A HUGE loss : RIP  —  His ongoing struggle with an ailing heart is now past, as that extraordinary blogger, Steve Gilliard, has died.  —  He was only 41.  —  You will find many who will note this with sadness, as do I. They'll speak of his powerful words, his unrelenting moral insistence.

Gore: I'm not good at modern politics  —  NASHVILLE — Former vice president Al Gore said Friday that he still hasn't ruled out a presidential bid in 2008, but he doesn't expect to run and might not possess the skills necessary to be elected president now.  —  Gore spoke to The Tennessean today …

Proclaiming Liberalism, and What It Now Means  —  The struggle among conservatives to define their movement in the post-Bush era may be getting more attention these days, but liberal intellectuals and writers are doing some soul-searching of their own.  Not only are they trying to figure out what …

Democrats hide pet projects from voters  —  WASHINGTON - After promising unprecedented openness regarding Congress' pork barrel practices, House Democrats are moving in the opposite direction as they draw up spending bills for the upcoming budget year.  —  Democrats are sidestepping rules approved …

Zakaria: How to Restore America's Place in the World  —  What the world needs is an open, confident America.  —  Newsweek International  —  In the fall of 1982, I arrived in the United States as an 18-year-old student from India.  The country was in rough shape.

Al Qaeda in Lebanon  —  It was bound to happen sooner or later.  Al Qaeda has moved into Lebanon.  —  Fatah al-Islam terrorists in the Palestinian Nahr al-Bared refugee camp (which is an urban ghetto in Tripoli, not a tent city) are, reportedly, mostly not Palestinian.

Iraq's Curse: A Thirst for Final, Crushing Victory  —  PERHAPS no fact is more revealing about Iraq's history than this: The Iraqis have a word that means to utterly defeat and humiliate someone by dragging his corpse through the streets.  —  The word is "sahel," and it helps explain …

Thompson Generates Buzz in Richmond  —  Speech at Virginia GOP Gala Comes the Day After He Filed Fundraising Papers  —  Actor and former senator Fred D. Thompson of Tennessee rallied a crowd of several hundred Republicans here last night, offering a bluntly conservative appeal …

Attacks on U.S. Troops in Iraq Grow in Lethality, Complexity  —  Bigger Bombs a Key Cause of May's High Death Toll  —  As U.S. troops push more deeply into Baghdad and its volatile outskirts, Iraqi insurgents are using increasingly sophisticated and lethal means of attack …

Cheney vs. Rice: A Foreign-Policy Showdown  —  Condoleezza Rice has steered the administration back toward diplomacy, but she's still being harried by hard-liners.  —  Newsweek International  —  Condoleezza Rice seems in control of everything—except events.

Hitchens vs Hitchens  —  Am I my brother's reviewer?  A word of explanation is needed here.  Some of you may know that I have a brother, Christopher, who disagrees with me about almost everything.  —  Some of those who read his books and articles also know that I exist, though they often dislike me if so.

Countdown to Israel's destruction has begun, says Ahmadinejad  —  Iranian president says Israel's disappearance imminent, 'Zionist regime' will have to bow down to Palestinians.  Iranian FM meets with Hamas, Jihad, leader in Damascus, urging them to continue struggle against Jewish state  —  Dudi Cohen

Clinton, Giuliani Maintain Leads, But GOP Shows Signs of Shifting  —  Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York holds a solid lead over her rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination, while the contest for the Republican nomination appears even more unsettled than it did when it began five months ago …

Various items  —  (1) Relating to yesterday's post regarding Mike Allen's worshipful and one-sided profile of the departing Dan Bartlett, Newsweek's Richard "the-press-here-does-a-fantastic- job" Wolffe was on Countdown Friday night echoing, with an almost mournful tone, Allen's tribute to Bartlett.

The curse it is cast  —  A number of British personalities, including journalist John Pilger wrote the Guardian to announce their support for Chavez's shutdown of opposition TV stations.  "We believe that the decision of the Venezuelan government not to renew the broadcasting licence of RCTV …