A 'Two-State Solution,' Palestinian-Style  —  Does Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas know something that we don't?  For five days his presidential security forces in Gaza came under organized attack by Hamas gunmen.  His compound in Gaza City was under siege.

What I Saw in Iraq  —  Iran remains a problem, but Anbar has joined the fight against terror.  —  I recently returned from Iraq and four other countries in the Middle East, my first trip to the region since December.  In the intervening five months, almost everything about the American war effort …

The Laptop Is Mightier Than the Sword  —  WHILE waiting to see if the Iraq surge strategy pays off, President Bush and Defense Secretary Robert Gates have shown Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the door and brought in Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute as the new White House "war czar."

U.S. Says Iraq Troop Surge Complete  —  The full contingent of new U.S. forces being sent to Iraq — what military leaders call a "surge" of troops to improve security and stability in the capital — was completed by Friday, with 28,500 additional troops now posted in the country, a U.S. military spokesman said.

The Quiet Gay Revolution  —  When William F. Buckley Jr. revived American conservatism by founding National Review in 1955, he said the magazine's job was to stand "athwart history, yelling stop."  At that time, history did seem to be moving in the wrong direction if you were a conservative, and Buckley was gutsy to admit as much.

Vote for me, dimwit  —  How the electorate is irrational  —  ANYONE who follows an election campaign too closely will sometimes get the feeling that politicians think voters are idiots.  A new book says they are.  Or rather, Bryan Caplan, an economics professor at George Mason University …

www.trentlott.com  —  ***update: Rush on Lott—"You've got Republicans talking about talk radio like liberals talk about talk radio.  That tells you something."  Yes, it does.  It tells you that the Republican Party is in deep, deep doo-doo.  Speaking of doo-doo, the literal kind apparently turned up in the Capitol today.

Senator Blocks Vote on Subpoenas Over Eavesdropping  —  A Republican senator blocked a vote in the Judiciary Committee on whether to authorize subpoenas to the Justice Department to obtain secret legal opinions and other documents related to the National Security Agency's program of domestic eavesdropping.

Eating Beyond Sichuan  —  TWENTY years ago, American perceptions of Asian food could be summed up in one word: "Chinese."  Since then, we have developed appetites for Korean, Japanese, Thai and Vietnamese fare.  Yet while the quality of the restaurants that serve these cuisines …

Complaint: Schlozman Aimed to Replace Lawyers with "Good Americans"  —  During a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee last week, Bradley Schlozman, the controversial former senior political appointee in the Civil Rights Division, was battered with questions about his efforts to politicize the division.

Weak-ly Standard  —  I propose that we hereby refer to Bill Kristol as the most dangerous pundit in America.  He has what seems like a mainline to the White House and yet, of all his colleagues, he is the most casually dishonest, the most outwardly war-hungry, and the most recklessly illogical.

Cunningham financier admits role in scandal  —  Help with home buying revealed in guilty plea  —  A New York financier has admitted playing a key role in the scandal that brought down former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, according to a guilty plea unsealed this week.

Romney's Pro-Life Conversion: Myth or Reality?  —  After 'Epiphany' on Abortion, He Named a Pro-Choice Judge and Supported Stem Cell Research  —  Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has long cited a November 2004 meeting with a Harvard stem cell researcher as the moment that changed …

Who's Ahead?  No, Seriously...  It's nice to know that Mitt Romney has pulled ahead in New Hampshire, seven months before the primary voting.  Thanks, Bill Schneider!  Let me ask you something: Who's ahead in addressing a broken health care system?  —  It's fascinating to realize that Hillary Clinton, a woman, is ahead among women.

The Old Affection  —  It takes secure boundaries for it to flourish.  —  Go deeper.  —  That's what I keep thinking as Americans fight the Washington establishment (the Republican Party, the Democratic Party, their big contributors) on immigration.  Go deeper.