Ex-Gonzales Aide Testifies She 'Crossed the Line'  —  The Justice Department's former liaison to the White House testified before Congress today that she improperly weighed political factors in considering applicants for career positions in the department, and she said she was sorry.

Edwards: Move Past 'War on Terror'  —  NEW YORK (AP) - Democrat John Edwards Wednesday repudiated the notion that there is a "global war on terror," calling it an ideological doctrine advanced by the Bush administration that has strained American military resources and emboldened terrorists.

Just 26% Favor Senate Immigration Plan  —  Initial public reaction to the immigration proposal being debated in the Senate is decidedly negative.  —  A Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey conducted Monday and Tuesday night shows that just 26% of American voters favor passage of the legislation.

Memo Urges Clinton to Bypass Iowa  —  WASHINGTON (AP) - Hillary Rodham Clinton's deputy campaign manager wrote a memo this week making the case for the Democratic presidential candidate to bypass the Iowa caucuses and focus on later contests in the nomination fight.

Edwards speech at CFR  —  Edwards delivered a speech today at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) in New York.  It was extremely impressive.  —  (A moment for full disclosure: I like Edwards as a candidate.  I like his campaign, not least because I know several people working on it …

Risky Business  —  I've been reluctant to write about the Iraq funding "deal" because it's just so depressing —  and yet so predictable.  Democrats don't have the votes, which we always knew.  But they apparently also didn't feel the desire to fight it out over the summer anyway and keep …

GOP Candidates Criticize ABC News Report on CIA-Iran Plan  —  From The Blotter:  —  Two Republican presidential candidates today criticized the ABC News report Tuesday about the CIA's covert plan to destabilize the Iranian regime.  —  "I was shocked to see the ABC News report regarding covert action …

Center of Attention … Central Sanity crossed the 500-posts milestone.  "Here's a look back at the 25 most popular, based on percentage of hits among the last 4,000 visits."  —  Bob McCarty quotes Winston Churchill on Islam / Muslims.  —  It ain't nice.  —  Libby writes at The Impolitic that the "Leaker-in-Chief" is back.

Giuliani's Abortion Muddle  —  Rudy Giuliani is understandably the Republican front-runner.  And not just because of the fading echoes of Sept. 11, 2001.  Giuliani is a crucial figure in the conservative movement.  —  In the late 1980s and early '90s, many conservatives believed …

Call me Lopez, presidential hopeful says  —  LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - In the heartland of America he is just Gov. Bill Richardson.  But in big Hispanic states like California the Democratic U.S. presidential hopeful tells voters he is also a Lopez.  —  "California has a lot of Hispanic voters …

Mary Cheney Gives Birth to Baby Boy  —  Mary Cheney gave birth today to perhaps the most anticipated baby in contemporary U.S. politics — her first child, Samuel David Cheney, whom she will raise with her longtime partner Heather Poe.  —  The 8-pound, 6-ounce boy is the sixth grandchild for Dick Cheney.

IAEA Report Contradicts Major Media Narrative On Iran  —  I read the IAEA interim report this morning with my tea.  One thing which is very clear is that in many respects the Iranians are not being cooperative, especially in three key areas: … This comes as no surprise and is not the most urgent aspect …

The Aley explosion and Its consequences  —  After the explosions in (Christian) Ashrafieh and (Sunni) Verdun, Aley, a popular Druze summer destination was hit.  Can Walid Jumblat calm his constituents this time?  —  This time though, the smoke is not natural..

'I Love Those Guys'  —  Embedded journalists in Iraq are having their minds changed left and right by U.S. soldiers.  —  Operation Iraqi Freedom saw the advent of a practice that revolutionized modern war reporting: the embedding of journalists with frontline combat units in war.

Funding The War: Life and Death, Not Texas Hold 'em  —  President Bush forced Democrats to "fold," the press reports.  He vetoed the Iraq funding bill that set a deadline for getting U.S. troops out of the war.  The Republican minority blocked any effort to overturn the veto.