McCain Strolls Through Baghdad Market, Accompanied By 100 Soldiers, 3 Blackhawks, 2 Apache Gunships  —  Sen. John McCain strolled briefly through an open-air market in Baghdad today in an effort to prove that Americans are "not getting the full picture" of what's going on in Iraq.

Clinton Shatters Record for Fundraising  —  Edwards Also Passes 1st-Quarter Benchmark  —  Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) raised $26 million in the first quarter of the year, almost three times as much as any politician has previously raised at this point in a presidential election …

Democrats To Widen Conflict With Bush  —  Even as their confrontation with President Bush over Iraq escalates, emboldened congressional Democrats are challenging the White House on a range of issues — such as unionization of airport security workers and the loosening of presidential secrecy orders …

New Generation of Qaeda Chiefs Is Seen on Rise  —  As Al Qaeda rebuilds in Pakistan's tribal areas, a new generation of leaders has emerged under Osama bin Laden to cement control over the network's operations, according to American intelligence and counterterrorism officials.

Teachers drop the Holocaust to avoid offending Muslims  —  Schools are dropping the Holocaust from history lessons to avoid offending Muslim pupils, a Governmentbacked study has revealed.  —  It found some teachers are reluctant to cover the atrocity for fear of upsetting students whose beliefs include Holocaust denial.

The Once and Future Republic of Vermont  —  The winds of secession are blowing in the Green Mountain State.  —  Vermont was once an independent republic, and it can be one again.  We think the time to make that happen is now.  Over the past 50 years, the U.S. government has grown too big …

Crime Intensifies Debate Over Taping of Suspects  —  The account, buried in a mountain of documents assembled for a Congressional investigation, describes a decidedly local yet brutal crime: a Navajo man charged with beating his girlfriend nearly to death and then hanging her by a rope outside …

Poll suggests that Cuban Americans' attitudes shifting on sanctions  —  WASHINGTON - A new poll to be released Monday shows that growing numbers of Cuban Americans in south Florida oppose U.S. restrictions on travel to the island and favor more contacts with Havana.

Balking at the First Pitch  —  Bush's Skipping of Opening Day May Perpetuate a Ritual's Slow Decline  —  This is a baseball story, so let's get right to the stats.  —  Today is Washington's 65th Opening Day since 1910, when William H. Taft gave us a tradition: the ceremonial first pitch by the president.

More Craven Than Karl  —  On his lonely way back home.  Kris Kristofferson  —  In his front page political self-immolation in the New York Times, Bush pollster Matthew Dowd has managed to set a standard for duplicity unmatched thus far by even Karl Rove.  For all of Rove's many and manifest failings …

First They Came for the Jews  —  A prosecution under the Espionage Act threatens the First Amendment.  —  Early in June 2004, an employee of the American Israel Pubic Affairs Committee, AIPAC—better known by its media tag, "the powerful Israeli lobby"—received an urgent phone call.

Del Monte Pet Products Voluntarily Withdraws Specific Product Codes of Pet Treats and Wet Dog Food Products  —  As a precautionary measure, Del Monte Pet Products is voluntarily recalling select product codes of its pet treat products sold under the Jerky Treats®, Gravy Train® Beef Sticks …

A Chat with General David Petraeus  —  The following is an OPFOR exclusive.  Our friend Richard S. Lowry, currently working on a historical account of the surge, sat down for an extensive phone interview with General Petraeus last Thursday.  Richard transcribed the conversation into the post below …

Tsunami Hits Solomons; 8 Reported Dead  —  HONIARA, Solomon Islands (AP) - A powerful undersea earthquake Monday in the South Pacific sent a tsunami several yards high crashing into the Solomon Islands, devastating at least one village, officials and residents said.