SHOCK DOCS: THE NEW REPUBLIC 'SHOCK TROOPS' STORY COLLAPSES  —  The DRUDGE REPORT has obtained internal documents from the investigation of THE NEW REPUBLIC'S "Baghdad Diarist", Scott Thomas Beauchamp, an Army private turned war correspondent who reported tales of military malfeasance from the Iraq War front.

Bush is the biggest spender since LBJ  —  WASHINGTON — George W. Bush, despite all his recent bravado about being an apostle of small government and budget-slashing, is the biggest spending president since Lyndon B. Johnson.  In fact, he's arguably an even bigger spender than LBJ.

Obama Camp Says It: He'll Support Filibuster Of Any Bill Containing Telecom Immunity  —  It's official: Obama will back a filibuster of any Senate FISA legislation containing telecom immunity, his campaign has just told Election Central.  The Obama campaign has just sent over the following statement from spokesman Bill Burton:

GOP scores big win with Southwick confirmation  —  Senate Republicans scored a key victory Wednesday with the confirmation of Leslie Southwick to the New Orleans-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit.  —  A united GOP conference convinced enough Democrats to cross party lines …

Lessons of the Dream Act defeat  —  Senate vote reveals staying power of illegal immigration issue  —  WASHINGTON - The Senate rejected Wednesday an attempt to move ahead with a bill to allow illegal immigrants under age 30 to remain in the United States and gain legal status if they attend college or join the military.

FIRST THOUGHTS: WHERE FEW DARE TO GO  —  From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Julia Steers  —  *** Where few dare to go: Over the past 10 months, the national media have reported on almost every angle possible in this presidential race, especially as it relates to Hillary Clinton.

O'Reilly: J.K. Rowling Is A 'Provocateur' For 'The Gay Agenda' Of 'Indoctrination'  —  Last Friday, Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling revealed that one of the central characters in the series, Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore, was gay.  Though Rowling says her books are a …

Comedian Colbert Reaches Double Digits As Third-Party Candidate  —  Comedian Stephen Colbert is not a threat to win the presidency, but the odds are that that his satire will win plenty of laughs and maybe even some votes.  —  A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that Colbert …

Brownie: Bush not doing heckuva job on fires  —  President Bush isn't doing a heck of a job balancing National Guard call-ups to Iraq with states' needs back home - and that's crimping the government response to the California wildfires, according to the man who took the blame for the botched federal reaction to Hurricane Katrina.

MEDIA MYTHS ABOUT THE JENA 6  —  A local journalist tells the story you haven't heard.  —  Republish  —  JENA, LA. - By now, almost everyone in America has heard of Jena, La., because they've all heard the story of the "Jena 6."  White students hanging nooses barely punished …

Santorum says Islam 'not just something you do on Sunday'  —  A year ago at this time, Rick Santorum was a two-term senator and possible presidential candidate.  Yesterday, he was at Penn State as a guest of David Horowitz, as part of the absurd "Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week."

PROTESTOR ATTACKS CONDOLEEZZA RICE ON CAPITOL HILL  —  WOMAN TRIES TO SMEAR PAINT ON SECRETARY  —  An anti-war protestor, whose hands were painted red to look like blood, stormed up to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as she arrived to testify on Capitol Hill this morning, shouting …

Former Sen. Rick Santorum Gets 'Philadelphia Inquirer' Column  —  NEW YORK A press conference will be held at 1:30 this afternoon at the Philadelphia Inquirer to announce that it has added former Sen. Rick Santorum to its stable of columnists.  —  Also hired is George Curry, the former editor of Emerge magazine.

No Joke: Colbert's Campaign May Run Afoul of Law  —  Campaign Finance Law May Spoil Comedian's Fun  —  Stephen Colbert says his presidential campaign is serious business and the Federal Election Commission may find that's no joke.  (AP)  —  With its snack-food sponsorship …

Fox News: Al Qaeda is causing the CA wildfires.  —  This morning on Fox News, hosts of the show Fox and Friends blamed the wildfires in California on a new culprit: al Qaeda.  They pointed to a 2003 FBI memo, which raised the possibility that al Qaeda may try to set wildfires around the western United States.