Cheney Makes Surprise Visit to Baghdad  —  Vice President Dick Cheney made an unannounced visit to Baghdad today, meeting with Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki and other Iraqi leaders to pressure them to show more progress in quelling violence in Iraq, and to do so quickly.

Giuliani gave to Planned Parenthood  —  Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani in his campaign appearances this year has stated that he personally abhors abortion, even though he supports keeping a legal right to choose.  But records show that in the '90s he contributed money …

Chance for Reform  —  CONGRESSIONAL DEMOCRATS have been promising since last November's election to reform President Bush's treatment of foreign prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay prison.  There are practical limits to what can be done while this president remains in office …

Pelosi threat to sue Bush over Iraq bill  —  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is threatening to take President Bush to court if he issues a signing statement as a way of sidestepping a carefully crafted compromise Iraq war spending bill.  —  Pelosi recently told a group of liberal bloggers …

Obama Overstates Kansas Tornado Deaths  —  RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Barack Obama, caught up in the fervor of a campaign speech Tuesday, drastically overstated the Kansas tornadoes death toll, saying 10,000 had died.  —  The death toll was 12.  —  "In case you missed it, this week, there was a tragedy in Kansas.

National Poll: Presidential Campaign 2008  —  This WNBC/Marist Poll reports:  —  · Hillary Clinton is not only the Democratic favorite for her party's nomination but, for the first time, she edges both Rudy Giuliani and John McCain: Senator Hillary Clinton still outpaces her Democratic rivals by a wide margin.

Islamist-Left Alliance A Growing Force … Over the past year, multiple international conferences have featured leaders of the anti-global left and Islamist groups working together.  Go to any anti-war or anti-globalization demonstration in the West and chances are you will see the flags …

The Sunni Awakening  —  The Albu Fahd tribe joins the Anbar Salvation Council and vows to fight al Qaeda in Iraq  —  Poster shows Sheikh Abu-Risha staring down figures representing Al Qaeda in Ramadi.  (Photo by Sam Dagher, CSM).  Click to view.  —  The Anbar Salvation Council …

Axis of Soros  —  The men and motives behind the World Bank coup attempt.  —  Mark Malloch Brown spoke Monday to a crowded auditorium at the World Bank's headquarters, warning that the bank's mission was "hugely at risk" as long as Paul Wolfowitz remained its president.

DeLay: FBI 'running amok'  —  Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) is calling on the Justice Department either to drop its investigation of his wife and former political associates or else to bring charges quickly.  —  DeLay said he has given the FBI documents exonerating his wife …

The Real Case Against Mark Penn  —  I predicted a few weeks ago that we would start to see more stories about the bizarrely conflicting roles of one Mark Penn, who holds down the job of "Worldwide President and CEO" of the fifth-largest public relations firm in the universe (Burson-Marsteller) …

"FRANCE WILL NOT ABANDON THE WOMEN WHO ARE CONDEMNED TO THE BURQA" President-elect Nicolas Sarkozy's first speech to the French nation concluded with a wonderful endorsement of human rights.  (Video here.)  —  Sarkozy spoke from a prepared text , which appears on his official campaign websites.

Majority of Iraqi Lawmakers Now Reject Occupation  —  By Raed Jarrar and Joshua Holland, AlterNet.  —  More than half of the members of Iraq's parliament rejected for the first time on Tuesday the continuing occupation of their country.  The U.S. media ignored the story.