So How's it Going in Iran?  —  To start with, the BBC, long considered a shill for the regime by most Iranian dissidents, estimates between one and two million Tehranis demonstrated against the regime on Monday.  That's a big number.  So we can say that, at least for the moment, there is a revolutionary mass in the streets of Tehran.

Dave: I Take ‘Full Responsibilty’ For ‘Beyond Flawed’ Palin Joke, and I'm Sorry  —  David Letterman is making a full-throated apology for his controversial joke about Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's daughter.  —  During a taping of tonight's edition of his CBS “Late Show,” Letterman went much further …

ABC TURNS PROGRAMMING OVER TO OBAMA; NEWS TO BE ANCHORED FROM INSIDE WHITE HOUSE  —  On the night of June 24, the media and government become one, when ABC turns its programming over to President Obama and White House officials to push government run health care — a move that has ignited an ethical firestorm!

Obama's Malpractice Gesture  —  President Obama mentioned the medical liability problem yesterday, and it says something about health-care orthodoxies that even this political gesture sent his usual allies into a fluster.  We suppose this is progress — though there's a reason cannier Democrats are smiling.

Calif. Aid Request Spurned By U.S.  —  The Obama administration has turned back pleas for emergency aid from one of the biggest remaining threats to the economy — the state of California.  —  Top state officials have gone hat in hand to the administration, armed with dire warnings of a fast-approaching …

White House officials express concern about Gov. Jon Corzine's re-election bid  —  National Democratic leaders have their eyes on the New Jersey governor's race - and they don't like what they're seeing.  —  With recent polls showing Gov. Jon Corzine falling behind Republican challenger Chris Christie …

CIA Says It Misjudged Role of High-Value Detainee Abu Zubaida, Transcript Shows  —  An al-Qaeda associate captured by the CIA and subjected to harsh interrogation techniques said his jailers later told him they had mistakenly thought he was the No. 3 man in the organization's hierarchy …

As Byrd improves, Democrats fret  —  The health of 91-year-old Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) has been a delicate, often off-limits topic in the Senate — but Democrats, in need of every vote to pass health care and energy reforms, are expressing concerns about his extended hospitalization.

A Bad Call on Gay Rights  —  The Obama administration, which came to office promising to protect gay rights but so far has not done much, actually struck a blow for the other side last week.  It submitted a disturbing brief in support of the Defense of Marriage Act, which is the law that protects …

As Obama Pushes Health Issue, Cost Concerns Arise  —  WASHINGTON — President Obama went before a convention of receptive but wary doctors on Monday to make the economic case for a health care overhaul, both for the nation and for the physicians' own bottom lines.

Social Networks Spread Iranian Defiance Online  —  As the embattled government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad appears to be trying to limit Internet access and communications in Iran, new kinds of social media are challenging those traditional levers of state media control and allowing Iranians …

In reversal, GOP balks at war funding  —  House Republicans are preparing to vote en bloc against the $106 billion war-spending bill, a position once unthinkable for the party that characterized the money as support for the troops.  —  For years, Republicans portrayed the bills funding …

Down Time Rescheduled  —  A critical network upgrade must be performed to ensure continued operation of Twitter.  In coordination with Twitter, our network host had planned this upgrade for tonight.  However, our network partners at NTT America recognize the role Twitter is currently playing as an important communication tool in Iran.

What would have happened if the “Bomb Iran” contingent had its way?  —  (updated below - Update II)  —  I'm going to leave the debate about whether Iran's election was “stolen” and the domestic implications within Iran to people who actually know what they're talking about …

Sebelius: Single-Payer Health Care Not In Plans  —  · As lawmakers on Capitol Hill hammer out legislation to overhaul the nation's health care system this year, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius says that a single-payer option is not on the table.  —  “This is not a trick.