House Democrats pass contempt citation  —  WASHINGTON - The House Judiciary Committee approved a contempt of Congress citation Wednesday against White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and one-time Counsel Harriet Miers, setting up a constitutional confrontation over the firings of federal prosecutors.

Bill O'Reilly's Web site threatens Hillary's life  —  FOX News' Bill O'Reilly has been attacking the liberal blog Daily Kos, and liberal blogs in general, over some extreme comments left by some of our visitors.  It's interesting therefore that O'Reilly's own Web site contains some of the most hideous hate you've ever seen.

Documents contradict Gonzales' testimony  —  WASHINGTON - Documents show that eight congressional leaders were briefed about the Bush administration's terrorist surveillance program on the eve of its expiration in 2004, contradicting sworn Senate testimony this week by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

Protester removed from Fred Thompson event  —  HOUSTON, Texas (CNN) - A woman screaming "you're not a real conservative, sir" was removed by police from a welcoming reception for likely GOP presidential candidate Fred Thompson Wednesday morning.  A second protester was also taken from the room.

Changing Course in Iraq  —  The Iraq debate in Washington seems as intractable as the actual war in Iraq.  Democrats keep trying to set a deadline for withdrawing U.S. combat forces.  President Bush keeps insisting that nothing will change until Sept. 15, when General David Petraeus …

Exclusive First Read: Obama hits Clinton - harder  —  From NBC's Andrea Mitchell  —  Sen. Obama has ESCALATED his criticism of Hillary Clinton — taking it to political defcon three — in an exclusive on-camera interview with NBC News.  —  It is a lot tougher than what he said in the debate …

Specter to probe Supreme Court decisions  —  Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) plans to review the Senate testimony of U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel J. Alito to determine if their reversal of several long-standing opinions conflicts with promises they made to senators to win confirmation.

Indeed  —  Obama: … I'm not saying Obama's judgment about his judgment is necessarily correct, just that the very serious foreign policy people in Washington keep, you know, getting it wrong.  The foreign policy establishment has its own arbitrary parameters of debate which it imposes …

House Votes to Ban Permanent Bases in Iraq  —  "The Democratic Congress will go on record - every day if necessary - to register a judgment in opposition to the course of action that the President is taking in Iraq.  The Democratic Congress will go on record - every day if necessary …

Document drop: A new critique of the 2004 Lancet Iraq death toll study  —  One of the most useful roles of the blogosphere is its service as an open-source intelligence-gathering medium.  You can draw on the expertise of people around the world at the touch of a button.

Queen guitarist to complete doctorate  —  LONDON - Brian May is completing his doctorate in astrophysics, more than 30 years after he abandoned his studies to form the rock group Queen.  —  The 60-year-old guitarist and songwriter said he plans to submit his thesis, "Radial Velocities …

Who Is the 'Baghdad Diarist'?  —  Soldier's Accounts of Misbehavior in Iraq Questioned by Bloggers  —  The soldier's stories were shocking in their brutality: fellow GIs viciously mocking a woman whose face had been horribly disfigured in an IED explosion; a private snatching a child's skull unearthed …

Nonny Mouse Goes Down Under  —  The travel and tourist industry is one of the United State's biggest money-makers, generating $103 billion in tax revenue every year.  Without this tax revenue, every American household would pay nearly $1,000 more in taxes every a year.