Key Iraqi Leaders Deliver Setbacks to U.S.  —  Premier Rejects Terms of Proposed Pacts; Cleric Reactivates Militia  —  The Bush administration's Iraq policy suffered two major setbacks Friday when Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki publicly rejected key U.S. terms for an ongoing military presence …

Obama brings a gun to a knife fight  —  The McCain campaign and RNC are pouncing on another line from the Obama pool report:  —  “If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun,” Obama said in Philadelphia last night.  “Because from what I understand, folks in Philly like a good brawl.

Chris Matthews' Russert Eulogy: Like a Belch in Church  —  Chris Matthews' initial reaction to the death of colleague Tim Russert can be summed like this: Bush lied.  People died.  —  Yes, MSNBC's Chris Matthews found a way to use even the death of a beloved journalist …

Delegate's reversal stuns party  —  Wisconsin Democrat now publicly supports McCain  —  Washington - As an avid supporter of Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Democratic primaries, Debra Bartoshevich is not alone in her frustration over Clinton's defeat.  —  She's not alone in refusing to support Barack Obama.

“The Happening”: The Most Morally Abhorrent Film Ever Made (Spoiler Alert)  —  Chris does an admirable (and hilarious) job of tearing apart M. Night Shyamalan's latest crime against cinema, The Happening.  It is incredibly awful, so laughingly bad that at one point during the screening …

ASSIGNMENT DESK: BILL RICHARDSON FOR VP?  —  Make Bill Richardson vice president, or he will kill this child.  Yeeearrgghhh!  —  Ryan asks, “Could you do an evaluation of Richardson for VP?  He seems like an obviously good choice, but there hasn't really been any discussion of him as a nominee.

TIM RUSSERT  —  Our colleague Calvin Trillin once referred to the televised weekend bloviators from Washington as the “Sabbath Gasbags.”  Which was fair up to a point.  Countless cubic feet of hot, polluted air are regularly unleashed into the national atmosphere by politicians and commentators …

“He Was Loving This Election”  —  Back when he was just starting in television — and ever since — but particularly back then, Tim Russert was astounded by the joys of the job.  Early on, he helped arrange an interview with the Pope for the Today Show — and Tim did it up right …

Obama Flip-Flop on Gun Control?  Or New Politics?  Or Both?  —  Barack Obama appeared at a fundraiser in Philadelphia last night where he delivered the following remark: … A couple thoughts from McCain HQ on this.  First, Barack Obama has a long track record as a proponent …

Obama's quandary: Wear a helmet, look dumb or be a role model?  —  Sure, there's world wars and toxic pollution and corruption and Social Security reform and a few other things like trillions of dollars in debt to worry about.  —  But before getting to those easy issues …

It's not race, it's arugula  —  The Weekly Standard's Noemie Emery disputes the media's facile, predictable racial interpretation of Obama's poor showing in Appalachia.  It's not because of race, but rather reflects a deep national divide between action-oriented Jacksonians versus clerical, paper-pushing Brahmins:

Ireland delivers stunning blow to EU  —  The long campaign to forge a new dispensation for the European Union descended into panic and uncertainty yesterday when Ireland turned its back on its 26 EU partners and voted down the Lisbon Treaty.  —  EU leaders in Brussels and governments across the union …

HAPPY 233RD BIRTHDAY, US ARMY!  —  America's Army was founded on June 14th, 1775.  Below is a video from last October about Soldiers and their families:  —  In the video below, the Sergeant Major of the Army, Kenneth Preston, gives a birthday message:  —  Here's a birthday present that the Army got...