President Bush Addresses American Legion National Convention  —  Fact Sheet: Winning the Struggle Between Freedom and Terror in the Middle East  —  THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all very much.  Please be seated.  Thanks for the warm welcome.  It's great to join you here in one of America's most beautiful cities.

IAEA Reports on Iran's Continued Defiance; UNSC Must Swiftly Enact Sanctions  —  We've just received a copy of the IAEA report being distributed to diplomats at the UN today on Iran's nuclear program.  Read the whole IAEA report exclusively here on Vital Perspective.

Laura Bush hails Burns' record  —  BELGRADE - First lady Laura Bush campaigned for U.S. Sen. Conrad Burns here Wednesday, calling the Republican a strong advocate for Montana farmers and families.  —  "In Washington, Senator Burns is a respected voice on the issues facing rural communities …

Is a Dem Also Holding Up the Porkbusting Bill?  —  There's a loose thread to this "secret hold" story, and it bothers us.  —  By this morning, the dogged persistence of hundreds of bloggers and blogreaders garnered denials from 98 senators saying they did not hold up the Coburn/Obama spending transparency database bill.

Laffey Takes Commanding Lead in Republican U. S. Senate Primary  —  U.S. Senator Lincoln Chafee may lose his seat to challenger Steve Laffey, according to a new statewide Republican primary voter poll released today by the Bureau of Government Research and Services at Rhode Island College.

Gingrich: Powerful Pelosi 'would be a disaster'  —  COLUMBIA, S.C. - Ex-U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Wednesday that the thought of California Rep. Nancy Pelosi becoming the next leader of the House and being third in line to the presidency is frightening.

PRESIDENT BUSH 'ASSASSINATED' IN NEW TV DOCUDRAMA  —  This is the dramatic moment when President George Bush is gunned down by a sniper after a public address at a hotel, in a gripping new docudrama soon to be aired on TV.  —  Set around October 2007, President Bush is assassinated as he leaves the Sheraton Hotel in Chicago.

There Is Silence in the Streets; Where Have All the Protesters Gone?  —  It was almost painful the other night to hear Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young sing about a war whose purpose Americans never really understood, started by a president who didn't tell the truth and then waged the war ineptly.

Now is the Time to Act on S. 2590  —  I'm very encouraged to see that all one hundred Senators have now answered the blogosphere's inquiries on the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act.  Now is the time to act.  In September, I will bring S. 2590 to the floor of the Senate for the vote it deserves.

Pentagon sees risk in troops' loan debt  —  'Payday' lenders prey on military, report says  —  As many as one in five members of the armed services are being preyed on by loan centers set up near military bases that can charge cash-strapped military families interest of 400% or more, a new Pentagon report has found.

Positive Press on Iraq Is Aim of U.S. Contract  —  U.S. military leaders in Baghdad have put out for bid a two-year, $20 million public relations contract that calls for extensive monitoring of U.S. and Middle Eastern media in an effort to promote more positive coverage of news from Iraq.

The Democrats' Dysfunctional Calendar  —  Well, the Democrats have gone and messed it up again.  —  I came back from a one-week vacation, out of reach of the news, to learn that the Democratic National Committee in its wisdom had further muddled the calendar of events for choosing the 2008 presidential nominee.

Game over on the Plame leak?  Maybe not  —  NEW YORK (CNN) — There's a new twist to a controversy that has been roiling the political waters for more than three years.  —  This week numerous news organizations, including CNN, have identified former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage …

Misguided Muslim groups  —  Focus should be on extremists' war against the West.  —  On Aug. 10, British police arrested 24 Muslim suspects in a plot to blow up 10 U.S.-bound jetliners over the Atlantic.  If successful, the attack would have killed thousands of people.