Beauchamp Recants  —  THE WEEKLY STANDARD has learned from a military source close to the investigation that Pvt. Scott Thomas Beauchamp—author of the much-disputed "Shock Troops" article in the New Republic's July 23 issue as well as two previous "Baghdad Diarist" columns …

Bush Still Wields the Threat of Terrorism  —  Until last weekend, President Bush had repeatedly fallen short in seven months of battles with a Democratic-led Congress that would not give him what he wanted on immigration or education, health care or energy policy.

TIMESSELECT CONTENT FREED  —  The New York Times is poised to stop charging readers for online access to its Op-Ed columnists and other content, The Post has learned.  —  After much internal debate, Times executives - including publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. - made the decision to end …

As British Leave, Basra Deteriorates  —  Violence Rises in Shiite City Once Called a Success Story  —  As British forces pull back from Basra in southern Iraq, Shiite militias there have escalated a violent battle against each other for political supremacy and control over oil resources …

Our Chance to Capture the Center  —  With President Bush and the Republican Party on the rocks, many Democrats think the 2008 election will be, to borrow a favorite GOP phrase, a cakewalk.  Some liberals are so confident about Democratic prospects that they contend the centrism that vaulted Democrats …

Edwards Makes Courting Labor a Key Strategy in Bid for Nomination  —  Backing Meant Little for 2004 Candidates  —  Former senator John Edwards of North Carolina came to a labor hall here Monday morning for a speech on trade policy, but he had a different audience in mind.

Propaganda Redux  —  Take it from this old KGB hand: The left is abetting America's enemies with its intemperate attacks on President Bush.  —  During last week's two-day summit, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown thanked President Bush for leading the global war on terror.

Says Newt: 'Odds are significant' the Democrats win the White House  —  If you're a betting man, you have to like Democrats' chances of taking over the White House next year, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said early this morning.  —  "The odds are fairly significant that that the left will win next year.

All the News That Seemed Unfit to Print  —  Somewhere in Kalamazoo, Elvis weeps: The Weekly World News is folding.  —  The Weekly World News was not one of those sleazy tabloids that cover tawdry celebrity scandals.  It was a sleazy tabloid that covered events that seemed to occur in a parallel universe …

Tougher Rules Change Game for Lobbyists  —  H. Stewart Van Scoyoc, founder of one of the biggest lobbying firms in Washington, spent an anxious morning with his lawyer last week assessing the far-reaching ethics and lobbying rules Congress had passed the day before.

BROWNBACK GETS TUBULAR  —  I don't agree with the issue Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) is advocating in this campaign web video (he's pushing his consistent pro-life position in contrast to Mitt Romney's 'light on the road to the White House' conversion to the cause).

City Is Rebuffed on the Release of '04 Records  —  A federal judge yesterday rejected New York City's efforts to prevent the release of nearly 2,000 pages of raw intelligence reports and other documents detailing the Police Department's covert surveillance of protest groups and individual activists …

In Dusty Archives, a Theory of Affluence  —  For thousands of years, most people on earth lived in abject poverty, first as hunters and gatherers, then as peasants or laborers.  But with the Industrial Revolution, some societies traded this ancient poverty for amazing affluence.

Bridge Collapse Revives Issue of Road Spending  —  In the past two years, Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota twice vetoed legislation to raise the state's gas tax to pay for transportation needs.  —  Now, with at least five people dead in the collapse of the Interstate 35W bridge here …