Skeptical of Performers' Motives, Public Tunes Out Live Earth Event  —  The Live Earth concert promoted by former Vice President Al Gore received plenty of media coverage and hype, but most Americans tuned out.  Just 22% said they followed news stories about the concert Somewhat or Very Closely.

White House Debate Rises 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.

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.

Who Runs the CIA?  Outsiders for Hire.  —  Red alert: Our national security is being outsourced.  —  The most intriguing secrets of the "war on terror" have nothing to do with al-Qaeda and its fellow travelers.  They're about the mammoth private spying industry that all but runs U.S. intelligence operations today.

Tunneling Near Iranian Nuclear Site Stirs Worry  —  The sudden flurry of digging seen in recent satellite photos of a mountainside in central Iran might have passed for ordinary road tunneling.  But the site is the back yard of Iran's most ambitious and controversial nuclear facility …

Muslims declare sovereignty over U.S., UK  —  Hear Islamic leaders in London: 'Queen Elizabeth, go to hell!'  —  Across town from the site of the recent attempted car-bomb attacks, several thousand Muslims gathered in front of the London Central Mosque to applaud fiery preachers prophesying …

Alas, Poor Couric  —  But pity her not.  —  F  —  rom outside the sleek glass chamber of the CBS Evening News set, you can see her: alone in a prim black pantsuit and pearls, shuffling a stack of papers at the wide, half-moon desk.  Sitting stiff and still, she looks dwarfed under …

Muqtada al Sadr back in Iran  —  Muqtada al-Sadr.  —  Mahdi Army leader leaves Iraq and goes to Iran for second time this year  —  Muqtada al Sadr, the leader of the Shia Mahdi Army and the Sadrist bloc in parliament, has left Iraq and is in Iran, military sources told Reuters.

Job Vacancies At DHS Said To Hurt U.S. Preparedness  —  A Fourth of Top Positions Not Filled, Report Says  —  The Bush administration has failed to fill roughly a quarter of the top leadership posts at the Department of Homeland Security, creating a "gaping hole" in the nation's preparedness …

Kristol: Bush Timed Clemency To Get Political Cover By Attacking Clinton  —  This morning, the Weekly Standard's Bill Kristol — who accurately predicted the President's decision to commute Libby's sentence — suggested the order was timed to provide political cover for the decision by attacking President Clinton.

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.

The terrorist who became a London traffic warden  —  A terrorist jailed for his involvement in a bomb attack on the Paris Metro - which killed eight people and wounded 80 - has been working as a traffic warden in England.  —  Mustapha Boutarfa, 32, was arrested by Scotland Yard's anti-terrorist squad …

Ron Paul on This Week  —  In case you accidentally switched on your TV's George Stephanopoulos filter, here's the freshly YouTubed video of Ron Paul on This Week.  —  Here's the closing exchange on Paul's viability. … Also, Stephanopoulos starts off the broadcast with some video of the …

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 …

What does Al know that we don't?  —  Why, given the opportunity that's been presented to him on a silver Prius, is this man not going to run for (and win) the presidency of the United States?  If ever there was a clarion call to be answered it is this one: heed the will of the majority of the people …

Pennsylvania government partially shuts down  —  HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania (AP) — Gov. Ed Rendell said he was optimistic that he and the Legislature could soon break a budget stalemate that caused him to order a partial shutdown of government services Monday.

The Wisdom of Doubt, Part V  —  The late Susan Sontag once tried to explain American religiosity to a German audience: … I don't know how George W. Bush views his own religion.  For all I know, he believes himself to be a sincere Christian.  He may very well read the Bible and pray as much as he says he does.