Senate Votes To Expand Warrantless Surveillance  —  White House Applauds; Changes Are Temporary  —  The Senate bowed to White House pressure last night and passed a Republican plan for overhauling the federal government's terrorist surveillance laws, approving changes that would temporarily …

And Now It's Oberstar's Turn  —  Yesterday, Senator Amy Klobuchar blamed the collapse of the I-35W bridge on a lack of highway funds — even though the 2005 highway bill increased federal funding to Minnesota by 46% over its five-year span.  Apparently realizing that line of argument wouldn't hold …

Police: Oakland Post editor's killer confesses to slaying  —  A 19-year-old handyman at Your Black Muslim Bakery admitted to police Friday night that he ambushed and killed Oakland Post editor Chauncey Bailey, investigators said.  —  Police said Devaughndre Broussard told them he killed Bailey …

Candidates court bloggers, avoid commitment  —  CHICAGO — The second YearlyKos convention is a show of strength for the new blogging establishment: A parade of major Democratic politicians, including the leaders of the House and Senate and almost every presidential candidate …

It's Official: Beauchamp's Claims Debunked by Army Internal Investigation  —  Col. Steven Boylan, Public Affairs Officer for U.S. Army Commanding General in Iraq David Petraeus, just emailed me the following in response to my request to confirm an earlier report that the U.S. Army's investigation …

Confirmation: GOP Won the Vote  —  Congressional Quarterly seems to have the definitive article on the furor in the House the other night.  They lead with the news of a 'ceasefire,' but later confirm that the vote ought to have been a Republican win.  —  The piece leads with the creation …

Soldier Censored at Kos Convention  —  VIDEO Fireworks broke out at a Friday morning session of the second day of the YearlyKos Convention entitled "The Military and Progressives: Are They Really That Different?".  An as yet unidentified uniformed soldier attempted to address the panel on the subject of the "Surge".

In Iraq, a Perilous Alliance With Former Enemies  —  FORWARD OPERATING BASE ISKAN, Iraq — Inside a brightly lit room, the walls adorned with memorials to 23 dead American soldiers, Lt. Col. Robert Balcavage stared at the three Sunni tribal leaders he wanted to recruit.  —  Their fighters had battled U.S. troops.

Gonzales Now Says Top Aides Got Political Briefings  —  Justice Department officials attended at least a dozen political briefings at the White House since 2001, including some meetings led by Karl Rove, President Bush's chief political adviser, and others that were focused on election trends prior …

The Turn  —  Defeatists in retreat.  —  Hot July brings cooling showers, / Apricots and gillyflowers, as Sara Coleridge's doggerel has it.  But for the American antiwar movement, this July brought only a cold drizzle, wilted blossoms, and bitter fruit.  —  For the Iraq war's opponents, July began as a month of hope.

Joe Lieberman, from his indie perch  —  It may have been collateral damage, but the fiery end to Joe Lieberman's political career as an orthodox Democrat ranks among the most dramatic casualties of the Iraq war on the home front.  A year ago this week, Lieberman, the 2000 Democratic vice …

Thug, Dictator, and Useful Idiot  —  Sean Penn is The Useful Idiot. … (Hat tip: Geepers.)

Bush surveys bridge, pledges aids  —  MINNEAPOLIS - President Bush surveyed Minneapolis' collapsed highway bridge from the ground and air Saturday, viewing the concrete slabs and twisted steel that once spanned the Mississippi River.  He pledged to help cut the red tape to reconstruct the span.

Obama v. HRC: not just shadow-boxing  —  Kevin Drum thinks that the Obama-HRC foreign policy spats are shadow-boxing, fuelled by the desire of both campaigns to get ink, and that the dispute conceals basic agreement.  —  I don't think either half of that is right.  —  It seems to me that there are real differences here.