Hopes Dim in Minneapolis for Survivors  —  MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Divers searched the Mississippi River for bodies Thursday among the submerged cars and twisted steel left by deadly interstate bridge collapse, their hopes of finding survivors having dimmed.  —  "This is not a rescue operation any longer …

Obama says use of nuclear weapons to fight al-Qaida 'not on the table,'  —  WASHINGTON (AP) - Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama said Thursday he would not use nuclear weapons «in any circumstance.  —  «I think it would be a profound mistake for us to use nuclear weapons …

America's Economic Mood: Gloomy  —  Broad Public Pessimism  —  Spurs Democratic Candidates  —  To Target Business Interests  —  WASHINGTON — Americans are feeling decidedly sour about the economy and those in charge of it, fueling Democratic efforts to target business interests in the 2008 election campaign.

Judge's ruling spurs scramble for spy powers  —  A federal judge's secret ruling restricting the intelligence community's surveillance powers helped spur a Capitol Hill bid to grant Bush new authority.  —  A secret ruling by a federal judge has restricted the U.S. intelligence community's surveillance …

Congressional Idiots Telling al-Qaeda How To Subvert Our Protections  —  Want to know WHY there is Executive Privelege in a time of war?  Because American lives are at stake and the debate in Congress completely neutralizes our so called SECRET defenses against another 9-11.

D.C. elites want you to shush on Iraq  —  Be afraid when the same centrist consensus that has a lousy track record on the war lashes out at partisans.  —  By By Matthew Yglesias  —  The united states is now well into the fifth year of a war in Iraq that has, at a cost of hundreds of billions of dollars …

With Rove Absent, Aide Is Grilled by Senate Panel  —  The Senate Judiciary Committee grilled a young political aide from the White House today about the firings of nine United States attorneys and voiced disdain for a man who was not there: the aide's boss, Karl Rove, President Bush's chief political adviser.

Students must remember 'God' in Texas pledge  —  Texas students will have four more words to remember when they head back to class this month and begin reciting the state's pledge of allegiance.  —  This year's Legislature added the phrase "one state under God" to the pledge …

Shockingly Predictable  —  White House thumbs nose at yet another Congressional hearing.  H/T to nolo for the find: … As nolo points out, they aren't relying on any case law precedent to make this claim but, rather, a musty old memo that former Justice Rehnquist penned back in his DOJ days.

Bush Insults BBC Political Editor at Press Conference  —  NEW YORK At a recent press conference at Camp David, President George Bush insulted BBC political editor Nick Robinson, the Daily Mirror reports.  —  Robinson, who has asked Bush pointed questions in the past such as whetherthe president was …

Edwards: "Giuliani is Bush on Steroids"  —  Just got back from an Edwards event in San Francisco.  He threw out a lot of red meat — in particular savaging the big oil, drug, and insurance companies — and these deep blue Americans loved every minute of it.  —  Edwards is awesome on the stump.

Specter: Gonzales A "Wily Witness"  —  So here's Sen. Arlen Specter's (R-PA) verdict on Alberto Gonzales' testimony, delivered during this morning's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing with Karl Rove's aide Scott Jennings.  —  Gonzales, he says, sought to mislead the committee …