Bush denies Congress access to aides  —  WASHINGTON - President Bush invoked executive privilege Monday to deny requests by Congress for testimony from two former aides about the firings of federal prosecutors.  —  The White House, however, did offer again to make former counsel Harriet Miers …

Syria Invades Lebanon  —  A few days ago Lebanese daily newspaper Al Mustaqbal quietly reported a limited Syrian invasion of Lebanon.  (Via Naharnet.) … This happened immediately before I left town for two days.  When I returned I was surprised to find no mention of this whatsoever anywhere else in the media.

USAT/Gallup Poll: Steady leads for Giuliani & Clinton  —  Fresh results from the latest USA TODAY/Gallup Poll, parts of which are being released this hour:  —  • In the race for the Republican presidential nomination, former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani has a 10 percentage point lead nationally …

Mr. Cheney's Minority Report  —  Princeton, N.J.  —  TWENTY years ago this week, Lt. Col. Oliver North testified for six days before a special joint House and Senate investigating committee.  Permitted by the Democratic majority to appear in his bemedaled Marine uniform …

The group blog of The American Prospect  —  THE GREEN LANTERN THEORY OF DOMESTIC POLITICS.  To follow up on Ezra's point about Megan McArdle's claim that impeachment proceedings would mean "not having any achievements to show the electorate next year," it's always striking to me the extent …

'Scouting' the Hill on Iraq  —  National security adviser Stephen J. Hadley visited Capitol Hill just before Congress adjourned for the Fourth of July.  Meetings with a half-dozen senior Republican senators were clearly intended to extinguish fires set by Sen. Richard Lugar's unexpected break from President Bush's Iraq policy.

Second Chances  —  General David Petraeus visits Baqubah.  —  When distinguished visitors come to almost-where the action is, it can be disruptive to the point of wasteful.  I've heard commanders grumble all over Iraq about the steady streams of VIPs who, while intending to be seen observing operations …

Atheists applaud Ellison's views on Cheney, Libby, 9/11  —  "You'll always find this Muslim standing up for your right to be atheists," he told the group.  —  Freshman Congressman Keith Ellison was among friends Sunday — in this case, a gathering of atheists — so his support for a fistful …

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 …

Iraqi FM: Turkey massing 140,000 troops  —  BAGHDAD - Turkey has massed 140,000 soldiers on its border with northern Iraq, Iraq's foreign minister said Monday, calling the neighboring country's fears of Kurdish rebels based there "legitimate" but better resolved through negotiation.

Novak, By The Book  —  A book excerpt presents Robert Novak's latest version of his fateful chat with Richard Armitage about Joe Wilson's wife: … Interesting.  This old post has the Novak version before he was willing to name Armitage; here is Novak (post-"Hubris") rebutting Armitage's version.

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 …

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.

Sounding the Global-Warming Alarm Without Upsetting the Fans  —  If less is more, then why is biggest better?  —  Al Gore declared Live Earth "the largest global entertainment event in all of history," but this seven-continent, multimedia eco-extravaganza was colored by the very complacency …

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 …

Reservist fighting his fifth war call-up  —  After serving in Afghanistan and three times in Iraq, an Army Reserve sergeant from Port St. Lucie recoiled at still another deployment.  —  adriscoll@MiamiHerald.com  —  PORT ST. LUCIE — Erik Botta believes he's done right by his country.

As Bush goes, so goes Crawford  —  Everyone agrees 2004 was town's high-water mark for tourism trade  —  CRAWFORD — From a wooden bench in front of a shop selling mementos of "The Western White House," tourist Chuck Yorde wondered aloud why he seemed to be the only visitor in town.