RICE BOILS OVER AT BUBBA  —  RIPS 'FLATLY FALSE' CLAIM ON BUSH'S BID  —  TO GET BIN LADEN  —  Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice yesterday accused Bill Clinton of making "flatly false" claims that the Bush administration didn't lift a finger to stop terrorism before the 9/11 attacks.

Senator Accused of Using Racially Charged Term  —  Two acquaintances of Senator George Allen of Virginia said today that he had used racially inflammatory language in the 1970's and 1980's, compounding allegations of racial insensitivity that have dogged his re-election campaign since he referred …

More Leaks, Please  —  Questioning the Iraq Intelligence Report  —  It's too bad we won't get to see the full National Intelligence Estimate on "Trends in Global Terrorism" selectively leaked to The Post and the New York Times last week.  The Times headline read "Spy Agencies Say Iraq War Worsens Terrorism Threat."

Detainee Measure to Have Fewer Restrictions  —  White House Reaches Accord With Lawmakers  —  Republican lawmakers and the White House agreed over the weekend to alter new legislation on military commissions to allow the United States to detain and try a wider range of foreign nationals …

Key 9/11 planner linked to London bombings: Musharraf  —  The chief architect of the September 11, 2001 attacks was also linked to last year's suicide blasts on the London transport network, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf says in his memoirs.  —  Khalid Sheikh Mohammed …

Republican General: Rummy responsible for deaths, failure, Abu Ghraib, the leaning tower of Pisa...  Leadership "extraordinarily bad"; violated rules of war  —  Uber-decorated Major General John R.S. Batiste, who retired last year "on principle," delivers a bruising point by point indictment …

More of What You Won't Read in the NYT  —  Yesterday, we noted that the MSM (along with their fellow travelers in the intel community), had apparently "cherry-picked" information from a recent National Intelligence Estimate, making their case that the Bush Administration's War on Terror had actually made the problem worse.

Europe Panel Faults Sifting of Bank Data  —  A European Union panel has serious doubts about the legality of a Bush administration program that monitors international financial transactions, the group's leader said Monday, and plans to recommend tighter controls to prevent privacy abuses.

Bill Clinton "never criticized" Bush  —  One of the quotes I had missed before reading the transcript of Bill Clinton's spontaneous (or maybe not so spontaneous) rage-fest this weekend was the former president saying "now, I have never criticized President Bush..."

Stricter Voting Laws Carve Latest Partisan Divide  —  MESA, Ariz. — Eva Charlene Steele, a recent transplant from Missouri, has no driver's license or other form of state identification.  So after voting all her adult life, Mrs. Steele will not be voting in November because of an Arizona law …

Romney Rides High  —  A Mormon from Massachusetts wows social conservatives.  —  WASHINGTON—Right now John McCain is the front-runner for the 2008 GOP presidential nomination.  But everyone expects that a single major competitor will emerge to challenge him from the right.

A Dog's Life, Upgraded  —  ON a sunny day in August, a half-dozen large dogs — mostly Labrador retrievers — bounded in and out of the swimming pool here at Top Dog Country Club.  Others lounged on the artificial-turf lawn, or looked on with envy and vocal protests from "time out" pens on the edge of the play yard.