Ron Paul Tops McCain in Cash on Hand  —  ABC News' George Stephanopoulos Reports: Though often regarded as a longshot candidate for president, Republican Ron Paul tells ABC News that he has an impressive $2.4 million in cash on hand after raising an equal amount during the second quarter …

Appeals Court Rejects Lawsuit on Surveillance  —  A divided federal appeals court today dismissed a case challenging the National Security Agency's program to wiretap without warrants the international communications of some Americans, reversing a trial judge's order that the program be shut down.

Thompson, as a lobbyist, took abortion rights assignment  —  A spokesman for the presidential hopeful denies he did the work, a claim an ex-colleague calls "bizarre."  —  Former Tennessee Sen. Fred D. Thompson, who is campaigning for president as a "pro-life" Republican …

Baqubah Update: 05 July 2007  —  Today marks "D +16" of Operation "Arrowhead Ripper," the Battle for Baqubah.  Arrowhead Ripper kicked off on 19 June 07.  I have several dispatches in the works about the major events since that time.  Although the serious fighting seems to be over …

exclusive: rupert murdoch buys dow jones, owners of the wall street journal  —  Rupert Murdoch has succeeded with his $5 billion bid for Dow Jones.  Negotiations are now complete and a formal announcement is expected next week.  —  Rupert Murdoch has succeeded with his $5 billion bid for Dow Jones …

Poll: Americans Evenly Divided On Impeachment Of Bush, Majority For Targeting Cheney  —  Does the conventional wisdom that impeachment would be politically radioactive still hold true in the post-Libby commutation political world?  A new poll from American Research Group shows a startling result …

David Shuster dismantles Fouad Ajami's comparison of Libby to our fallen soldiers  —  David Shuster filled in for Chris Matthews this evening on "Hardball" where he interviewed neo-con author, Fouad Ajami, and absolutely shredded him over his Wall Street Journal OpEd comparing Scooter Libby to fallen U.S. Soldiers in Iraq.

The Taliban Challenges Jawa, Jawa Responds  —  No joke, the Taliban have posted a message on a well-known Islamic forum addressing me, Rusty Shackleford, indirectly.  In it, they gloat that their website is back online.  I'll just add: for now.  —  Here's a rough translation:

War Costs Soar by a Third; Total Could Top $1.4 Trillion  —  It's not just the troops that are surging.  War costs are up for American operations in Iraq and Afghanistan* — way up, more than a third higher than last year.  In the first half of this fiscal year, the Defense Department's …

"They don't own the Democratic Party"  —  Joe Biden talks about lefty bloggers, the perils of candor in a YouTube age, Dick Cheney's secret thoughts, and how many troops a Biden administration would keep in Iraq. … Joe Biden speaks during a news conference at the Iowa statehouse in Des Moines, Iowa, on Tuesday, July 3, 2007.

Anti-American July 4th  —  July 4th in San Francisco.  So many things to do!  —  After attending the AK Press "F**k the Fourth" party as a pre-holiday warm-up, I was hungry for some more Independence Day patriotism — San Francisco style.  —  I was tempted at first by a public event celebrating the …

Republican women  —  Mary Katherine Ham is further proof that Republican women are the prettiest.  —  Print It |  Flag as Offensive  —  Audio Pan  —  Cute video, but your voice is only coming in on left channel.  Music background on both tracks.  —  Print It |  Flag as Offensive

Doolittle calls for pullback in Iraq  —  Criticizing 'quagmire,' he sees advisory role for U.S.  —  Story appeared in MAIN NEWS section, Page A1  —  Rep. John Doolittle, questioning whether the Iraq war is worth the continued loss of American lives, said Thursday that U.S. troops …