Administration Withheld E-Mails About Rove  —  The Bush administration has withheld a series of e-mails from Congress showing that senior White House and Justice Department officials worked together to conceal the role of Karl Rove in installing Timothy Griffin, a protégé of Rove's …

House likely to pass Iraq bill Thursday  —  WASHINGTON - The White House acknowledged public frustration with the Iraq war but tried to play down Republican anxieties Thursday as the House prepared to pass legislation that could cut off funding for U.S. troops as early as July.

Did Rudy Giuliani's campaign snub an Iowa farmer couple because they weren't millionaires and hence wouldn't be a suitable prop for Rudy's anti-"death tax" campaigning?  And will the haircut-obsessed political media cover it?  —  Check out this unbelievable story from the Anamosa Journal-Eureka …

Bush Says He's Open to Benchmarks in Iraq Bill  —  President Bush said today that he was willing to work with lawmakers to include benchmarks for the performance of the Iraqi government in a war spending bill, something members of both parties have been vigorously seeking.

Free Speech Fracas: Joke Describes Violent Sex Assault of Condoleezza Rice  —  Warning: Extremely Vulgar Language.  XM Shock Jocks Opie and Anthony engage in discussion about forced sex with the Secretary of State.  A studio guest, Homeless Charlie, begins describing the scenario as the hosts laugh and encourage him.

Straw, Meet Camel  —  THUS WE SEE JOHN MCCAIN RISE FURTHER IN THE POLLS  —  "Though the care and management of five bright and typical boys was the primary focus of Ann Romney's life, she was always deeply involved in her husband's business and political career and in the public life …

Answers for Joe Klein  —  In response to this post from last night, Time's Joe Klein asks: … It ought to go without saying that I argued nothing of the kind.  My point was that Beltway pundits are far too insulated and detached from the people whom they baselessly claim to represent, not that leaving the Beltway is bad.

Hamas TV refuses to axe contested kids cartoon  —  RAMALLAH, West Bank — A Hamas-run television channel has defied a Palestinian government request to axe a controversial children's cartoon in which a Mickey Mouse look-alike urges resistance against Israel.

The Sheer Stupidity of Newspapers These Days  —  The Silicon Insider Looks at Mainstream Media's Follies  —  The most heated topic in the blogosphere this week was the announcement by James Lileks, one of the world's most popular bloggers, that his longtime employer, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune …

7 Tips to Build a Blog Community  —  There's been some healthy discussion lately about how to build up a blog community, mostly in the context of encouraging more diversity within the progressive online movement.  Jenifer Fernandez-Arcona wrote a good diary here, and Matt Stoller identified …

OxyContin: The Giuliani Connection  —  Brian Ross, Richard Esposito & R. Schwartz Report:  —  Rudolph Giuliani and his consulting company, Giuliani Partners, have served as key advisors for the last five years to the pharmaceutical company that pled guilty today to charges it misled doctors …

A Baghdad plea: U.S. should stay and fight  —  Be Our Guest  —  I wasn't surprised when I saw Al Qaeda's second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, appear on Al Jazeera to announce America's defeat last week, not long after U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid did.