Rioters' madness shames Muslim world  —  Reactions of some fanatics does not help open dialogue  —  Father Raymond J. de Souza, National Post  —  The eruption of rage in some quarters of the Islamic world against Pope Benedict XVI requires that several tough things be said.

How the Presidency Regained Its Balance  —  FIVE years after 9/11, President Bush has taken his counterterrorism case to the American people.  That's because he has had to.  This summer, a plurality of the Supreme Court found, in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, that Congress must explicitly approve military commissions …

Save Yourself, Blame Bush  —  I can't help but feel sorry for my old Republican friends in Congress who are fighting for their political lives.  After all, it must be tough explaining to voters at their local Baptist church's Keep Congress Conservative Day that it was their party that took …

The AP's Switcheroo  —  Here's an email we received yesterday morning at 10:26 am: … The emailer is right that if you look at the AP headline now, it reads "Poll Shows GOP Not Making Its Case:"  —  Since I was the one who published the AP story yesterday and was 100% sure that I copied …

Life's miracles renew dreams  —  At what age did you stop dreaming?  I'm not talking about whatever goes through your mind at night when you sleep.  —  I'm talking about what you were going to do.  What you were going to be.  The things that were going to happen to you, and the things you would have done.

Losing Our Will to Win  —  The Islamic terrorists or as President Bush calls them — Islamic fascists — are continuing their ruthless bombing campaign in Iraq and Afghanistan.  The casualty numbers are staggering.  —  Nearly every day in Iraq alone, 50 or more civilians are found tortured …

Major Problems At Polls Feared  —  Some Officials Say Voting Law Changes And New Technology Will Cause Trouble  —  An overhaul in how states and localities record votes and administer elections since the Florida recount battle six years ago has created conditions that could trigger a repeat …

Iraq Stumbling in Bid to Purge Its Rogue Police  —  Shiite militiamen and criminals entrenched throughout Iraq's police and internal security forces are blocking recent efforts by some Iraqi leaders and the American military to root them out, a step critical to winning the trust …

Iranian-born woman to be space tourist  —  DALLAS — Since long before leaving her native Iran as a teenager in 1984, Anousheh Ansari stared at the stars and dreamed of traveling closer to them.  Now at age 40, after an improbable journey that's included learning a new language …

The RNC Branch Office on the Tigris  —  As long-time readers of Whiskey Bar may recall, that was my pet nickname for the Coalition Provisional Authority, or CPA — the unloved, unwanted, unmourned and completely unsuccessful agency assigned the job of running Iraq after the 2003 invasion.

Na Na Ney Ney Goodbye  —  Bob Ney became the first lawmaker to admit corruption in connection with Jack Abramoff yesterday, pleading guilty to conspiracy and false statements regarding gifts he received.  Ney came up with a new excuse for his abrupt fall as he entered his plea: