Exclusive: Terror Commander: New Attack Will Dwarf Failed Bomb Plot  —  Brian Ross and Maddy Sauer Report:  —  As senior intelligence and law enforcement officials met again today in the White House Situation Room to deal with the "summer terror threat," a top terror commander said an attack …

Iranian Police Smash Squirrel Spy Ring  —  Police in Iran are reported to have taken 14 squirrels into custody - because they are suspected of spying.  —  The rodents were found near the Iranian border allegedly equipped with eavesdropping devices.  —  The reports have come from the official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).

Republican Senators Call for New War Authorization  —  Two leading Republican senators said today that President Bush should seek a new war authorization and present a plan to Congress by Oct. 16 outlining contingency plans in Iraq.  Those plans, which would include reducing American forces, should begin by the end of the year.

LAFFING IT UP....The Wall Street Journal editorial page is really getting desperate.  Even for them.  In an editorial today they present data on corporate tax rates around the world and, like those people who find an outline of the Virgin Mary in a potato chip, they discover a Laffer Curve!

Conrad Black guilty of multiple fraud charges  —  Conrad Black, the former media tycoon, last night faced years in jail after an American jury found him guilty of criminal fraud and obstructing justice.  —  Conrad Black arrives at court before the verdicts were delivered

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOT MUCH, PART TWO  —  It occurs to me that my discussion of lobbying Fred Thompson may have performed in 1991 on behalf of an abortion rights group is somewhat superficial.  It's true that traditionally in this country lawyers are not identified with the positions of their clients.

Release of tape in teen sex case may violate child-porn law  —  ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) — A federal prosecutor wants a Georgia district attorney to stop giving out copies of a videotape used as evidence in a teenage sex case that has drawn national attention.

AP Poll: Public gives Congress low marks  —  WASHINGTON — In the eyes of the public, Congress is doing even worse than the president.  —  Public satisfaction with the job lawmakers are doing has fallen 11 points since May, to 24 percent, according to an Associated Press-Ipsos poll.

Frameshop: A Picture of the GOP on Civil Rights  —  The one photo the GOP does not want anyone to see was snapped at yesterday's NAACP GOP Presidential Candidate Forum.  The NAACP invited all 9 Republican candidates to the forum, but only one showed up: Tom Tancredo.

A Colloquy On The Fairness Doctrine  —  The debate over the Fairness Doctrine continued in the Senate today, as Dick Durbin blocked Norm Coleman from offering an amendment that would forbid content control in political speech on the airwaves.  Coleman and Durbin then got into a series …

Ron Paul: U.S. In "Great Danger" Of Staged Terror  —  Congressman & presidential candidate warns of economic collapse precipitated by bombing of Iran  —  Presidential candidate Ron Paul says the U.S. is in "great danger" of a staged terror attack or a Gulf of Tonkin style provocation …

McCain's Florida Campaign Co-Chair Arrested For Solicitation  —  Another day, another sex scandal involving a god-fearing republican who just happened to be a key supporter of John McCain.  That and the fact that this legislator had also co-sponsored bills on public sex is pretty much par for the course with these guys.