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 …

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.

Bar low for Thompson as debate looms  —  All he has to do is not fall asleep.  —  All he has to do is not throw up.  —  All he has to do is not drool.  —  Has there ever been a major presidential candidate with lower expectations on the eve of his first debate than Fred Thompson?

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.

He's back: Sandy Berger now advising Hillary Clinton  —  WASHINGTON (Map, News) - Sandy Berger, who stole highly classified terrorism documents from the National Archives, destroyed them and lied to investigators, is now an adviser to presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Bill Kristol's Favorite Bible Verse  —  Hard to parody: … Is this supposed to be a joke?  And then this remarkable passage from Clarence Thomas's book that Kristol finds instructive.  It refers to Thomas's grandfather's unbounded affection for his great-grandson, Jamal, in contrast to the way he had brought up Thomas himself:

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 …

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.

Have Mercy, Have Mercy!  —  It may be a first.  Castration via live satellite hook up.  —  This morning, tough guy Joe Scarborough unloaded on "Iraqi losers" for complaining about Blackwater for blowing away so many Iraqi civilians.  —  Moments later, Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) comes on the show and sends Scarborough scurrying for cover.

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.