Skepticism Over Iraq Haunts U.S. Iran Policy  —  The specter of the war in Iraq — a war the Bush administration denied it was planning, supported by evidence that turned out to be false — looms large over administration policy toward Iran.  —  Skeptical members of Congress …

Video: President Rush Limbaugh, Vice President Ann Coulter  —  Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter play President and Vice President on Fox News' new satirical television show premiering Sunday Night at 10pm Eastern:  —  Listen to Rush talk about his appearance here.  —  Blowback

For Liberal Bloggers, Libby Trial Is Fun and Fodder  —  The perjury trial of I. Lewis Libby Jr., former top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney, has drawn every major news organization in the country to the federal courthouse in Washington.  But none has fielded a bigger team …

Defense Attorneys Rest Libby's Case  —  Faulty Memory, Not Deliberate Lies, Blamed for Disputed Statements in CIA Leak Probe  —  Attorneys for I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby rested their defense in his perjury trial yesterday after giving jurors a stripped-down version of their case …

U.S., Britain Faulted on Child Welfare  —  BERLIN (AP) — The United States and Britain ranked at the bottom of a U.N. survey of child welfare in 21 wealthy countries that assessed everything from infant mortality to whether children ate dinner with their parents or were bullied at school.

Vote for Me, Al Franken  —  In Illinois a week before the 2000 election, Franken joked that "It would be much easier for me as a comedian to have Bush as President.  It would be a gold mine."  —  Well, Bush's presidency did change Franken's career.  It made him a best-selling author …

A Prewar Slide Show Cast Iraq in Rosy Hues  —  When Gen. Tommy R. Franks and his top officers gathered in August 2002 to review an invasion plan for Iraq, it reflected a decidedly upbeat vision of what the country would look like four years after Saddam Hussein was ousted from power.

Mahdi army commanders withdraw to Iran to lie low during security crackdown  —  Senior commanders of the Mahdi army, the militia loyal to the radical Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, have been spirited away to Iran to avoid being targeted in the new security push in Baghdad, a high-level Iraqi official told the Guardian yesterday.

INSECURITY  —  Justice Kennedy made an unusual appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee this morning, ostensibly to talk about "Judicial Security and Independence."  It was billed as a very big deal.  In a press release last week, Chairman Patrick Leahy called it the …

Barack Obama's On-Point Message Man  —  On Saturday in the Lincolnesque setting of Springfield, Ill., when Barack Obama delivered his full-throated appeal to the ideals of a new generation, a lot of sharp players of the political game thought they detected something Axelrodesque.

OPEN FORUM  —  'Good cop, bad cop' needed  —  The "good cop, bad cop" routine doesn't just make for good TV, it is also an important negotiating strategy in business and economics.  The "good cop" can finesse the adversary and offer up deals and agreements — while citing the "bad cop" as the reason he must stay firm.

GOP Looks Beyond War Measure to Fight on Funding  —  With Republicans speaking out against President Bush's war policy on the House floor yesterday, GOP leaders and the White House conceded defeat on a resolution opposing sending additional U.S. troops to Iraq and began looking toward the coming battle over the war's funding.

Conscience and Soul  —  Reading through the interview with Vanderslice, who is one of the religious left political consultants, there's plenty I agree with.  I do agree that Democrats should reach out to religious voters and it's something they've been bad at doing, though they've been pretty bad …

Big Announcement: I Am Now Consulting For The Duncan Hunter Campaign  —  A little more than a week ago, I mentioned that I had gotten a gig helping one of the presidential contenders build up his web presence, but that I couldn't mention who it was at the time.

Conservatives Assail North Korea Accord  —  Deal Could Get Nation off Terrorism List  —  The White House yesterday found itself fending off a conservative revolt over the North Korea nuclear deal, even scrambling to mollify one of its own top officials who expressed sharp disagreement …

McCain Leads Chase for Senate Support  —  In 2000, it was easier to troll for favorable quotes about John McCain among his Democratic colleagues than to find Republican senators ready to say nice things about a man they had served with for years.  In the end, McCain snared a grand total …

Can we really support these troops?  —  During a heated debate in a class I teach on social justice, several US Marines who had done tours in Iraq told me that they had "sacrificed" by "serving" in Iraq so that I could enjoy the freedom to teach in the USA.  Parroting their master's slogan about …