McCain Hits Romney Hard  —  Mitt Romney has been trying to make quite a bit of political hay out of the compromise immigration bill — he sees it as one of John McCain's key weaknesses as relates to the Republican base and a great way to differentiate himself as the One True Conservative in the race …

Dems set war bill without Iraq timeline  —  WASHINGTON - In grudging concessions to President Bush, Democrats intend to draft an Iraq war-funding bill without a timeline for the withdrawal of U.S. troops and shorn of billions of dollars in spending on domestic programs, officials said Monday.

Iran's secret plan to force US out of Iraq in summer  —  Iran is secretly forging ties with al-Qaida elements and Sunni Arab militias in Iraq in preparation for a summer showdown with coalition forces intended to tip a wavering US Congress into voting for full military withdrawal, US officials say.

Edwards not involved in haircut  —  As he told the New York Times's Matt Bai of the haircut mess, "Other people arrange these things, and I wasn't personally involved in it."  —  To be fair, this one should probably just be filed, at least in part, under the weirdness of the campaign life …

Can we take 24/7 news seriously?  —  That's an M-48 tank out on a firing range.  The Lebanese Army has these.  This is an old tank from before the Vietnam period, but, how new do tanks have to be when used for shelling refugee camps full of civilians?  The fighting around the "Nahr al-bared" camp at Tripoli, Lebanon continues.

Al Gore with Diane Sawyer  —  Al Gore tries to explain his book to Diane Sawyer on GMA, but can't get her to stop asking about him about he '08 election.  Oh, and how fat is he?  Here's the link to his book: The Assault on Reason,  —  Download (1635) |  Play (1794) Download (1047) |  Play (1356)

Executive Summary: The Fiscal Cost of Low-Skill Immigrants to the U.S. Taxpayer  —  Each year, families and individuals pay taxes to the government and receive back a wide variety of services and benefits.  When the benefits and services received by one group exceed the taxes paid …

Pentagon Studies Long-Term Commitment in Iraq  —  · The White House and Pentagon are under increasing pressure from Congress and the public to end U.S. military involvement in Iraq.  But the Pentagon is considering maintaining a core group of forces in Iraq, possibly for decades.

Iran Charges U.S. Scholar With Trying to Topple Regime  —  American scholar Haleh Esfandiari has been charged with trying to topple the Iranian regime, Iran's state-controlled television reported today.  —  Iran's Intelligence Ministry accused Esfandiari, director of Middle East programs …

KLEIN ON IRAQ....I think Joe Klein is exactly right about this: … That's right.  The Shiites will will never give up any substantial power to the Sunnis.  Why should they?  And as long as that's the case, the Sunni insurgency will never give up either.  —  In the end, whether we stay or not …

The Ultimate Nineties Alt-Rock Playlist  —  By popular demand, you'll find the playlist for the Nineties Alt-Rock Party below.  A few words.  For one thing, this is just the songs in alphabetical order; at the party itself, the Party Shuffle was in effect.

Richardson Formally Enters Race for President  —  Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico formally kicked off his bid for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination today, highlighting his Hispanic roots and wealth of experience and issuing a forceful call to end American involvement in Iraq.