"War in Iraq lost": US Democrat leader  —  The war in Iraq "is lost" and a US troop surge is failing to bring peace to the country, the leader of the Democratic majority in the US Congress, Harry Reid, said Thursday.  —  "I believe ... that this war is lost, and this surge is not accomplishing anything …

On the Hill, Gonzales Gets His Chance at Redemption  —  When Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales's top aide contemplated the mass dismissal of chief federal prosecutors two years ago, he advocated keeping the "loyal Bushies."  Two years later, the question confronting President Bush is whether …

Iran Exonerates Six Who Killed in Islam's Name  —  The Iranian Supreme Court has overturned the murder convictions of six members of a prestigious state militia who killed five people they considered "morally corrupt."  —  The reversal, in an infamous five-year-old case from Kerman …

McCain visits Murrells Inlet  —  Even though he was nursing a cold, Republican Presidential candidate Sen. John McCain spent nearly 90 minutes talking to nearly 500 people who crammed into the Murrells Inlet VFW Hall Wednesday morning.  —  The "Straight Talk" tour, as it's called, included stops in Summerville and Charleston.

Package Forced NBC to Make Tough Decisions  —  The package that arrived yesterday at NBC headquarters in New York was almost immediately flagged as suspicious, because it had been mailed from Blacksburg, Va., and bore the return name A. Ishmael.  —  Last night, the anchor of "The NBC Nightly News …

Drinking Age Paradox  —  Public policy often illustrates the law of unintended consequences.  Society's complexity — multiple variables with myriad connections — often causes the consequences of a policy to be contrary to, and larger than, the intended ones.

GOP Unknown Halts Electronic Finance Filings  —  The long-pending plan to usher the Senate into the modern age by requiring members to file their campaign finance forms electronically finally appeared poised for passage.  —  Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.), the lead sponsor of a bill …

The Media in the Mud  —  It pales in comparison to the carnage and loss of life this week at Virginia Tech.  But last week the tattered reputation of journalism in this country saw severe damage.  The role of the media in the phony Duke lacrosse rape story and the Don Imus firing left large parts …

Gonzales: Criticism Damages DoJ Employees  —  Under questioning from Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), Gonzales cautioned against criticizing the good employees of the Justice Department: "when there are attacks against the department, you're attacking the career professionals."

Which lame-o Senator likes dark-ages campaign finance reports and secret holds?  —  Great.  I thought we were done with this nonsense about certain Senators placing secret holds on legislation that might cause them a spot of bother, back last year when this site, together with Porkbusters and TPM …

Embattled lawmaker gives up panel seat  —  WASHINGTON - Rep. John Doolittle (news, bio, voting record) has decided to temporarily give up his House Appropriations Committee seat after FBI agents searched his house in a congressional influence-peddling investigation.

Where Kurdistan Meets the Red Zone  —  "If Turkey allows itself to interfere in the matter of Kirkuk, we will do the same...in Turkey."  - Kurdistan Regional Government President Massoud Barzani.  —  KIRKUK, IRAQ - Just south of the Kurdish autonomous region in Iraq's northernmost provinces lies …