Dems consider ousting Byrd as appropriations chair  —  A group of Senate Democrats has begun quietly exploring ways to replace the venerable Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) as chairman of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, believing he's no longer physically up to the job …

The Obama-Clinton Issue  —  Hillary Clinton has been a much better senator than Barack Obama.  She has been a serious, substantive lawmaker who has worked effectively across party lines.  Obama has some accomplishments under his belt, but many of his colleagues believe that he has not bothered …

In N.H., the Swing Voter Is Vanishing  —  More Partisanship Seen Among 'Independents'  —  CONCORD, N.H. — As Sen. John McCain, a Republican running for president, touted the endorsement Monday of Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman, a maverick Democrat-turned-independent, it seemed designed to capture …

Border Patrol fights back  —  After hundreds of attacks in a year, agency responds with tear gas  —  SAN DIEGO - The Border Patrol says its agents were attacked nearly 1,000 times during a one-year period along the Mexican border, typically by assailants hurling rocks, bottles and bricks.

Stay Classy, Bob Kerrey  —  It's hard to express how odious I find Bob Kerrey.  His behavior as a Senator was entirely discreditable, and it's hard to see that he's done anything good in his life in non-Senator roles.  Keeping it up, he's now following up on his "Barack Hussein Obama" …

FBI, CIA Debate Significance of Terror Suspect  —  Agencies Also Disagree On Interrogation Methods  —  Al-Qaeda captive Abu Zubaida, whose interrogation videotapes were destroyed by the CIA, remains the subject of a dispute between FBI and CIA officials over his significance as a terrorism suspect …

Does Our Looks-Obsessed Culture Want to Stare at an Aging Woman?  —  BEGIN TRANSCRIPT  —  RUSH: Now, this theory of mine based on this Drudge picture of Mrs. Clinton, with the headline: "The Toll of a Campaign."  Now, it could well be that that's a sympathy photo, too, to make people feel sorry for how tough the campaign trail is.

How High is Up?  The Defense Budget gets even crazier  —  For those of you concerned about the state of US security—levees that don't collapse, for example, or bridges that don't fall into the Mississippi river, sit down before you see these numbers.  —  Last week, both houses …

Jet From Supermassive Black Hole Seen Blasting Neighboring Galaxy  —  A jet of highly charged radiation from a supermassive black hole at the center of a distant galaxy is blasting another galaxy nearby — an act of galactic violence that astronomers said yesterday they have never seen before.

Canada's Human Rights Nightmare  —  Yesterday I worried over the lack of any defense of Mark Steyn, or any criticism of Canada's abusive so-called human rights commissions, in Canada's National Post.  Today, I m delighted to discover Ezra Levant's, "Censorship in the name of 'human rights …

MIKE EYES '08 TEAM  —  AIDES SOUND OUT ADVISERS FOR RUN  —  Mayor Bloomberg's aides have been reaching out to consultants from his past campaigns about whether they are free for a possible 2008 White House bid - including one who helped make his slick mayoral TV spots, The Post has learned.