A Portrait of Bush as a Victim of His Own Certitude  —  In Bob Woodward's highly anticipated new book, "State of Denial," President Bush emerges as a passive, impatient, sophomoric and intellectually incurious leader, presiding over a grossly dysfunctional war cabinet and given …

Rep. Foley Quits In Page Scandal  —  Six-term Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.) resigned yesterday amid reports that he had sent sexually explicit e-mails to at least one underage male former page.  —  Foley, who was considered likely to win reelection this fall, said in a three-sentence letter of resignation …

With Senate Vote, Congress Passes Border Fence Bill  —  The Senate gave final approval last night to legislation authorizing the construction of 700 miles of double-layered fencing on the U.S.-Mexico border, shelving President Bush's vision of a comprehensive overhaul of U.S. immigration laws in favor of a vast barrier.

Police in India Say Pakistan's Spy Agency Planned Train Blasts  —  MUMBAI, India (AP) — The police officer leading the investigation into train bombings that killed more than 200 people in the Indian city of Mumbai in July accused Pakistan's spy agency on Saturday of masterminding the attack.

Baghdad under curfew.  —  The situation in Baghdad calmed down soon after we made the previous post.  —  Saturday has been so quiet so far, never a single explosion happened as far as I know and there was hardly any sound of gunfire in or around our district in Baghdad.

Teacher in Hiding After Attack on Islam Stirs Threats  —  A French high school philosophy teacher and author who carried out a scathing attack against the Prophet Muhammad and Islam in a newspaper commentary says he has gone into hiding under police protection after receiving a series of death threats …

Office of the Sixteenth Congressional District of Florida Formerly the Office of Representative Mark Foley  —  The Washington, D.C. office and the district offices of the Honorable Mark Foley will continue to serve the people of the Sixteenth Congressional District of Florida under the supervision …

Webb's Fundraising Strength Puts VA-Sen Clearly on the Map  —  Even as freshman GOP Sen. George Allen of Virginia began to implode two months ago and his Democratic challenger, former Reagan Navy Secy.  Jim Webb, began to dramatically narrow Allen's lead in the polls, many were still incredulous …

97 Reasons Democrats Are Weak On Defense And Can't Be Trusted To Govern In Wartime  —  Today's Democrats are nothing like Presidents Roosevelt, Truman and Kennedy, who with courage and decisive action kept on top of their jobs and aggressively confronted one national defense crisis after another.

China's 'cruelty olympics' causes international outrage  —  A bear struggles to retain its balance while gripping the two metal hoops, which look more like shackles than acrobatics equipment, as a wildlife park worker looks on and laughs.  —  This is just the latest shocking picture to emerge …

The Watchdog … Does the memory of the independent-minded, hearing-impaired, liberally leftist, reliably humorous, ever quizzical and wonderfully prolific journalist I. F. Stone have anything to offer to us today?  Myra MacPherson has written a biography under the Stone-quoting title " …

Al Qaeda No. 2: Bush a liar, 'spiller of Muslim blood'  —  (CNN) — Calling President Bush "the murderer and spiller of Muslim blood," al Qaeda's top deputy released a videotape Friday accusing the U.S. president of being a "deceitful charlatan" who has lied to the American people.