Palmetto Punditry  —  The debate took a while to gain any traction, but there were some clarifying moments for me.  The questions were often excellent - especially the tough ones at the beginning about the war.  The Republicans, we learned, have absolutely no idea what to do about Iraq.

Bush Taps New 'War Czar'  —  ABC News Learns Pentagon Official Selected to Oversee Iraq, Afghanistan Wars  —  After a frustrating search for a new "war czar" to oversee the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, ABC News has learned that President Bush has chosen the Pentagon's director of operations, Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute, for the role.

President Intervened in Dispute Over Eavesdropping  —  President Bush intervened in March 2004 to avert a crisis over the National Security Agency's domestic eavesdropping program after Attorney General John Ashcroft, Director Robert S. Mueller III of the F.B.I. and other senior Justice Department aides …

GOP Debate II: Romney - "Double Guantanamo"  —  During the second GOP debate, Fox News' Brit Hume sets up a hypothetical situation where three terrorist attacks occur at shopping malls in major cities.  A fourth attack is thwarted and that would-be attacker, who we know has information about an impending …

Jerry Falwell dies at age 73  —  One of the nation's most notorious TV preachers, Jerry Falwell, died today in Lynchburg, Va. … More soon.  —  Update: I have to admit, writing about Falwell's death poses an awkward challenge for me.  When I worked at Americans United for Separation …

Exclusive: Thompson Responds to Michael Moore Challenge  —  Breitbart.tv Exclusive: The confrontation over Cuba continues.  Michael Moore has challenged Fred Thompson to a health care debate.  At issue — Moore's trip to Cuba and Thompson's criticism of that trip.

Wolfowitz Out?  —  White House Opens Door for Wolfowitz Ouster  —  World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz is fighting for his job amid a conflict of interest controversy that centers around his personal relationship with his girlfriend — a longtime World Bank employee.

News Analysis: Reality Overtakes the Illusion of Unity in Gaza  —  A third day of deadly clashes between Hamas and Fatah fighters suggests that the Palestinian unity government, put together under Saudi auspices at the end of March, is something of a fiction.

Pleasant Valley defends handling of complaint against teacher  —  BRODHEADSVILLE — The Pleasant Valley School District administration defended its handling of a complaint against a popular history teacher, which helped spark a lawsuit filed against the district.

Pre-Spin Room Thoughts: McCain, Rudy, Romney  —  Invoking the Roger Simon rule: in my judgment, John McCain convincingly and incontrovertibly won tonight's debate.  He was strong, confident, answered tough questions with ease and dispatch, and seemed the most presidential.

VIDEO EXCLUSIVE::  Semi-protected Schools, Damaged Homes and Kassam Rockets: A Day in the Life of Sderot  —  Yesterday I had the privilege of visiting the city of Sderot.  Sdert is a city of 20,000 people located directly east of Northern Gaza.  In the last seven years …

Video: MSNBC quotes WhiteHouse.org on Falwell's political influence  —  Yeah, WhiteHouse.org.  The most infamous, relentlessly anti-Bush parody site on the 'Net.  —  You can imagine how it played out.  Producer to intern: "We need a fawning description of him from the White House website …

New Phytoplankton Model May Revise Warming Estimates  —  Global climate models are missing a good chunk of plant information that could significantly alter long-term climate change predictions.  A new technique for modeling phytoplankton — microscopic plants in the upper layers of the Earth's waters …