Purely foolish Democrats  —  Sen. Joe Lieberman's irritating, but his enemies in the party are worse.  —  NED LAMONT'S challenge to Sen. Joe Lieberman in next month's Connecticut primary has blossomed into a full-scale Democratic civil war.  What's at stake is the legitimacy of partisanship.

Hatemania!  Goldstein's stalker wants right-wingers' heads cracked (Update: PW hit with another DOS)  —  Quoting another brave, plain-speaking truthteller.  In fairness, they don't seem too adamant about bludgeoning; the main thing is having us put down like "rabid animals," so presumably injections would be okay.

Italy Beats France for 4th World Cup Title  —  Italy let France do nearly anything it wanted Sunday, except win the World Cup.  That belongs to the Azzurri, 5-3 in a shootout after a 1-1 draw.  —  Outplayed for an hour and into extra time, the Italians won it after French captain Zinedine Zidane …

One Hug at a Time  —  John Edwards is back-with a retooled résumé and a lot of love for Iowans.  —  July 17, 2006 issue - It's Friday night in Iowa and an old politician is trying some new tricks.  John Edwards is back-back, with the familiar deep drawl, dark tan and honeyed hair.

What's an Iraqi Life Worth?  —  In Iraq, lives differ in value — and so do deaths.  In this disparity lies an important reason why the United States has botched this war.  —  Last November in Haditha , a squad of Marines, outraged at the loss of a comrade, is said to have run amok …

What Chief Justice Roberts Forgot in His First Term: Judicial Modesty  —  At the confirmation hearings for John Roberts, there were two theories about what kind of a chief justice he would be.  His critics maintained that he was an extreme conservative whose politics would drive his legal rulings.

The Things We Think We Know, II: How our media successfully mislead even the wisest among us and how to see through the shadows to understand Mexico  —  For authentic journalists, Mexico's post-electoral conflict is one of those gigantic news stories that happens few times in the course of a lifetime …

This Race Brought To You By Texas Democrats  —  Thanks to an ill-considered lawsuit by Texas Democrats, Tom DeLay may wind up running for office to regain the seat he just resigned in Congress: … The Democrats sued to keep DeLay's name on the Texas ballot after his resignation …

SECRET WAR VS. EVIL KIM  —  TARGETING NUKES  —  July 9, 2006 — SEOUL, South Korea - A program of covert action against nuclear and missile traffic to North Korea and Iran is to be intensified after last week's missile tests by the North Korean regime.  —  Intelligence agencies …

Presidential Pardons And Presidential Connections  —  Another of Bill Clinton's presidential pardons has been shown to have financial connections to the Clinton family.  The Washington Times reports that Anthony Rodham, Hillary Clinton's brother, got six-figure "loans" on which he never …

New York Times' David Brooks Again Slams Daily Kos and Netroots  —  David Brooks of the New York Times has been on a quite an anti-liberal blogosphere roll of late.  After eviscerating Markos Moulitsas Zuniga - the proprietor of the Daily Kos - in a June 25 op-ed entitled "Respect Must be Paid For …

Death trap  —  Christina Lamb has spent 20 years covering Afghan wars and was lucky to escape with her life after a firefight 10 days ago.  Afghanistan is littered with the debris of invading empires - so why do we refuse to learn from history?  —  When you twice stare death in the face …