Hastert Fights to Save His Job in Page Scandal  —  Backed by measured words of support from President Bush, Speaker J. Dennis Hastert opened an intense drive on Tuesday to hold on to his post, but behind the scenes senior Republicans weighed whether he could survive the scandal surrounding former Representative Mark Foley.

INCREDIBLE!  FOX 'NEWS' LABELS FOLEY AS DEM DURING O'REILLY FACTOR!  —  Three Different Video Cutaways, 15 Seconds or More Each, Credit Disgraced REPUBLICAN Congressman as Being a Florida DEMOCRAT!  —  UPDATED: NOW WITH VIDEO!  LATER UPDATE: 'Erroneous' Caption Scrubbed from Late-night O'Reilly Rebroadcasts Without Explanation!

8 G.I.'s Die in Baghdad, Most in a Day Since '05  —  Eight United States soldiers were killed Monday in Baghdad, the United States military said, the most in the capital in a day since July 2005.  —  Four of the soldiers died in a roadside bomb attack; the four others were killed by small-arms fire in separate incidents.

Sex scandal, Iraq book take toll on Bush, GOP  —  NBC/WSJ poll: Bush back in 30s; Dems favored for control of Congress  —  WASHINGTON -  —  After what they have seen and heard over the past few weeks — events including the news of a Republican congressman's improper correspondence …

Passengers leaving hijacked jet  —  BRINDISI, Italy (CNN) — Passengers from a hijacked Turkish plane carrying 113 people are leaving the aircraft after the two unarmed Turks who hijacked the plane, protesting the pope's upcoming visit to Turkey, agreed to release them.

Border Security, Job Market Leave Farms Short of Workers  —  Growers Frustrated by Delay in Agriculture Legislation  —  CLOVIS, Calif. — Bins of Granny Smith apples towered over two conveyor belts at P-R Farms' packing plant.  But only one belt moved.  P-R Farms, like farms up and down California …

In Bill's Fine Print, Millions to Celebrate Victory  —  As the Bush administration urges Americans to stay the course in Iraq, Republicans in Congress have put down a quiet marker in the apparent hope that V-I Day might be only months away.  —  Tucked away in fine print in the military spending bill …

OMB Welcomes Help From Anti-Pork Bloggers  —  Call it the Office of Management and Blog-it.  —  The Office of Management and Budget is turning to bloggers for help in pushing the OMB's government reform plans after last week's success of its pet project, the Federal Funding Accountability …

THE JIHAD ON KING  —  CNN'S OUTRAGEOUS SMEAR STEVEN EMERSON  —  THE media is engaged in a jihad against Rep. Peter King - a jihad in defense of Islamist extremists.  —  King, a Long Island Republican, has warned his constituents that some leaders of the Islamic Center of Long Island have …

Here's how dishonest Beltway journalism has become  —  Books about politics and the press don't come much more dishonest, or depressing, than the new tome hitting stores this week, The Way to Win (Random House).  Written by corporate media bigwigs Mark Halperin, political director of ABC News …

Mothers lose right to equal salaries  —  Women who take time out of the workplace for maternity leave have no automatic right to the same pay as male colleagues who are doing the same job but have not had time off, Europe's top court ruled yesterday.  —  The landmark ruling …

Patterico's Exclusive Interview with a Man Who Has Spoken to the Terrorists at Guantánamo (Part Three: Hunger Strikes, Suicides and Suicide Attempts, and the Detainees' Mental Health)  —  [This is Part Three of my exclusive interview with "Stashiu," an Army nurse who worked at Guantánamo …

Student activists rise again - this time for Darfur  —  She sleeps less, goes out less, and has reduced her course load to work 30 to 40 hours a week organizing student campaigns.  Her goal: to end the suffering in Darfur, Sudan, perhaps the world's worst humanitarian crisis.