Warner may back Dems' bill on withdrawal  —  WASHINGTON - GOP Sen. John Warner, who wants U.S. troops to start coming home from Iraq by Christmas, said Sunday he may support Democratic legislation ordering withdrawals if President Bush refuses to set a return timetable soon.

Obama: U.S. can't fail New Orleans again  —  NEW ORLEANS - Democrat Barack Obama said Sunday the country cannot fail New Orleans again and that as president, he would keep the city in mind every day.  —  "The words never again cannot be another empty phrase," he said in front …

Troops Cheer Call For Iraq Withdrawl  —  Governor's Call For U.S. Withdrawal From Iraq Greeted With Standing Ovation At National Guard Conference  —  (AP) A call by Puerto Rico's governor for a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq earned a standing ovation from a conference of more than 4,000 National Guardsmen.

Challenging the Generals  —  On Aug. 1, Gen. Richard Cody, the United States Army's vice chief of staff, flew to the sprawling base at Fort Knox, Ky., to talk with the officers enrolled in the Captains Career Course.  These are the Army's elite junior officers.

Question: If Brian Baird Used His Brain. . .  What would you get?  —  Answer: Jan Schakowsky (emphasis and photo added): … Anyone want to guess how many CNN and talking head appearances Rep. Schakowsky will get over the next week?  —  Any idea where the Congressional leadership is in amplifying this message?

Misinterpreting the Mideast  —  Until they get past their mistaken assumptions, foreign envoys can do little to calm the region.  —  After a few years of benign neglect, Israel is back on the itineraries of well-meaning foreign emissaries.  Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair visited …

Possible Presidential Hopeful Woos Support In Indy  —  Thompson Emerges As Republican Favorite Among Some  —  INDIANAPOLIS — Indianapolis is an important stop this weekend for many frontrunners for the 2008 presidential nomination.  —  The Midwest Republican Leadership Conference continued Saturday …

Migrants fleeing as hiring law nears  —  Immigration hard-liners cheer, but economic fallout begins  —  Undocumented immigrants are starting to leave Arizona because of the new employer-sanctions law.  —  The state's strong economy has been a magnet for illegal immigrants for years.

Rebounding George Allen, rising Fred Thompson  —  Former Sen. George Allen of Virginia, scarred by his own remark, conceding defeat to Jim Webb last fall.  Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images  —  by David Lerman  —  WASHINGTON — Former Sen. George Allen, who made ``macaca" …

FDL Book Salon Welcomes Jim Himes, Drew Westen and The Political Brain  —  (Please welcome in the comments author Drew Westen, author of The Political Brain, and Jim Himes, our Blue America candidate who is running against Chris Shays in CT-04 — JH)  —  Two years ago, I was days away …

Ten Years  —  I want to just reiterate how crazy the idea that we're ten years from victory in Iraq by briefly recollecting America's attempted intervention in Lebanon's 1980s-vintage civil war.  We went in, you'll recall, in 1982, about six years into the fighting, and really expanded our mandate in 1983.

I Believe That Children Are Our Future  —  Miss Teen USA 2007 finalist, Lauren Caitlin Upton of South Carolina, on her fellow Americans' poor grasp of geography:  —  /via friend T.

FROM STAFF REPORTS  —  Durham police have arrested a 93-year-old man on cocaine-trafficking and related charges.  —  William C. Tinnen was arrested Thursday during a raid at 204 Teel St., police said in a news release issued today.  Police spokeswoman Kammie Michael said she assumed police …

Little Saddam  —  From a Michael Totten report: … The quote makes me think, in rabbit-trail fashion, of an evening I enjoyed with a few Iraqi Army soldiers a few months ago.  All three were officers- drawn from two different divisions to train new Iraqi soldiers to fight.

WHEN SILLY MEETS PREDICTABLE  —  When a rock band's creativity grows stale, their songs become formulaic.  They take an old hit, change the key, alter the lyrics a little, and voila.  A new single.  —  When a newspaper columnist's creativity grows stale, the same problem emerges.