Leading Democrat in Senate Tells Reporters, 'This War Is Lost'  —  As Congressional Democrats sought to reconcile their differences and send an Iraq spending bill to the White House, Senator Harry Reid, the majority leader, said Thursday that "this war is lost," a stark assessment …

Maybe Gonzales Won't Recall His Painful Day on the Hill  —  Alberto Gonzales's tenure as attorney general was pronounced dead at 3:02 p.m. yesterday by Tom Coburn, M.D.  —  The good doctor, who also happens to be a Republican member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, made this clinical judgment …

Training Iraqi troops no longer driving force in U.S. policy  —  WASHINGTON - Military planners have abandoned the idea that standing up Iraqi troops will enable American soldiers to start coming home soon and now believe that U.S. troops will have to defeat the insurgents and secure control of troubled provinces.

A HERO IS LAID TO REST  —  The funeral of Professor Liviu Librescu, who gave his life to save his students at VA Tech, took place this morning.  PJM Tel Aviv editor Allison Kaplan Sommer was there.  —  The Middle Eastern sun shone bright in the cemetery where Professor Liviu Librescu …

Radio host Michael Smerconish to be simulcast on MSNBC in place of Imus  —  According to an April 20 article on Philly.com, the website of The Philadelphia Inquirer, "The Big Talker 1210 AM morning show of Daily News columnist Michael Smerconish is to be simulcast Monday through Wednesday on MSNBC."

CBC: Hues Of The News  —  Set aside for a moment the journalistic misrepresentation on display in using a photo depicting air pollution to illustrate a story on the costs of meeting Kyoto mandated C02 reductions...  There's a little more than lack of scientific accuracy going on here.

PRESS GAGGLE  —  MS. PERINO: I have a few things to announce, and I also have the week ahead, which is kind of lengthy, so we'll do that at the end, okay?  —  This morning — the President taped his radio address this morning.  This topic is the tragic shootings that occurred at Virginia Tech this week.

'I found Saddam's WMD bunkers'  —  It's a fair bet that you have never heard of a guy called Dave Gaubatz.  It's also a fair bet that you think the hunt for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq has found absolutely nothing, nada, zilch; and that therefore there never were any WMD programmes …

Times Co., Gannett and Tribune Co. Report Declines  —  Buffeted by an ongoing advertising recession, The New York Times Company and the Gannett Company announced yesterday that their first-quarter profits declined while the Tribune Company reported a loss.  —  The disappointing results underscored …

Vermont Senate calls for impeachment of Bush … MONTPELIER, Vermont (AP) — Vermont senators voted Friday to call for the impeachment of President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, saying their actions in Iraq and the U.S. "raise serious questions of constitutionality."

Three days after guilty plea, Griles ties the knot  —  Two Bush administration officials who have been linked in scandal are now linked in wedlock.  —  The union of former Deputy Interior Secretary J. Steven Griles and Sue Ellen Wooldridge could have implications for the investigation into Griles's ties to ex-lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

MONOPOLY ON THE USE OF FORCE: I was corresponding with a friend of mine — a very smart fellow, and a lawyer and a journalist — about concealed carry for university professors.  He disagreed with my view, and as best I can tell in general was skeptical about laws allowing concealed carry in public.

House Passes Shareholder Vote on Executive Compensation Act  —  The House has passed the Shareholder Vote on Executive Compensation Act, by a vote of 269-134.  —  Passage came after defeat of a Republican motion to recommit with instructions.  As background, the C-Span Congressional Glossary provides the following definition: