Ouch!  Hillary Clinton's softer image is clawed over dumped cat  —  AS THE "first pet" of the Clinton era, Socks, the White House cat, allowed "chilly" Hillary Clinton to show a caring, maternal side as well as bringing joy to her daughter Chelsea.  So where is Socks today?

Gonzales could be prosecuted, McKay says  —  The U.S. Inspector General may recommend criminal prosecution of departed Attorney General Alberto Gonzales at the conclusion of an investigation, possibly as early as next month, the fired former U.S. attorney for Western Washington told a Spokane audience Friday.

Bobby Rises In Louisiana  —  Louisiana elected its governor on the first ballot for the first time in recent memory, and the voters sent a message to the corrupt Democratic machine at the same time.  Bobby Jindal, who narrowly lost a runoff four years ago, becomes the first Indian-American governor …

20/20: The Debate Is Not Over  —  Sorry, libs.  Stossel's gonna getcha!

Zogby Poll: Half Say They Would Never Vote for Hillary Clinton for President  —  Other top tier candidates in both parties win more acceptance; Richardson & Huckabee favored most  —  While she is winning wide support in nationwide samples among Democrats in the race for their party's …

Stephen Colbert On Meet The Press  —  Presidential candidate Stephen Colbert gave an interview to Tim Russert this morning on Meet The Press and in typical Colbert fashion, he lays out his agenda and plan to lose the race.  Russert questions him, tongue in cheek, on some of the more controversial statements …

SAS raiders enter Iran to kill gunrunners  —  BRITISH special forces have crossed into Iran several times in recent months as part of a secret border war against the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's Al-Quds special forces, defence sources have disclosed.  —  There have been at least half …

Suicide Is Not Painless  —  IT was one of those stories lost in the newspaper's inside pages.  Last week a man you've never heard of — Charles D. Riechers, 47, the second-highest-ranking procurement officer in the United States Air Force — killed himself by running his car's engine in his suburban Virginia garage.

Kristol: Iran Is 'The Only Real Threat' To Success In Iraq  —  Today, on Fox News Sunday, Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol declared that the U.S. was close to victory in the Iraq war, arguing that the "only" concern left for the U.S is dealing with alleged Iranian involvement in Iraq:

The real war on children  —  On Thursday, Congress attempted to override President Bush's veto of the SCHIP expansion.  SCHIP?  Isn't that something to do with health care for children?  Absolutely.  And here is Bay Area Democratic Rep. Pete Stark addressing the issue with his customary forensic incisiveness:

Line-Item Foolishness  —  Mitt Romney is an intelligent man who sometimes seems eager to find bushel baskets under which to hide his light.  Romney faults Rudy Giuliani for opposing the presidential line-item veto.  But Giuliani doesn't, unfortunately.  The facts — not that they loom large in this skirmish — are:

Time to end the charade  —  Every American president, beginning with Richard Nixon in the aftermath of the June 1967 Arab-Israeli war, has been tempted with the idea of an international conference on the Middle East for negotiating the final comprehensive settlement of the long festering conflict between Arabs and Jews.

Toward A New Conservatism?  —  A reader writes a long email on the strange overlaps and confluences of this moment in American and global politics.  My own thoughts and allegiances are in transition, which can make for some provisional confusion.  But I'd rather foster confusion on a real …

Cleanup Hitters Needed!  ("Can't Anyone Here Play This Game?"  Edition)  —  Encarta: … The Democratic Party is like the 1962 New York Mets.  Winning is not an option.  Facing the worst, and most unpopular President of all time (save only Nixon as he circled the drain) …

PM: Israel won't ignore Fatah plot to attack my convoy  —  Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Sunday that Israel would "not look the other way" on a plot by a terrorist cell from Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah faction to attack his convoy this past summer in the West Bank city of Jericho.