HILL: TERROR WOULD BE GOP BOOST  —  Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton yesterday raised the prospect of a terror attack before next year's election, warning that it could boost the GOP's efforts to hold on to the White House.  —  Discussing the possibility of a new nightmare assault while campaigning …

Is The Prospect Of Withdrawal Responsible For The Modest Security Gains In Iraq?  —  Yesterday, the National Intelligence Estimate reported "measurable but uneven improvements" in the security situation in Iraq.  While the White House has rushed to suggest that the modest gains were the result of escalation …

BREAKING: FIDEL CASTRO IS DEAD  —  My cellphone has not stopped ringing for the past ten minutes.  Various sources inform that an announcement will come within the next few minutes from the Cuban government on Cuban TV and media.  Stay tuned and we'll see if we've been manipulated once again …

Kristol: Let's 'Stretch Our Army And Marines' For 'Another Year Or So' In Iraq  —  On Fox News this morning, Weekly Standard editor William Kristol said that the escalation in Iraq should be extended at least "another six months" or even "another year or so."

Historian: Bush use of quote 'perverse'  —  A historian quoted by President Bush to help argue that critics of the administration's Iraq policy echo those who questioned the U.S. effort to bring democracy to Japan after World War II angrily distanced himself from the president's remarks Thursday.

Fmr Bush Iraq Envoy Helping Undermine Maliki  —  As Bush Voices Support for the Iraqi PM, Republican Lobbyists Aid Top Maliki Foe  —  Republican lobbyists with close ties to the Bush administration are aiding and supporting the efforts of an Iraqi opposition leader who is calling for the ouster of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

Brzezinski Embraces Obama Over Clinton for President  —  Aug. 24 (Bloomberg) — Zbigniew Brzezinski, one of the most influential foreign-policy experts in the Democratic Party, threw his support behind Barack Obama's presidential candidacy, saying the Illinois senator has a better global grasp than his chief rival, Hillary Clinton.

Our troops have earned more time  —  The invasion of Iraq may be one of the worst foreign-policy mistakes in the history of our nation.  As tragic and costly as that mistake has been, a precipitous or premature withdrawal of our forces now has the potential to turn the initial errors …

MORE ON BILL KRISTOL:  —  Over at National Review yesterday, Ramesh Ponnuru—a conservative I respect and enjoy reading—criticized Jonathan Chait's column on Bill Kristol.  In particular, Ramesh said, Jon has unfairly seized upon a particular passage in Kristol's recent editorial about liberals and the troops.

Liberal blogger targets 'Bush Dog' Dems  —  A leading liberal blogger has declared political war against centrist Democrats - the latest move in an intensifying show of dissatisfaction with the Democratic Congress by the once-friendly blogosphere.  —  Matt Stoller, who blogs …

More and Better Democrats  —  Here's Darcy Burner on the FISA collapse.  —  Here's Joe Wilson introducing the upcoming Monday virtual town hall with Burner.  —  You can go here for info about how  —  to send your question, etc.  —  Most importantly, the worst president in history …

White House Moving The Goal Posts On Escalation, Drops Demands For Iraqi Political Reconciliation  —  When President Bush announced the escalation on January 10, 2007, he claimed the purpose of adding more troops into Iraq's civil war was to enable political reconciliation:

Don't Get Rid of Earmarks  —  DEMOCRATS made earmark reform a campaign issue in 2006 — and a reality in 2007 — because earmarks were at the heart of corruption scandals in Washington.  Democrats never promised to eliminate earmarks.  We promised to reform them.

CIA said to step up operations against Iran as hawks seek to tie Iraq bombs to Tehran  —  In an effort to build congressional and Pentagon support for military options against Iran, the Bush administration has shifted from its earlier strategy of building a case based on an alleged Iranian …

Scarborough OK With Wolf Equating Bushies With Nazis  —  Joe Scarborough prides himself on being an independent thinker.  Apparently that extends to not uttering a peep of protest, and indeed tending to concur, when a left-wing guest flatly accuses the Bush administration of using Nazi tactics to suppress democracy.