Right Wing Launches Baseless Smear Campaign Against 12 Year Old Recipient Of SCHIP  —  Two weeks ago, the Democratic radio address was delivered by a 12-year old Maryland boy named Graeme Frost.  Graeme told his story of being involved in a severe car accident three years ago …

Democrats Seem Ready to Extend Wiretap Powers  —  Two months after insisting that they would roll back broad eavesdropping powers won by the Bush administration, Democrats in Congress appear ready to make concessions that could extend some crucial powers given to the National Security Agency.

Fairness Doctrine Makes No Sense in Today's World  —  [NOTE: The American Spectator reports this chilling news: … This news about Democrats trampling on the First Amendment for political purposes ties into Fred's latest commentary.  -Sean]  —  Whether it's the situation in Iraq …

Obama's energy proposal  —  Barack Obama is going to unveil the details of his energy plan today.  I haven't seen a copy of the speech or the plan yet, so all I have to go on is the reporting, which is just ... awful.  I can't decide which is worse, the L.A. Times, Reuters, or AP.

DAN RATHER VOWED TO LEAK BUSH GUARD DOCS TO NEW YORK TIMES — IF CBS SPIKED  —  Former CBSNEWS anchor Dan Rather pressured CBS to air the failed Bush/National Guard story in September 2004, Howard Kurtz reports in his new blockbuster book: REALITY SHOW: INSIDE THE LAST GREAT TELEVISION NEWS RACE.

Buyout Firms to Avoid a Tax Hike  —  Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) has told private-equity firms in recent weeks that a tax-hike proposal they have spent millions of dollars to defeat will not get through the Senate this year, according to executives and lobbyists.

Iraq insurgency: People rise against al-Qa'eda  —  Damien McElroy spent a week in the heart of the insurgency in Anbar province in Iraq.  In the second of seven exclusive reports he describes how peace and prosperity have returned to a town formerly riven by sectarian killings.

Iraqi Questions  —  I think Rich Lowry would agree that we both had an informative week in Iraq in and around Baghdad, Anbar, and Diyala.  Many thanks to the efforts of Major Rayburn and Col. McMaster who allowed us to accompany them on their visits in Baghdad, Anbar, and Diyala …

Red Baiting  —  Over on the blog-I-didn't-know-he-had, Roger Cohen shows us all that he's actually the kind of liberal hawk who likes going in for a little McCarthyite red baiting now and again, analogizing my former colleague Mike Tomasky to a Stalin apologist.

Democrats turn to traditional issues  —  Congressional Democrats rode anti-war sentiment to victory last fall — but they are staking their success in the final months of this year's calendar on more traditional domestic issues amid concern that the war may not be the potent political issue it once was by Election Day 2008.

Leak Severed a Link to Al-Qaeda's Secrets  —  Firm Says Administration's Handling of Video Ruined Its Spying Efforts  —  A small private intelligence company that monitors Islamic terrorist groups obtained a new Osama bin Laden video ahead of its official release last month …

Military sees big decline in black enlistees  —  Iraq war cited in 58% drop since 2000  —  WASHINGTON - African-Americans, whose longstanding relationship with the US military helped them prove their abilities and offered a way to get ahead, have turned away from the armed forces …