U.S. May Escort Ahmadinejad to Ground Zero  —  Talks Underway After Iranian Requests a Visit  —  In a move that has stunned New York, the Bloomberg administration is in discussions to escort the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to ground zero during his visit to New York next week, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said today.

Rather Files $70 Million Lawsuit Against CBS  —  Dan Rather, whose career at CBS News ground to an inglorious end 15 months ago over his role in an unsubstantiated report questioning President Bush's Vietnam-era National Guard service, filed a $70 million lawsuit this afternoon against the network …

Longer Leaves for Troops Blocked  —  Senate Republicans yesterday rejected a bipartisan proposal to lengthen the home leaves of U.S. troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, derailing a measure that war opponents viewed as one of the best chances to force President Bush to accelerate a redeployment of forces.

The President Goes to War Over "Betray Us"  —  Kate O'Beirne and I just got back from a meeting with the president in the Roosevelt Room of the White House for a small group of conservative journalists.  —  There was a lot of ground covered, and the president was in a serious but confident mood …

Sources: Weller to retire  —  Photo from the office of Rep. Jerry Weller  —  Rep. Jerry Weller (R-Ill.) is set to announce his retirement in the near future, two Republican sources tell the Tribune.  One of the sources said the announcement could come as early as tomorrow.

Breaking: Webb amendment fails.  —  The Senate just voted 56 to 44 on Sen. Jim Webb's (D-VA) amendment "requiring that active-duty troops and units have at least equal time at home as the length of their previous tour overseas."  The bill failed to garner the 60 votes needed to move forward.

I Don't Support the Troops..oops, there, I said it  —  This has been digging at me for, oh, about 4 years now.  I have been hesitant to express this thought, in comments sections and in discussion with other people about the Iraq quagmire for fear of, I don't know, being called mean.  Or, un-American.

CIA SHUT DOWN IN IRAQ  —  According to exclusive information obtained by Pajamas Media's Washington editor Richard Miniter, the movement of key CIA station personnel in Baghdad has been all but shut down.  Are we witnessing Iran's counter-strike to the surge?  —  Support Pajamas Media; Visit Our Advertisers

Darth Cheney  —  "You can always tell when the Republicans are getting restless, because the Vice President's motorcade pulls into the Capitol, and Darth Vader emerges," Clinton said just now at Town Hall in New York.  —  "I'm not invited to their meetings and I don't know what he says or does," she said.

Johanns to resign, run for Senate, sources say  —  U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns (R) will resign his Cabinet post and run for the Senate seat being vacated by Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), according to local GOP sources.  —  The sources said Johanns plans to resign early next week …

BREAKING: Kirk England HD-106 (R) to Switch Parties  —  It has come to the attention of Burnt Orange Report that Republican Kirk England of HD-106 will announce he's switching parties tomorrow in Grand Prairie.  England won by only a couple hundred votes in 2006 against Democrat Katy Hubener …

Mexican lesson plans crossing the border  —  Immigration - Some Oregon schools are using curricula from Mexico to aid Spanish speakers  —  Oregon is counting on a new tool to educate Spanish-speaking students across state schools: Mexico's curriculum.  —  Already in place at three Oregon high schools …

Fears of dollar collapse as Saudis take fright  —  Saudi Arabia has refused to cut interest rates in lockstep with the US Federal Reserve for the first time, signalling that the oil-rich Gulf kingdom is preparing to break the dollar currency peg in a move that risks setting off a stampede out of the dollar across the Middle East.

GOP Cornyn To Introduce Senate Resolution Criticizing MoveOn Ad  —  As Congress considers a series of legislation that would drastically alter the course and direction of the Iraq War, one prominent Republican Senator will be focusing his efforts on condemning the newspaper advertisement of an anti-war group.

UPDATE: Gunmen Blow Up Iraq's North Export Pipeline -Official  —  AMMAN -(Dow Jones)- Unknown attackers have blown up part of an Iraqi pipeline that pumps crude oil from Kirkuk oil fields to the Turkish export terminal, Ceyhan, a senior Iraqi oil official and a shipping agent said Wednesday.