President Bush Attends Veterans of Foreign Wars National Convention, Discusses War on Terror  —  Kansas City Convention and Entertainment Center  —  THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all.  Please be seated.  It's good to be with you again.  I understand you haven't had much of a problem attracting speakers.

Transcript: Debate on the foreign intelligence surveillance act  —  The following is the transcript of a question and answer session with National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell.  —  Question: How much has President Bush or members of his administration formed your response to the FISA debate?

Gallup Poll Review: Karl Rove's Assertions About Hillary Clinton  —  High unfavorables unusual, but not necessarily a fatal flaw  —  PRINCETON, NJ — White House adviser Karl Rove — who announced he would be leaving his post at the end of August — has during the last week made a number …

Did changes in Crandall Canyon mining plan boost cave-in risks?  —  Robert Murray insists that his company did not change the mining plan at Crandall Canyon after purchasing a joint interest in the mine last August.  —  But documents obtained by The Salt Lake Tribune clearly contradict Murray's assertion …

Experts tie pigeon dung, bridge collapse  —  ST. PAUL, Minn. - Pounded and strained by heavy traffic and weakened by missing bolts and cracking steel, the failed interstate bridge over the Mississippi River also faced a less obvious enemy: pigeons.  —  Inspectors began documenting the buildup …

Tammy Haddad Out As Chris Matthews EP  —  We hear that "Hardball" exec producer Tammy Haddad is officially out thanks to Chris Matthews becoming the lowest-rated host on MSNBC primetime.  Matthews — a front-and-center face at MSNBC and certainly a go-to pundit on all things political …

Romney Struggles to Define Abortion Stance  —  Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney said this week that as president he would allow individual states to keep abortion legal, two weeks after telling a national television audience that he supports a constitutional amendment to ban the procedure nationwide.

Bolton: I 'Absolutely' Hope The U.S. Will Attack Iran In The Next 'Six Months'  —  Yesterday, Raw Story pointed out that former CIA operative Bob Baer told Fox News that the Bush administration will likely attack Iran in the coming months.  "Iran policy is on close hold …

AG: Cops must ask suspects for immigration status … Attorney General Anne Milgram today ordered all local police officers in New Jersey to inquire about the immigration status of suspects charged with serious crimes, and to notify federal immigration authorities if there is reason to believe the suspect is in the country illegally.

Sarkozy 'corrects' Chirac's errors  —  One of the key promises that Nicolas Sarkozy had made during his presidential election campaign last spring was to "correct" foreign policy "mistakes" made by his predecessor Jacques Chirac.  —  Chief among these was Chirac's desperate efforts to prevent …

Gen. Batiste's Op-Ed That The WSJ And The Washington Times Didn't Want You To See  —  Our guest blogger is Ret. Maj. Gen. John Batiste, the former Commanding General of 1st Infantry Division.  —  For my first post here at ThinkProgress, I thought I would share something a little different …

CBS Was Warned on 'Kid Nation,' Documents Show  —  The producers of a CBS reality show featuring 40 children living on their own in the New Mexico desert were warned by the state attorney general's office while the show was being taped last spring that they might be violating the state's child-labor laws …

How Miss Slackistan and the Burka Beauties fell foul of the racism zealots  —  It probably seemed like a good idea at the time.  Stuck for inspiration about what to wear at their village carnival, one group made a last-minute decision to dress up in mock Muslim burkas.

U.S. officials rethink hopes for Iraq democracy  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — Nightmarish political realities in Baghdad are prompting American officials to curb their vision for democracy in Iraq.  Instead, the officials now say they are willing to settle for a government that functions and can bring security.