Democrat poster-child abuse, the nutroots' pushback, and the continued campaign to silence the Right  —  I received an e-mail from a NYTimes reporter this afternoon: … I gave him these comments: … I also told him this: … Here's the NYTimes story, which actually turned out much fairer and more balanced than I expected.

An Israeli Strike on Syria Kindles Debate in the U.S.  —  A sharp debate is under way in the Bush administration about the significance of the Israeli intelligence that led to last month's Israeli strike inside Syria, according to current and former American government officials.

The Republican Debate  —  The following is a transcript of the Republican Presidential debate in Dearborn, Mich., as provided by the Federal News Service.  —  PARTICIPANTS:  —  FORMER NEW YORK MAYOR RUDY GIULIANI  —  FORMER ARKANSAS GOVERNOR MIKE HUCKABEE  —  FORMER MASSACHUSETTS GOVERNOR MITT ROMNEY

Dead Reverend's Rubber Fetish  —  Autopsy: Pastor found in wet suits after autoerotic mishap  —  An Alabama minister who died in June of "accidental mechanical asphyxia" was found hogtied and wearing two complete wet suits, including a face mask, diving gloves and slippers, rubberized underwear …

Residents of a famously liberal city appear to be changing views  —  San Francisco - the liberal, left-coast city conservatives love to mock - could be undergoing a transformation when it comes to homeless people.  Although the city would still be a poor choice for a pep rally for the war in Iraq …

4 Democrats Pull Out of Michigan Primary  —  Four of the Democratic presidential candidates announced today that they would not take part in the Democratic primary in Michigan, all but ceding the contest in that major battleground state to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, who is ahead in the polls there and is staying in.

Fred Wins, Chris Loses (Update: My Prediction Comes True)  —  The first debate with Fred Thompson was expected to reveal whether the lanky actor had what it takes to make a national run for the office.  Instead, it revealed Chris Matthews as a hack of the first order, one who tried his best to torpedo Thompson — and failed utterly.

From Former Bush Aide, A Candid Assessment Of the GOP Candidates  —  A former adviser to President Bush has a brutally candid analysis of the Republican presidential nomination contest: Fred D. Thompson is the campaign's "biggest dud," Mitt Romney has "a real problem in the South" …

Blogs target jihadis online  —  Ordinary Americans are tracking down U.S. Web sites used by al Qaeda and jihadi sympathizers and then using the Internet to persuade the service providers to snuff out the sites.  —  "I do this because it has to be done," says one blogger who calls himself a …

AP Poll: More see economy as top problem  —  WASHINGTON - A growing number of people say the economy is the nation's top problem, with the less educated among the most worried, an Associated Press-Ipsos poll showed Tuesday.  —  Yet even with a credit crunch and soft housing market …

Why Fight For Anyone's Freedom?  —  In the backlash against President Bush's democracy agenda, conservatives are increasingly taking the lead.  It is inherently difficult for liberals to argue against the expansion of social and political liberalism in oppressive parts of the world — though …

Seven GW students admit to hanging controversial posters  —  A group of seven GW students sent an e-mail to The Hatchet late Tuesday night admitting to hanging hundreds of controversial posters around campus early Monday morning.  —  The students - Adam Kokesh, freshman Yong Kwon …

Generation Q  —  I just spent the past week visiting several colleges — Auburn, the University of Mississippi, Lake Forest and Williams — and I can report that the more I am around this generation of college students, the more I am both baffled and impressed.

Foreclosures Spurring Blight In Central Valley  —  (CBS) MANTECA In the Central Valley community of Manteca, police have a new job: patrolling hundreds of foreclosed houses left empty and abandoned.  They are half million dollar houses, often bought with nothing down, turned into suburban blight.