Palestinian militant leaders rally behind Iran  —  TEHRAN (AFP) - Palestinian militant leaders have rallied behind Iran, vowing to resist pressure to recognise Israel and supporting the Islamic republic in its stand-off with the West over its nuclear programme.

Congress Approval at 12-Year Low  —  Rating slipped four percentage points since March  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Public approval of the job Congress is doing has dipped to its lowest level of 2006, and is now the worst Gallup has recorded since the closing days of the Democratic majority in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1994.

Anger at Bush May Hurt GOP At Polls  —  Intense and widespread opposition to President Bush is likely to be a sharp spur driving voters to the polls in this fall's midterm elections, according to strategists in both parties, a phenomenon that could give Democrats a turnout advantage over Republicans for the first time in recent years.

How to manage illegal immigration  —  Watching the furor over immigration policy during the past week, I felt strangely uninvolved.  I heard the arguments on both sides, I saw the protesters, I read the commentary.  But up here in Minnesota it's not a burning issue, so I've never had to resolve …

Widen The Net  —  Jason Leopold, writing in TruthOut, and Josh Gerstein of the NY Sun both break news in the Plame investigation.  Evidently the State Department was quite casual about Ms. Plame's CIA role, describing her in one set of notes as "CIA WMD managerial type and the wife of Amb.

No indictments in Duke lacrosse case  —  DURHAM — A Durham grand jury issued a list of indictments this afternoon that did not include members of the Duke University lacrosse team.  —  District Attorney Mike Nifong had been widely anticipated to seek charges today from the grand jury …

Blame Builds More Barriers in Immigration Debate  —  Does chutzpah translate into Spanish?  —  It's a reasonable question after the joint statement House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) issued last week about the impasse blocking congressional action …

Why Newt Is So Much Fun to Watch  —  He's older and wiser, but as refreshingly unorthodox as ever  —  "How many of you have ever used an automatic bank machine overseas?"  Newt Gingrich asks, and since this is a pretty affluent New Hampshire audience, a fair number of people raise their hand.

Reporters In Glass Houses  —  From Washington, Page Six Is Just a Stone's Throw Away  —  They traffic in whispered gossip, charming the big shots, working the party circuit.  They gravitate toward boldface names who make good copy.  They reward sources who cooperate and can be rougher on those who don't play the game.

Cartoon Jihad Strikes Down Nashville Blogger  —  Nashville, Tennessee's Bill Hobbs, the Volunteer State's second best known conservative blogger, lost his job at Belmont University for publishing a cartoon featuring Mohammed, alluding to the Danish cartoons which have created an international uproar.

Outrage at Funeral Protests Pushes Lawmakers to Act  —  Members of Westboro Baptist Church demonstrating in February in Anoka, Minn., near the funeral for Cpl. Andrew Kemple, who was killed in Iraq.  People opposed to the church's views carried flags nearby.

Ryan found guilty on all counts  —  Co-defendant Warner also guilty  —  A federal jury convicted former Gov. George Ryan today on all charges that as secretary of state he steered state business to cronies in return for vacations, gifts and other benefits for himself and his family.

Post ombudsman defended editorial's falsehoods as a difference in "views" … In an April 16 column purportedly explaining the inconsistencies between The Washington Post's April 9 editorial titled "A Good Leak" and an article published the same day by staff writers Barton Gellman and Dafna Linzer …

No One Is That Crazy.  Right?  Ummm...right?  —  One thing that strikes me as funny about this whole "let's invade Iran" thing...wait, did I actually just type that?  I'm looking at the desk and I don't see any glass tube with burnt-up brillo pad in it, so I probably didn't just smoke a glittering rock of yeyo.

Neil Young sets his sights on Bush  —  He is country rock's biggest icon, and he is angry.  Recorded in secret, his forthcoming album savages the war in Iraq.  One track says it all: 'Impeach the President'  —  It started as a rumour - gossip shared by fans on internet chat sites.

Washington Whispers  —  Iranian Nukes?  Hey, What's the Rush?  —  The main lesson that the Senate Intelligence Committee drew from the run-up to the Iraq war was that Washington needs intense scrutiny of intelligence on weapons of mass destruction.  So with all the buzz about nukes in Iran …

YES, YES, 'THE GOP IS DOOMED IN NOVEMBER.' SOMEHOW I FEEL LIKE I'VE HEARD THIS BEFORE.  —  I don't doubt that the GOP base is cranky and dissatisfied, and that most Democratic voters are as angry as the lovely lady the Washington Post profiled on Saturday.  —  I look at the Post this morning, and I read: