Sending a Message  —  Congress to courts: Get out of the war on terror.  —  During the bitter controversy over the military commission bill, which President Bush signed into law on Tuesday, most of the press and the professional punditry missed the big story.

Bush Accepts Iraq-Vietnam Comparison  —  George Stephanopoulos Interviews President Bush on Iraq, the Midterms and His Legacy  —  President Bush said in a one-on-one interview with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos that a newspaper column comparing the current fighting in Iraq to the 1968 Tet offensive …

New Laws and Machines May Spell Voting Woes  —  New electronic voting machines have arrived in Yolo County, Calif., but there is one hitch: the audio program for the visually impaired in some of them works only in Vietnamese.  —  "Talk about panic," said Freddy Oakley, the county's top election official.

The Lancet Study...  This has been the longest time I have been away from blogging.  There were several reasons for my disappearance the major one being the fact that every time I felt the urge to write about Iraq, about the situation, I'd be filled with a certain hopelessness that can't be put …

World Citizens Reject Torture, BBC Global Poll Reveals  —  A majority of people around the world are opposed to torture even if its purpose is to elicit information that could save innocent lives from terrorism, according to a BBC World Service poll of more than 27,000 people in 25 different countries.

Rummy's Other Role  —  Don Rumsfeld is the shrewdest person in Washington.  He understands better than anyone that somebody has to be in line to take the blame when things go wrong.  So far he has been willing to do so.  But not much longer.  —  The drumbeat to get him out of the Pentagon has reached deafening proportions.

Liberals Gone Wild!  —  Why do Republicans drive leftists so crazy these days?  Liberal democrats are beginning to sound like rowdy students on spring break, shrieking and exhibiting themselves on camera.  —  Consider some of the recent rabid outbursts by once sober, old-guard politicians.

Priest tells of Foley relationship  —  Then-altar boy may have found some things inappropriate  —  A Catholic priest told the Herald-Tribune on Wednesday about an intimate two-year relationship he had with former U.S. Rep. Mark Foley when the congressman was a teenage altar boy living in Lake Worth.

Voters' Approval of Congress Falls To 16%, Lowest Point in 12 Years  —  Public support for Republicans' control of the U.S. Congress has eroded to its lowest point since the party took over 12 years ago.  And with just 19 days until the midterm elections, both President George W. Bush …

Bob Ney, Guilty but Still at Capitol  —  Representative Bob Ney of Ohio, center, wore his Congressional pin on his way to court last Friday.  When he left the court, the pin was gone.  —  Representative Bob Ney is headed to prison early next year after pleading guilty to charges of accepting tens …

"My Name is Rachel Corrie": handing out flyers outside the theater  —  Below is the report about handing out flyers on opening night of "My Name is Rachel Corrie" in NYC.  (More about the controversy surrounding the play.)  The action seems to have been very successful.

US ARMY WATCHING BLOGS  —  Note: One reason that I wanted "The Blog of War" published was to preserve several excellent military blogger entries from blogs that were either shut down by the military or the author decided to shut down in order to avoid trouble with the military (The Questing Cat …

Tables Turned for the G.O.P. Over Iraq Issue  —  Four months ago, the White House offered a set of clear political directions to Republicans heading into the midterm elections: embrace the war in Iraq as critical to the antiterrorism fight and belittle Democrats as advocates of a "cut and run" policy of weakness.

Balloon Juice Explodes … Really? … That was an older brother of mine, John.  He's dead and, yes, he was Gay.  You want to know how he died?  He died alone, probably of aids for all I know and probably in a San Francisco flop house living on the government's dime.

Moderates in Kansas Decide They're Not in GOP Anymore  —  WICHITA — Paul Morrison, a career prosecutor who specializes in putting killers behind bars, has the bulletproof résumé and the rugged looks of a law-and-order Republican, which is what he was until last year.

POLITICALLY CORRECT WAR  —  U.S. MILITARY LEADERS DENY REALITY  —  HAVE we lost the will to win wars?  Not just in Iraq, but anywhere?  Do we really believe that being nice is more important than victory?  —  It's hard enough to bear the timidity of our civilian leaders …

Video shows snipers' chilling work in Iraq  —  (CNN) — Chilling scenes from a videotape made by insurgents show the work of snipers in Iraq, targeting and killing American troops, taking them down with a single bullet from a high-powered rifle.  —  The graphic video of 10 sniper attacks …