After GOP Iraq-Withdrawal Filibuster, Reid Sets Aside Defense Authorization Bill  —  In an in-your-face response to Republicans continuing to block a full Senate vote on withdrawing American troops from Iraq, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) just moments ago set aside …

US: Top al-Qaida in Iraq figure captured  —  BAGHDAD - The U.S. command said Wednesday the highest-ranking Iraqi in the leadership of al-Qaida in Iraq has been arrested, adding that information from him indicates the group's foreign-based leadership wields considerable influence over the Iraqi chapter.

Legal odds against Vick just got much longer … A grand jury indicted Atlanta Falcons' quarterback Michael Vick on Tuesday, which at least partially answers one question that has lingered since the news first broke about an alleged dogfighting operation on property owned by Vick in Virginia: Was Vick involved?

A Resolute Condoleezza Rice  —  Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has been at George W. Bush's side since he was sworn in as President in 2001, first as National Security Advisor and now as the nation's top diplomat.  Like the President, she has been pilloried for not adequately recognizing …

Townsend: 'I Don't Know' If Al Qaeda Was In Iraq Before The War  —  Yesterday's National Intelligence Estimate concluded that al Qaeda remains strong in Iraq and has been energized by the Iraq war.  It stated: … Today in an interview with NPR, Homeland Security Advisor Frances Fragos Townsend argued …

Fishy behavior  —  People Magazine reports that former Vice President Al Gore's youngest daughter, Sarah Gore, 28, married businessman Bill Lee at the Beverly Hills Hotel earlier this month.  For the rehearsal dinner, at Beverly Hills' Crustacean restaurant, executive chef Helene An prepared …

North to Alaska  —  Rep. Don Young attacked his fellow Republicans on the House floor Wednesday, as he defended education funds allocated to his home-state of Alaska.  —  "You want my money, my money," Young stridently declared before warning conservatives that, "Those who bite me will be bitten back."

Flynt Ready to Implicate Another Senator  —  Larry King interviewed Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt last night on how he linked Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) to an alleged prostitution ring.  Flynt now says he's got information linking another U.S. Senator to a sex scandal.

Generation Chickenhawk: the Unauthorized College Republican Convention Tour

Hummer Owner Gets Angry Message  —  Vandals Batter D.C. Man's SUV, Slash Its Tires and Scratch In an Eco Note  —  On a narrow, leafy street in Northwest Washington, where Prius hybrid cars and Volvos are the norm, one man bought a flashy gray Hummer that was too massive to fit in his garage.

Fact or Fiction?  —  A mission for the blogosphere.  —  The New Republic runs a piece in this week's issue titled "Shock Troops" and authored by Scott Thomas—described by the magazine as a "pseudonym for a soldier currently serving in Baghdad."  "Thomas" is the author of two previous dispatches …

Wash. Post's Murray: GOP won't support Iraq withdrawal because "[t]hey're just not willing to do that to the military"  —  On the July 18 edition of MSNBC Live, during a discussion of Senate Republicans' move blocking an up or down vote on a Democratic amendment aimed at withdrawing troops from Iraq …

R. Milhous Giuliani  —  With the same rootless confidence that causes people to ignore hurricane warnings, many social conservatives remain in denial about Rudy Giuliani's chances of winning the Republican nomination.  —  But with three debates and eight months as the Republican front-runner under his belt …

I'm Done Defending the Iraq Policy  —  I'm bailing out.  I will no longer defend the policy of keeping U.S. troops in Iraq to assist the Iraqi central government in the ongoing civil war.  While our men and women in the military suffer casualties daily, the Iraqi government refuses …