Internal Affairs  —  Aborted DOJ Probe Probably Would Have Targeted Gonzales  —  Shortly before Attorney General Alberto Gonzales advised President Bush last year on whether to shut down a Justice Department inquiry regarding the administration's warrantless domestic eavesdropping program …

9/11 mastermind admits killing reporter  —  WASHINGTON - Suspected 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed confessed to the beheading of American journalist Daniel Pearl and a central role in 30 other attacks and plots in the U.S. and worldwide that killed thousands of victims …

Clinton: I'll Ignore Genocide  —  Hillary Clinton made an astonishing statement on her policy for Iraq if elected President, in an interview with the New York Times yesterday.  She refused to commit to total withdrawal from Iraq, saying that she would keep American troops in Anbar to fight terrorists …

2008 and counting: Using praise as a weapon on the trail  —  Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) slipped in a compliment — of sorts — about a fellow 2008 hopeful during his appearances on the Iowa stump last weekend.  —  "I want to wait and hear what John Edwards has to say, he's kind of good-looking …

Dozens in GOP Turn Against Bush's Prized 'No Child' Act  —  More than 50 GOP members of the House and Senate — including the House's second-ranking Republican — will introduce legislation today that could severely undercut President Bush's signature domestic achievement, the No Child Left Behind Act …

Sen. Clinton dodges question on gays, immorality … WASHINGTON (CNN) — Sen. Hillary Clinton sidestepped a question about whether she thinks homosexuality is immoral Wednesday, less than two weeks after telling gay-rights activists she was "proud" to stand by their side.

Emanuel tells freshmen to avoid Stephen Colbert  —  Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.), the Democratic Caucus chairman, has told new Democratic members of Congress to steer clear of Stephen Colbert, or at least his satirical Comedy Central program, "The Colbert Report."

The real target of the 6 imams' 'discrimination' suit  —  The "flying imams' " federal lawsuit, filed this week in Minneapolis, has made headlines around the country.  The imams are demanding unspecified damages from US Airways and the Metropolitan Airports Commission, both with deep pockets.

As a child, Obama crossed a cultural divide in Indonesia  —  JAKARTA, INDONESIA — As a boy in Indonesia, Barack Obama crisscrossed the religious divide.  At the local primary school, he prayed in thanks to a Catholic saint.  In the neighborhood mosque, he bowed to Allah.

God's dupes  —  Moderate believers give cover to religious fanatics — and are every bit as delusional.  —  PETE STARK, a California Democrat, appears to be the first congressman in U.S. history to acknowledge that he doesn't believe in God.  In a country in which 83% of the population thinks …

McCain Fighting to Recapture Maverick Spirit of 2000 Bid  —  In the seven years since John McCain and his "Straight Talk Express" nearly derailed George W. Bush's White House ambitions, the blunt-spoken senator from Arizona has become the very picture of the highly managed presidential candidate he once scorned.

Inside the Beltway  —  Allen angles  —  Inside the Beltway has learned that former Sen. George Allen, Virginia Republican, will host a private dinner in Old Town Alexandria in the coming days to discuss whether to seek the Senate seat now held by senior Republican Sen. John W. Warner …

Reports of the GOP's Death . . .  Months before the first votes are cast in the campaign of 2008, some in the media are conducting last rites for the Republicans.  The rush to bury the GOP is as hasty as it is premature.  —  The headline atop Page 1 of Tuesday's New York Times read, "GOP Voters Voice Anxieties on Party's Fate."