Cheney to become president...briefly  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) - President Bush will undergo a routine colonoscopy Saturday, and will transfer power to Vice President Dick Cheney during the procedure, expected to take about two and a half hours, the chief White House spokesman said.

NOTE TO READERS:  —  Several conservative blogs have raised questions about the Diarist "Shock Troops," written by a soldier in Iraq using the pseudonym Scott Thomas.  Whenever anybody levels serious accusations against a piece published in our magazine, we take those charges seriously.

JetBlue caved  —  Okay, so JetBlue, after deciding to resist Bill O'Reilly's pressure last night, just decided to back down.  Let them know what you think about that. … As for my part, I'm cancelling my JetBlue American Express card and will be looking at alternative options for my future travel.

Hillary Clinton's Tentative Dip Into New Neckline Territory  —  There was cleavage on display Wednesday afternoon on C-SPAN2.  It belonged to Sen. Hillary Clinton.  —  She was talking on the Senate floor about the burdensome cost of higher education.  She was wearing a rose-colored blazer over a black top.

As long as...  A PRIVILEGED FEW  —  As long as we're going to be discussing the parameters of executive privilege in the weeks and months ahead, can we start by revisiting the now commonly accepted notion that the President can only get free and unfettered advice if those giving the advice know it will remain confidential?

Exclusive: Hillary's Stinging Letter To SecDef Gates Obtained  —  In an unusual challenge to a Defense Secretary from a sitting Senator, Hillary Clinton has just written a sharply worded letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates, demanding that he personally account for a Pentagon official's assertion yesterday …

7 Rules: 1 Oath  —  D+30  —  19 July 2007  —  Today marks D+30 since the start of Operation Arrowhead Ripper.  The initial goal of Arrowhead Ripper was to clear Baqubah of al Qaeda, and then attempt to "jump start" the city back into civic life, which had all but ceased while the terrorists were in control.

Shays screams at Capitol Police officer  —  On Thursday afternoon, Rep. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.) got into a loud, angry dispute with a U.S. Capitol Police officer at the security checkpoint inside the entrance of the West Side of the Capitol.  On Friday, Shays, a veteran lawmaker …

Jersey City Woman Finds Missile Launcher On Lawn  —  Officials: Launcher, Good For One Use Only, Had Already Been Fired  —  Featured Slideshows:  —  Reporting  —  (CBS) JERSEY CITY A Jersey City woman made what to her and her neighbors was a shocking discovery Friday morning when she noticed …

Nancy Pelosi to publish memoir  —  NEW YORK - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the California Democrat who this year became the first woman to hold the top spot in the House of Representatives, is writing a memoir, to be released in the summer of 2008 by the Doubleday Broadway Publishing Group.

Executive Order: Interpretation of the Geneva Conventions Common Article 3 as Applied to a Program of Detention and Interrogation Operated by the Central Intelligence Agency  —  By the authority vested in me as President and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces by the Constitution and the laws …

Harry Potter: the economics  —  Successful magical worlds depend on basic economic principles, and that's where JK Rowling's Harry Potter falls short.  —  Why are books about magic so exciting?  The lure is almost tautological: magic is compelling because it allows us to imagine doing the things we cannot ordinarily do.

A Busy Saturday  —  Readers are really into Cheney being president for awhile.  Suggestions for Acting President Cheney include  —  Bomb Iran.  —  Commute the sentences of those border agents.  —  Fire Mike Chertoff.  —  Tell Harry Reid to ... well, you know...  Pardon Scooter.

Romney aide's bogus badges: Sources detail 'illegal' security tactic  —  In an apparent violation of the law, a controversial aide to ex-Gov. Mitt Romney created phony law enforcement badges that he and other staffers used on the campaign trail to strong-arm reporters, avoid paying tolls …

Bush Says Democrats Are Playing Politics on Iraq  —  President Bush assailed Democrats anew about Iraq today, accusing them of choosing to indulge in a political debate over troop withdrawals rather than giving the troops what they need to carry out their mission.

Being a New...  VIDEO SURFACES OF RUDY SCREAMING, "BULLSH#$T!"  —  Being a New Yorker, I'd remembered that during a cop union rally in 1992, Rudy had come unhinged and screamed, "Bulls#$t!"  —  For some time now I've been meaning to track video of this moment down.