In White House, Debate Is Rising on Iraq Pullback  —  White House officials fear that the last pillars of political support among Senate Republicans for President Bush's Iraq strategy are collapsing around them, according to several administration officials and outsiders they are consulting.

Fifty bucks for a beer?  It was Livid Earth in Sydney  —  Cool start ... scientists from the British research station in Antarctica were the first to kick off the Live Earth concerts with their indie band, Nunatak.  —  Out front, Crowded House were getting reacquainted …

All Grown Up — and Going to War  —  July is a month I sincerely hoped would never come.  —  At the end of this month, my young son, my only child, deploys with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit.  His departure had been six months away, three months; now it is a matter of weeks.

Iraq's Sadr back in Iran - U.S. military sources  —  Source: Reuters  —  BAGHDAD, July 8 (Reuters) - Fiery Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has gone back to neighbouring Iran, U.S. military sources in Baghdad said on Sunday.  —  Earlier this year, U.S. officials said the anti-American cleric …

CIA leak: Now it can be told  —  Sun-Times columnist and famous Washington insider Robert Novak is one of the most controversial political reporters in America.  In the sweeping memoir The Prince of Darkness, the private man opens up for the first time about his life and career.

Three men in jail over bomb at church  —  Three Burleson men who belong to a "radical Christian activist group" were in the Johnson County Jail on Friday night after a church deacon caught two of them attempting to ignite an explosive device on Independence Day at a church under construction in north Burleson, authorities said Friday.

Files show talks on 'vote caging'  —  Discussions with elections chief were prior to '04 election  —  TALLAHASSEE - Internal city memos show the issue of Republican "vote caging" efforts in Jacksonville's African-American neighborhoods was discussed in the weeks before the 2004 election …

Justice Secures His Place as a Critic of Integration  —  When Justice Clarence Thomas provided a pivotal vote last month as the Supreme Court struck down school integration plans in Louisville, Ky., and Seattle, he suggested the concept of integration was inherently demeaning to black children …

Edwards to announce poverty tour  —  Can JRE pull off a JFK, or an RFK (asks Politico chief political writer Mike Allen, who is sharing guestblogging duties while Ben is on vacation)?  John Edwards plans to announce Monday that he'll take a break from fund-raising and campaigning …

Face the Snark?  Face the Fred.  —  The past few few days have been chock full of fascinating info about Fred Thompson.  Thompson is of course the ungainly actor and undeclared GOP presidential aspirant who smells really nice, at least according to Chris Matthews.

Son is Gore's Al-batross  —  With Al Gore in the news for battling global warming and Al Gore 3rd in the news for getting toasted, my favorite NYPD detective recalled a story that helps explain how father and son each became a particular kind of loser.  —  The story was told to the detective …

She's Baaaa-aaack!  —  Mother Sheehan is back!  —  That pain-filled exodus away from the cameras lasted... a little more than a month.  —  She made a moving announcement to the media last week that she was back in the game- insisting that she was not a media whore.

Back-to-back Colo. fundraisers for Sen. Clinton  —  Aspen - Sen. Hillary Clinton drew powerful, deep-pocketed crowds at a pair of fundraisers here Saturday, speaking at length on issues from health care to the environment to removing American troops from Iraq.

Sen. Schumer says they are thinking of calling Patrick Fitzgerald in for questioning  —  While talking about the Scooter Libby commutation on Face the Nation, Sen. Schumer said he talked to Pat Leahy about calling Patrick Fitzgerald in for questioning about Bush and Cheney because they didn't talk …

Powell tried to talk Bush out of war  —  THE former American secretary of state Colin Powell has revealed that he spent 2½ hours vainly trying to persuade President George W Bush not to invade Iraq and believes today's conflict cannot be resolved by US forces.