In Senate Vote, G.O.P. Fights Off Gonzales Rebuke  —  Senate Republicans blocked a symbolic no-confidence vote against Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales on Monday evening, dismissing the measure as an irrelevant gesture, though Democrats had hoped it might intensify pressure on Mr. Gonzales to resign.

Approval of Congress lowest in a decade  —  Only about a quarter of Americans approve of how it's doing its job, a poll shows; most see 'business as usual.'  —  WASHINGTON — Fueled by disappointment at the pace of change since Democrats assumed the majority on Capitol Hill …

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.

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.

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.

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 …

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.

Disaffected conservatives set a litmus test for '08  —  Want vow to curb presidential power  —  WASHINGTON — A new political group recently asked Mitt Romney to promise not to wiretap Americans without a judge's approval or to imprison US citizens without a trial as "enemy combatants."

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.

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.

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 …

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 …

"TEAR DOWN THIS WALL"  —  Twenty years ago today Ronald Reagan stood in front of the Berlin Wall 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 …