Candidates Have Their Say on Obama's Decision Not to Wear Flag Pin  —  Barack Obama may choose not to wear an American flag pin on his lapel, but many of the presidential contender's political rivals say they wouldn't leave home without one.  —  VIDEO: Barack Obama Decides Not to Continue Wearing a Flag Pin on His Lapel

Fort Hunt's Quiet Men Break Silence on WWII  —  For six decades, they held their silence.  —  The group of World War II veterans kept a military code and the decorum of their generation, telling virtually no one of their top-secret work interrogating Nazi prisoners of war at Fort Hunt.

Bush Defends Interrogations, Saying Methods Aren't Torture  —  President Bush, reacting to a Congressional uproar over the disclosure of secret Justice Department legal opinions permitting the harsh interrogation of terrorism suspects, defended the methods on Friday, declaring, "This government does not torture people."

GIULIANI CAMPAIGN OUTRAISES REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES IN THIRD QUARTER  —  The Rudy Giuliani Presidential Committee announced today that for the second quarter in a row the campaign leads the Republican field in dollars raised.  The campaign showed another strong quarter, totaling over $11 million raised …

Prosecutor Accused In Sex Sting Kills Himself  —  MILAN, Mich. — A federal prosecutor who was arrested in an Internet sex sting after he allegedly traveled to Michigan from Florida to have sex with a 5-year-old girl hanged himself in a Michigan federal prison Friday morning, Detroit television station WDIV-TV reported.

War-Crimes Prosecutor Quits in Pentagon Clash  —  In the latest disruption of the Bush administration's plan to try detainees at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, for war crimes, the chief military prosecutor on the project stepped down yesterday after a dispute with a Pentagon official.

State Dept. Plans Tighter Control of Security Firm  —  The State Department, seeking to retain its relationship with Blackwater USA while trying to bring the company's armed guards under tighter control, said Friday that it would now send its own personnel as monitors on all Blackwater security convoys in and around Baghdad.

Alleged Haggard Escort: 'Sen. Craig Visited Me'  —  NewsChannel 3  —  The male escort responsible for the downfall of Christian evangelist leader Ted Haggard is now alleging that embattled Senator Larry Craig also came to see him.  —  While promoting his new book during a radio interview …

The fallout from an attack on Iran would be devastating  —  The drumbeat of war in Washington is growing - and so must public pressure against British involvement in such folly  —  Seumas Milne  —  It seems almost incredible after the catastrophe of the Iraq war, but the signs are growing …

GOP Tax Dilemma  —  After years of waste in Congress, voters aren't buying the party's fiscal message.  —  A few weeks ago Republican leaders gathered on Capitol Hill to hear from their top pollsters and pundits about how they can win back the votes of independent voters.

HILLARY AND RUDY....Andrew Sullivan on Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani: … Then, responding to a reader who likes Hillary because so many right-wing blowhards hate her: … Andrew likes Barack Obama and Ron Paul, so he's trying to play up the problems with other candidates.  That's fine.

Senate confirms Harris County judge for appeals court  —  The Senate has confirmed Harris County state District Judge Jennifer Walker Elrod to the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.  —  "Jennifer Elrod is an outstanding jurist and will be an excellent addition to the 5th Circuit Court," …