebanon, where's the Middle East headed?  (Hint: The road sign doesn't read "Age of Aquarius").  —  Powerful emotions intoxicate all sides.

Looking for the Will Beyond the Battlefield  —  IT'S been a bitter month or so.  —  Mighty Israel, the redeemer of faith in what free men and women can do with arid desert if they are motivated, redeemer of faith that maybe there is a place for the Jews as a sovereign people and technological superpower …

Kidnapped Fox News crew: prayers and outrage  —  ***scroll for updates*** … I've tried to stay away from the computer and the news as much as possible during my time off, but I couldn't help checking in every day for word of Fox News correspondent Steve Centanni and cameraman Olaf Wiig since their kidnapping last Monday.

The lessons of Lebanon - II  —  The war did not go well.  It's easy to point to Hizbullah's six years of preparations, its fanatic devotion to death, and an endless supply of technologically advanced Iranian and Syrian weapons.  But the analysis of what went wrong must first be focused on ourselves.

Five Years After 9/11, Fear Finally Strikes Out  —  From NY Times  —  By Frank Rich  —  The results are in for the White House's latest effort to exploit terrorism for political gain: the era of Americans' fearing fear itself is over.  —  In each poll released since the foiling …

JonBenet suspect a patient at Thai sex-change center  —  BANGKOK, Thailand — The man who confessed to killing JonBenet Ramsey had another bizarre secret up his sleeve in the months before his arrest: he was visiting a surgical center that specializes in sex-change operations.