Thoughts on John and Elizabeth Edwards  —  The first time I got bad medical news was 11 years ago.  I responded what with then was (and sometimes still is) characteristic bluster.  I confidently told my doctor that I would crush this little obstacle and soon resume my life as normal.

Liberals Relent on Iraq War Funding  —  House Likely to Pass Bill With Pullout Date  —  Liberal opposition to a $124 billion war spending bill broke last night, when leaders of the antiwar Out of Iraq Caucus pledged to Democratic leaders that they will not block the measure, which sets timelines for bringing U.S. troops home.

Grazergate, the episode  —  David Hiller's decision to kill the Brian Grazer section this Sunday makes my continued tenure as Los Angeles Times editorial page editor untenable.  The person in this job needs to have an unimpeachable integrity, and Hiller's decision amounts to a vote of no confidence in my continued leadership.

New to Pentagon, Gates Argued for Closing Guantánamo Prison  —  In his first weeks as defense secretary, Robert M. Gates repeatedly argued that the detention facility at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, had become so tainted abroad that legal proceedings at Guantánamo would be viewed …

Republican Party loyalty in decline since 2002  —  WASHINGTON — Public allegiance to the Republican Party has plunged since the second year of George W. Bush's presidency, as attitudes have edged away from some of the conservative values that fueled GOP political dominance for more than a decade, a major new survey has found.

GOP Forces House Democrats To Pull DC Voting Bill  —  House Democrats pulled a bill to grant voting rights to Washington, D.C., after Republicans offered a motion that would repeal the gun ban for the District.  —  The move is a clear signal that Democrats have lost control of House floor …

Clinton: 'It's just not fair'  —  Former President Bill Clinton yesterday complained that "it's just not fair" the way his wife, presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), is being depicted for her controversial Iraq war vote.  —  Speaking to hundreds of supporters on conference call …

Grassley backs subpoenas for Rove, Miers  —  Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) voted with Democrats Thursday to give Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) the authority to subpoena current and former White House officials, including presidential adviser Karl Rove, to get more information on the firing of eight U.S. attorneys.

RUBS  —  The great difficulty in filing stories from Iraq is leading me to experiment.  We are into the fifth year of the war Iraq, yet no comprehensive system exists to help media communicate to people at home.  Raw information only trickles back from Iraq because the flow is strangled.

Politics, Lies, and 93 v. 8  —  David Brooks has an excellent column today, and not for the usual reasons that liberals praise Brooks (and he drives conservatives crazy): because he comes halfway toward us.  It's because, in discussing the US Attorneys story, he nails a distinction that I, at least, was struggling with.

Pelosi skips town for big ticket fundraiser while Iraq vote looms  —  You might think that on the eve of a historic vote on emergency funding for the war effort, Speaker Pelosi would stay focused on the vote and on her caucus in the House.  —  Wrong!  This evening, she'll be hosting Democratic fat-cats …

Police: Pakistan cricket coach murdered  —  KINGSTON, Jamaica - The genteel sport of cricket was dealt a brutal blow when Jamaican police said Pakistan's national coach was murdered in his hotel room a day after his team suffered a humiliating World Cup loss.

Three Major Terror Busts in Iraq — Iran, Syria Connections Exposed, Say U.S. Officials  —  Jonathan Karl and Christopher Isham Report:  —  U.S. forces have arrested the two leaders of the network believed responsible for the brazen raid in Karbala by terrorists disguised as Americans …

Terror Supporter and Antisemitic Conspiracy Theorist Teaches at Dalton State College, Georgia  —  This is not "news" in the sense that its neither "new" nor "surprising".  Imagine my, er, shock when reader Mike e-mailed me about yet another antisemitic conspiracy theorists and terror supporter in academia.