Army Squeezes Soldier Blogs, Maybe to Death  —  The U.S. Army has ordered soldiers to stop posting to blogs or sending personal e-mail messages, without first clearing the content with a superior officer, Wired News has learned.  The directive, issued April 19, is the sharpest restriction …

Parsing the Polls: No Room For Compromise on Iraq  —  President Bush's veto of the Iraq funding bill returns the debate over the war to square one.  —  The question for Democratic congressional leaders and the White House is how far is each side willing to push the fight over legislating …

The Battle to Control Obama's Myspace  —  In November 2004, Joe Anthony, a paralegal living in Los Angeles, started a unofficial fan page for then-newly-elected Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) on MySpace.com.  Inspired by Obama's keynote address at that summer's Democratic convention, Anthony had never been politically active before.

Lawful incest may be on its way  —  WHEN THE BBC invited me onto one of its talk shows recently to talk about the day's hot topic — legalizing adult incest — I thought of Rick Santorum.  —  Back in 2003, as the Supreme Court was preparing to rule in Lawrence v. Texas …

President Bush Discusses War on Terror, Economy with Associated General Contractors of America  —  Washington, D.C.  —  THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all; please be seated.  Steve, unlike you, I have trouble finding the front end of a front-end loader.  (Laughter.)  Thanks for having me.

Rice Meets with Iraq's Prime Minister on Eve of Conference  —  Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met here with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki Wednesday afternoon, on the eve of a crucial two-day gathering at this Red Sea resort that the Bush administration hopes will convince Iraq's neighbors …

Study of N.B.A. Sees Racial Bias in Calling Fouls  —  An academic study of the National Basketball Association, whose playoffs continue tonight, suggests that a racial bias found in other parts of American society has existed on the basketball court as well.

Radio stations report little outcry about Boortz  —  Managers are assessing the talk show host's remarks about Virginia Tech after three state lawmakers complained.  —  981-3336  —  Managers of four Virginia radio stations that carry Neal Boortz's nationally syndicated talk radio show …

Rep. Shimkus: Iraq War Is Like 'My Beloved St. Louis Cardinals' Facing 'The Cubbies'  —  Today on the House floor, Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL) compared the war in Iraq to a Major League Baseball feud, asking fellow members of Congress to "Imagine my beloved St. Louis Cardinals are playing the much despised Chicago Cubs."

Message to the House of Representatives  —  TO THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:  —  I am returning herewith without my approval H.R. 1591, the "U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq Accountability Appropriations Act, 2007."  —  This legislation is objectionable …

Administration Pulls Back on Surveillance Agreement  —  Senior Bush administration officials told Congress on Tuesday that they could not pledge that the administration would continue to seek warrants from a secret court for a domestic wiretapping program, as it agreed to do in January.

U.S. Seeks Closing of Visa Loophole for Britons  —  Omar Khyam, the ringleader of the thwarted London bomb plot who was sentenced to life imprisonment on Monday, showed the potential for disaffected young men to be lured as terrorists, a threat that British officials said they would have to contend with for a generation.

Imus won't go quietly  —  The talk show host has hired a top First Amendment lawyer, and an unusual clause in his contract could give him a $40 million payday, writes Fortune's Tim Arango.  —  NEW YORK (Fortune) — Don Imus, the tousled and acerbic radio host whose racial remarks engendered …

BANANA REPUBLICANISM, CONT'D....Quote of the day, from Thomas Sowell: … Now that's a comforting, conservative thought, isn't it?  I wonder what Buckley thinks of NRO publishing stuff like this?  —  (And in case you're wondering, there's no further context.  That's the whole quote.

Republicans In Fiction  —  Earlier this year, Ben Nugent wondered in N+1 why there aren't more novels written by Republicans.  Now, via Andrew, comes a good explanation for why there aren't more novels about Republicans: … So wait ... it's the Bushies' fault that all the anti-Bush agitprop …

The right's explicit and candid rejection of "the rule of law"  —  (updated below)  —  The Wall St. Journal online has today published a lengthy and truly astonishing article by Harvard Government Professor Harvey Mansfield, which expressly argues that the power of the President is greater than "the rule of law."