Thompson Declares His Candidacy for President  —  After months of false starts, staff shake-ups, and questions about the seriousness of his intention to run for president, Fred Thompson rolled out his presidential candidacy this evening with a two-pronged, guerrilla-style entry into the race …

Staging Nukes for Iran?  —  Why the hubbub over a B-52 taking off from a B-52 base in Minot, North Dakota and subsequently landing at a B-52 base in Barksdale, Louisiana?  That's like getting excited if you see a postal worker in uniform walking out of a post office.

GAO Criticizes Homeland Security's Efforts to Fulfill Its Mission  —  Hobbled by inadequate funding, unclear priorities, continuing reorganizations and the absence of an overarching strategy, the U.S. Homeland Security Department is failing to achieve its mission of preventing and responding …

LIVE FREE OR DEBATE  —  PJM's Vodkapundit Stephen Green liveblogged the debate with martini glass in hand.  —  Support Pajamas Media; Visit Our Advertisers  —  6:49pm First martini down.  Going to run upstairs to pour a second one before things get started.

Jones Report: Iraqi Security Forces Not Ready  —  Logistical Self-Sufficiency Is at Least Two Years Away  —  Iraq's Interior Ministry is "dysfunctional," filled with sectarianism and corruption, according to an independent assessment of the Iraqi security forces to be published tomorrow.

Baghdad Burning  —  ... I'll meet you 'round the bend my friend, where hearts can heal and souls can mend...  Leaving Home...  Two months ago, the suitcases were packed.  My lone, large suitcase sat in my bedroom for nearly six weeks, so full of clothes and personal items, that it took me …

Democrats Newly Willing to Compromise on Iraq  —  With a mixed picture emerging about progress in Iraq, Senate Democratic leaders are showing a new openness to compromise as they try to attract Republican support for forcing at least modest troop withdrawals in the coming months.

Breaking: GOP Senate Leader McConnell Says Craig Won't Resign If Cleared  —  Crazier and crazier.  Now GOP Senate leader Mitch McConnell has gone and said at a press conference and said that Larry Craig won't be resigning if he's ultimately exonerated of the charges against him.

Clinton Donor Fails to Appear in Court Again  —  The mystery of Norman Hsu, the wealthy Clinton donor who turned out to be a fugitive from justice, took a bizarre twist yesterday when Mr. Hsu, who skipped out after pleading no contest in a California fraud case 15 years ago, disappeared yet again.

Outsourcing All My Work To Big Media Matt  —  TEH BLOGGURZ ARE TEH STUPIDDDDDZZZZ!!!!!!  —  The idea that beltway journalists are uniquely experienced or informed about anything other than what it's like to be a beltway journalist is absurd, and of course says quite a bit about what beltway journalists actually know about the world.

Richardson to bloggers: 'I make no apologies'  —  FLORENCE, South Carolina (CNN) — At a campaign stop Wednesday at Horne's Country Buffet, Democratic presidential candidate Bill Richardson struck back at prominent liberal blogs that yesterday called Richardson a "buffoon" …

THE MYTH OF AQI....Who's responsible for the violence in Iraq?  According to George Bush, the most dramatic and destabilizing attacks come from al-Qaeda in Iraq, the group supposedly responsible for the bombing of the Golden Mosque in Samara last year and for a spectacular truck bomb attack in Tal Afar five months ago.

Despite DNA Test, Prosecutor Is Retrying Case  —  The scene in the tiny Noxubee County jail on a rainy afternoon has become almost commonplace.  Kennedy Brewer, sentenced to death and locked up for 15 years for the rape and murder of a 3-year-old, was released on the strength of a DNA test showing …