Senators Block Vote on Gonzales  —  The Senate yesterday rejected a bid to conduct a vote of no confidence in Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, as Republicans declined to defend the embattled presidential confidant but rejected the effort as a political stunt.

Congress Hits 10-Year Low Popularity Rating but GOP Gets No Boost; Time for a New Party?  —  It's taken roughly six months for the Democratic congressional majority elected last November to dissipate the public support that put it in power.  The latest Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg survey finds …

Military May Pull the Plug On Musharraf  —  WASHINGTON — As a political crisis boils in Pakistan, American analysts both inside and outside the government are expressing new doubts that President Musharraf will be able to hold onto power through the summer.

David Chase speaks!  —  What do you do when your TV world ends?  You go to dinner, then keep quiet.  Sunday night, "Sopranos" creator David Chase took his wife out for dinner in France, where he's fled to avoid "all the Monday morning quarterbacking" about the show's finale.

Rather Attacks Couric: 'Dumb It Down, Tart It Up'  —  As already noted on NewsBusters, former CBS anchor Dan Rather appeared on Monday's edition of "Morning Joe" and lobbied for a "a strategic withdrawal from Iraq."  He also found time to twice bash his "Evening News" successor Katie Couric for dumbing down and "tarting up" the news.

Joe Klein's stirring defense of Lewis Libby  —  It is difficult to recall a single episode which has been more revealing of our political culture than the collective Beltway horror over the plight of the poor, maltreated and persecuted (and convicted felon) Lewis Libby.

Judges Say U.S. Can't Hold Man as 'Combatant'  —  The federal appeals court in Richmond, Va., ruled yesterday that the president may not declare civilians in this country to be "enemy combatants" and have the military hold them indefinitely.  The ruling was a stinging rejection …

Rivals Warn Sarkozy Could Face Dissent  —  PARIS — President Nicolas Sarkozy appears to have won a mandate for change after his party swept first-round parliamentary elections, and he is picking up speed in his plans to overhaul France's welfare state.  But rivals say he should watch out.

"TEAR DOWN THIS WALL"  —  Twenty years ago today Ronald Reagan stood at the Brandenburg Gate and gave the speech heard 'round the world.  Our friend Peter Robinson was the man who wrote the speech.  He tells the story behind the speech in his terrific book How Ronald Reagan Changed My Life.

Mueller Often Uses FBI Jet Bought for Counterterrorism  —  When the FBI asked Congress this spring to provide $3.6 million in the war spending bill for its Gulfstream V jet, it said the money was needed to ensure that the aircraft, packed with state-of-the-art security and communications gear …

Carefully crafting the Obama 'brand'  —  From his first days in the U.S. Senate, the Illinoisan has followed a strategy envisioning a White House bid  —  WASHINGTON — One evening in February 2005, in a four-hour meeting stoked by pepperoni pizza and grand ambition, Sen. Barack Obama …

Clinton Owes Lead in Poll To Support From Women  —  The consistent lead that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York has maintained over Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois and others in the race for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination is due largely to one factor: her support from women.

YouTube Fuels — and Foils — Campaigns  —  WASHINGTON — For months, the presidential wannabes have been churning out serious, talking-to-the-camera videos for YouTube.  So far, viewers prefer the spontaneous, unauthorized, less flattering fare.  —  Traffic on YouTube related …