The Bush Paradox  —  Let's go back and consider how the world looked in the winter of 2006-2007.  Iraq was in free fall, with horrific massacres and ethnic cleansing that sent a steady stream of bad news across the world media.  The American public delivered a stunning electoral judgment …

A new Imus controversy?  —  On “Imus in the Morning” Monday, the controversial radio host Don Imus — who was fired last year for making racist and sexist remarks about the Rutgers University women's basketball team — made a racially freighted comment about another African-American athlete.

IDF soldier dies from self-inflicted gunshot at Sarkozy farewell  —  An Israeli soldier on the perimeter of a farewell airport ceremony for French President Nicolas Sarkozy apparently shot himself on Tuesday in a incident that did not endanger the visiting leader, Israel Radio said.

Hoyer hails FISA bill as “a significant victory for the Democratic Party”  —  Just as Nancy Pelosi ran to Time to justify her support for the FISA bill, Steny Hoyer yesterday spuoted his justifications to The Politico and said this: … In other words, Democrats achieved a “significant victory” …

Government Study Criticizes Bush Administration's Measures of Progress in Iraq  —  Beyond the declines in overall violence in Iraq, several crucial measures the Bush administration uses to demonstrate economic, political and security progress are either incorrect or far more mixed …

Dobson accuses Obama of ‘distorting’ Bible  —  COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — As Barack Obama broadens his outreach to evangelical voters, one of the movement's biggest names, James Dobson, accuses the likely Democratic presidential nominee of distorting the Bible and pushing a “fruitcake interpretation” of the Constitution.

Terror Strike Would Help McCain, Top Adviser Says  —  A top adviser to Sen. John McCain said that a terrorist attack in the United States would be a political benefit to the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, a comment that was immediately disputed by the candidate and denounced by his Democratic rival.

Obama Apology to Muslim Women Orchestrated by Muslim U.S. House Rep.  —  An apology issued by Barack Obama to two Muslim women booted from the front lines of a public appearance by the Democratic presidential candidate last week was orchestrated by Rep. Keith Ellison, the first Muslim ever elected to Congress.

Report Says Partisanship Reigned in Justice Department Hiring Program  —  High-ranking political appointees at the Justice Department labored to stock a prestigious hiring program with young conservatives in a five-year-long attempt to reshape the department's ranks, according to an inspector general's report to be released today.

Obama's Hollywood Night  —  Sugar Ray Leonard and Jennifer Beals are the latest boldfaced names expected on Tuesday afternoon for Barack Obama's fund-raiser at the Los Angeles Music Center.  —  Also on the guest list are Dennis Quaid, Heidi Klum, Sidney Poitier, Cedric the Entertainer …

Clinton to Join Obama As He Courts Female Vote  —  As Hillary Rodham Clinton prepared to return to life in the Senate and announced that she will campaign with Sen. Barack Obama in New Hampshire on Friday, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee began reaching out to female voters …

Impossible: Finding An Expert Who Says McCain's Energy Plan Provides Short-Term Relief  —  Last week, Sen. John McCain reversed his longstanding opposition to offshore drilling.  The Arizona Senator and his campaign surrogates framed the move as a much-needed effort to combat energy costs …

Appeals Court Invalidates Detainee's ‘Enemy’ Status  —  Challenge Is First of Its Kind to Succeed  —  A federal appeals court in Washington has invalidated the Bush administration's finding that a detainee held for more than six years in the Guantanamo Bay military prison in Cuba is an …

What's Obscene?  Google Could Have an Answer  —  Judges and jurors who must decide whether sexually explicit material is obscene are asked to use a local yardstick: does the material violate community standards?  —  That is often a tricky question because there is no simple, concrete way to gauge a community's tastes and values.

You Are Here  —  The PresidentialWatch08 map is composed of the 297 most visible and influential websites and blogs - out of a complete dataset of over 2000 sites - using Linkfluence's proprietary crawl technology.  —  As Ethan Zuckerman writes: “The idea here is to look at linking between political blogs …