Mr. Rove Gets Out of Town  —  Karl Rove, the architect of so much that has gone so wrong with the Bush administration, announced yesterday that he is leaving the White House to spend more time with his family.  What he didn't say is that by getting out of town he is also hoping to avoid spending …

US Gov't broke Padilla through intense isolation, say experts  —  Despite warnings, officials used 43 months of severe isolation to force Jose Padilla to tell all he knew about Al Qaeda. … MIAMI - When suspected Al Qaeda operative Jose Padilla was whisked from the criminal justice system …

Random Rummy August Sighting  —  Starting a war must really wear a guy down.  —  Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was spotted today having lunch at Morton's on Connecticut Ave.  What was remarkable was not what he ordered, or with whom he dined, or how quintessentially condescending he may have been to the waiter.

FOOLISH MYTHS ABOUT AL-QAIDA IN MESOPOTAMIA.  —  Over the past few months, I have been debating Roman Catholics who differ from their Eastern Orthodox brethren on the nature of the Trinity, Protestants who are willing to quarrel bitterly with one another about election and predestination …

Learn from the fall of Rome, US warned  —  The US government is on a 'burning platform' of unsustainable policies and practices with fiscal deficits, chronic healthcare underfunding, immigration and overseas military commitments threatening a crisis if action is not taken soon, the country's top government inspector has warned.

Katrina aid goes toward luxury condos  —  TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — With large swaths of the Gulf Coast still in ruins from Hurricane Katrina, rich federal tax breaks designed to spur rebuilding are flowing hundreds of miles inland to investors who are buying up luxury condos near the University of Alabama's football stadium.

Getting Shadi's Back  —  This absurd post from Atrios attacking my colleague Shadi is a good example of exactly what is wrong with some elements of the anti-war left - an inability and unwillingness to even consider the arguments of their opponents.  —  For example, I was a fierce critic of the war in Iraq.

Border Patrol to build fencing  —  The U.S. Border Patrol is asking for volunteers among its agents to help build fences on the U.S.-Mexico border, even as President Bush is withdrawing half the National Guard troops he sent there last year to build fences.  —  A memo circulated last week …

SPIEGEL ONLINE: "The US Military is more successful in Iraq than the world wants to believe."  —  Historical consistency has never been a strong point for SPIEGEL magazine or SPIEGEL ONLINE - but this is shocking:  —  Just look at this article.  —  After years of calling Iraq a disaster …

Obama Gets Warning From Voter  —  HANOVER, N.H. (AP) - Presidential hopeful Barack Obama was warned by a friendly voter Monday to avoid public spats with his Democratic rivals - but remarks he made later could add fuel to the criticism against him.  —  Maggie North of Claremont told Obama …