White House Backs Gonzales on Testimony  —  The White House offered a vigorous defense of Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales today, insisting that he had not given misleading testimony to Congress, but that national security factors prevented further clarification for now.

Let the Cleavage Conversation Begin  —  Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign has sent out a fundraising letter calling a Washington Post fashion writer's column on Clinton's cleavage "grossly inappropriate" and asking donors "to take a stand against this kind of coarseness and pettiness in American culture."

Edwards: "They want to shut me up"  —  MyDD flags an intense minute and a half from John Edwards in Creston, Iowa, yesterday in which he heatedly tells an audience that the attention to trivia (I assume the reference here is to his haircuts) is "not an accident" and that "they want to shut me up" …

Novak Tome Could Have Been 'Bible Length'  —  Columnist Robert Novak said Thursday morning that the draft manuscript of his recently released autobiography, "Bob Novak and the Deathly Hallows" ... er, sorry, "The Prince of Darkness: 50 Years Reporting in Washington" (can't get Harry Potter out of our heads), ran to about 1,400 pages.

Bob Dole Says Thompson Will Benefit From McCain's Lost `Buzz'  —  Bob Dole says his preferred presidential candidate, Arizona Senator John McCain, is fading and that his support is likely to be ``picked up'' by Fred Thompson, who is expected to announce his candidacy for the Republican nomination in September.

Army Private Discloses He Is New Republic's Baghdad Diarist  —  The New Republic's anonymous "Baghdad Diarist" identified himself yesterday as Scott Thomas Beauchamp, an Army private in Iraq, and disputed as "maddening" accusations that he had invented his accounts of cruelty by American soldiers.

Another Thompson resignation  —  Another aide to Fred Thompson's campaign-in-waiting resigned last night, two sources close to the campaign confirm.  Tom Frechette had been effectively serving as campaign manager Tom Collamore's deputy.  Collamore was removed from his post Tuesday and given a "senior adviser" role.

U.S. drops Baghdad electricity reports  —  The daily length of time that residents have power has dropped.  The figure is considered a key indicator of quality of life.  —  WASHINGTON — washington — As the Bush administration struggles to convince lawmakers that its Iraq war strategy is working …

To Read the Orange Signs  —  AN OPEN MEMO  —  FROM: Thers, On Behalf of All Us liberal Bloggers Who Live on Snark  —  Dear Mr. Gerson:  —  In reference to your latest post, especially lines like the following: … It is you, sir, yourself, who make it too easy.  —  Love (and a Moste Chaste Kiss),

Public Divided as to Whether New President Should Meet with Heads of Iran, Syria, North Korea  —  Forty-two percent (42%) of Americans say that the next President should meet with the heads of nations such as Iran, Syria, and North Korea without setting any preconditions.

Lawyers sap our will to combat terrorism  —  We lack the toughness of our European neighbours  —  Many jihadis seek to create a global caliphate, ruled by Sharia.  At best, Christians, Hindus, and Jews would live in a state of submission tantamount to second-class citizenship.

Freed man still in limbo … Mark O'Hara clutches his only belongings, his legal papers, as he uses a borrowed cell phone Wednesday in an attempt to get a ride home to Dunedin from the Orient Road Jail in Tampa.  —  Times]  —  TAMPA - Mark O'Hara left jail without handcuffs Wednesday …

US ordered to pay $101.7m in false murder convictions  —  FBI withheld evidence in '65 gangland slaying  —  A federal judge held the FBI "responsible for the framing of four innocent men" in a 1965 gangland murder in a landmark ruling yesterday and ordered the government to pay …

YOUTUBE, TAKE TWO Few GOP Candidates Commit to Debate  —  McCain Adviser Trims Advertising Strategy  —  YOUTUBE, TAKE TWO Few GOP Candidates Commit to Debate  —  Four days after the Democratic debate in Charleston, S.C., more than 400 questions directed to the GOP presidential field …

Keith Olbermann Updates The Nexus Of Terror And Politics - Creating Terror Scares  —  On "Countdown" Keith Olbermann talked with Will Bunch of the Philadelphia Daily News about President Bush's use of trumped up terror alerts to drown out the roar of scandals plaguing his administration.