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 …

Report Sees Illegal Hiring Practices at Justice Dept.  —  WASHINGTON — Justice Department officials over the last six years illegally used “political or ideological” factors to hire new lawyers into an elite recruitment program, tapping law school graduates with conservative credentials …

Retiring GOP reps frustrate leadership  —  House Republican leaders might be forgiven for thinking that retiring rank-and-file Republicans would soften the blow caused by their departures by casting some cost-free votes down the party line.  —  But they would be mistaken.

GAO Report Faults Post-'Surge' Planning  —  Lack of Comprehensive Strategy Cited, but Pentagon Study Sees Gains in Iraq  —  The administration lacks an updated and comprehensive Iraq strategy to move beyond the “surge” of combat troops President Bush launched in January 2007 as an 18-month effort …

McCain's Core Advantage  —  In politics, we're having a Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr kind of year.  It was Karr, a French writer, who coined the phrase plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose, which means, as Barack Obama has shown, that the more things change, the more they stay the same.

What's Wrong With the Kansas City Star?  —  A disgraceful contribution from their house cartoonist:

Countdown: Gas Pain, John McCain And The $300 Million Battery  —  Republican Presidential Candidate, John McCain, proposed a gas tax holiday which turned out to be a non-starter with the American people, then he flip flopped on offshore drilling, and now, with his latest proposal to help end …

Imus says he's defending, not offending ‘Pacman’ Jones  —  NEW YORK (CNN) — Radio host Don Imus said Tuesday he was making “a sarcastic point” that police often unfairly target blacks when he asked about Adam “Pacman” Jones' race on his show.  —  Imus, who lost his job last year after comments …

Ad showing men kissing pulled  —  Heinz has withdrawn its Deli Mayo TV ad that featured two men sharing a kiss and apologised to viewers after the advertising regulator received about 200 complaints that it was offensive and inappropriate.  —  The Heinz Deli Mayo ad has been pulled after less …

Are You Experienced?  —  Why a U.S. senator might not trump a state legislator  —  Obama during his days in the Illinois Senate  —  We are in the opening days of a presidential campaign that pits youth against age, the virtues of experience against the freshness and riskiness of the new arrival.

DEMS GIVING MCCAIN A BIG PASS  —  I just saw John McCain very gravely lamenting Barack Obama's decision not to accept public financing for the general election campaign and opining about what it says about Obama's ethics and trustworthiness.  And I must confess that I'm a little confused …

WJC on board — if not enthused just yet  —  Bill Clinton has issued a one-sentence endorsement for Obama via spokesman Matt McKenna:  —  “President Clinton is obviously committed to doing whatever he can and is asked to do to ensure Senator Obama is the next president of the United States,” McKenna said.

Iran's ‘Nightmare Scenarios’ Are Mulled in Washington  —  American Intelligence Analysts Work Overtime as Israel Sends Signals  —  WASHINGTON — An attack on the U.S. 5th Fleet, exploding Saudi oil refineries, and a Hezbollah operation against a soft target in the Americas, Asia, or Europe.

Raise High the Rafters  —  At the Democratic convention, Obama will have to prove he's more than just a brilliant speech giver—by giving the most difficult speech of his meteoric career.  A rhetorical analysis.  —  Barack Obama's upcoming speech at the Democratic National Convention is …