MoveOn.org Calls Petraeus a Traitor  —  Do Democrats in Congress agree?  —  Tomorrow—as General David Petraeus provides his Iraq assessment to Congress—the antiwar group MoveOn.org is running a full-page advertisement in the New York Times under the headline: "General Petraeus or General Betray us?

US loner helps bin Laden to taunt Bush  —  A Californian heavy metal fan, who converted to Islam and became the first American to be charged with treason in half a century, has been fingered as the author of Osama bin Laden's latest video lecture - which left the terror chief sounding like an anti-globalisation protester.

Panic in the press room  —  "Are we going to have audio?"  —  "Vamos a tener audio?"  —  Reporters who didn't speak Spanish were already anxious about the translation devices that didn't quite fit in our ears.  (Porque soy de California, yo hablo un poquito Espanol.)

Study finds left-wing brain, right-wing brain  —  Even in humdrum nonpolitical decisions, liberals and conservatives literally think differently, researchers show.  —  Exploring the neurobiology of politics, scientists have found that liberals tolerate ambiguity and conflict better than conservatives because of how their brains work.

Anti-war leaders stymied, frustrated  —  A well-known anti-war leader has gone public with the transcript of a private conference call that shows peace activists are exasperated with the Democratic congressional leadership and at a loss for a long-term strategy.

McCain Finds His Footing  —  MANCHESTER, N.H. — Two hours before Fred Thompson formally entered the race for the Republican presidential nomination, his old friend John McCain turned in the kind of performance that once would have kept Thompson from running.

THE CHAOS HAWKS....In the beginning were the War Hawks, and much did they counsel the powerful to do battle against the evildoer Saddam.  Then came the war, and the looting, and the Heritage Foundation hordes, and the hawks lamented exceeding loud and many soon repented of their ways.

Do bloggers generate enough interest to change politics?  —  AUSTIN — The left-leaning political blogosphere is lined up almost completely with Houston's Rick Noriega over San Antonio's Mikal Watts in the battle for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate.  —  The question is whether it will do Noriega much good.

War in Iraq: Wisdom of Crowds  —  As we approach the September reports on Iraq, the public debate over our military presence there has once again intensified.  Both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue are ratcheting up the rhetoric about the best course of action, with the president using a pit stop …

Audit Cites Overpaid Medicare Insurers  —  Private insurance companies participating in Medicare have been allowed to keep tens of millions of dollars that should have gone to consumers, and the Bush administration did not properly audit the companies or try to recover money paid in error …

Party Out of Bounds (Blogger Style)  —  Surprise!  Party!  —  Yeah, we just thought we'd drop in!  —  Where's your icebox?  —  Where's the punch?  —  Eww, house-a-tosis!  —  Who's to blame when parties really get out of hand?  —  Who's to blame when they get poorly planned?