The Ugly Side of the G.O.P.  —  I applaud the thousands of people, many of them poor, who traveled from around the country to protest in Jena, La., last week.  But what I'd really like to see is a million angry protesters marching on the headquarters of the National Republican Party in Washington.

Queen Hillary, Empress of Mesopotamia  —  My friend, David Brooks, does his best to reinforce the Hillary-Is-Inevitable consensus in Washington right now.  He may regret this, though: … Then we hear this from a right-wing reporter with access to Bush:

Democratic Party Maintains Solid Image Advantage Over GOP  —  Public Prefers Democratic Party to Republican for handling terrorism, military security  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Public attitudes toward the two major political parties have not changed much in recent months.

GOP Senator Says Bush Should Put Health Bill Before Policy Goal  —  A senior Senate Republican accused President Bush yesterday of holding a bipartisan expansion of the popular State Children's Health Insurance Program hostage to his broader policy goals of using tax deductions to help people afford private health insurance coverage.

'Betray Us' Bombed: Rasmussen  —  The MoveOn ad that accused General David Petraeus of possibly traitorous testimony before he even began speaking has alienated the majority of American voters — and even a plurality among MoveOn's allies believed it harnful to their cause.

Two girls, the Saudi Religious Police, a mobile phone and a can of pepper spray  —  Jules Crittenden and Blue Star Chronicles have it:  —  Saudi Religious Police Attacked by Girls (emphasis added) … Notice how the crowd didn't take the Religious Police's side, either. … It gets better:

Court grants 17 new cases; voter ID, death penalty review  —  The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to add 17 new cases to its new Term's decision docket, including a pair of appeals on the constitutionality of requiring voters to show a photo ID before they may vote (Crawford v. Marion County Election Board …

What Defines a Killing as Sectarian?  —  U.S. Military Teams Analyze and Tally Each Civilian Death  —  On Sept. 1, the bullet-riddled bodies of four Iraqi men were found on a Baghdad street.  Two days later, a single dead man, with one bullet in his head, was found on a different street.

Iraqi Prime Minister Says That Civil War Has Been Prevented  —  Maliki Also Plays Down Iran's Influence  —  Civil war has been averted in Iraq and Iranian intervention there has "ceased to exist," Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said yesterday.  —  "I can't say there is a picture …

And another thing...  The morning after the Columbia spectacle two things bother me.  The first is that the majority of protesters outside the Columbia campus and inside were Jewish students.  In fact, those marching in the street were more likely than not to be wearing the kippas (boys) …

Webb: Lieberman And Kyl's Hawkish Iran Amendment Is 'Cheney's Fondest Pipe Dream'  —  On the Senate floor today, Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) made an impassioned appeal to his fellow senators, declaring that the Lieberman-Kyl amendment on Iran should be "withdrawn" because the "proposal is Dick Cheney's fondest pipe dream."

Kevin Spacey Meets Venezuela's Chavez  —  CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Actor Kevin Spacey met privately Monday with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, one of Washington's most outspoken critics in Latin America.  —  Neither Spacey — who has won Academy Awards for roles in "The Usual Suspects" …

Columbia's Conceit  —  Exactly what would it have accomplished to "engage in a debate" with Hitler?  —  On Saturday John Coatsworth, acting dean of Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs, made the remark that "if Hitler were in the United States and …

Cranking up the pain on Burma  —  So, President Bush concluded his remarks several minutes ago, and I just got my hands on the text of his speech.  Several of the foreign names in the draft include handy phonetic pronunciations.  Want to talk like the president?  Here's how to do it:

Marines Denied Permission To Film Commercial  —  On The Streets Of San Francisco  —  New York said "yes," but we said "no." Why were the U.S. Marines denied permission to film a recruiting commercial on the streets of San Francisco?  —  San Francisco is, once again, the center of a controversy …

Anti-Hillary Facebook site tops Obama  —  As the new school year gets fully under way and presidential hopefuls work the young voter circuit via social networking websites, one online group — Facebook's "Stop Hillary Clinton (One Million Strong AGAINST Hillary)" — is seriously outpacing …