Leading Democrat in Senate Tells Reporters, 'This War Is Lost'  —  As Congressional Democrats sought to reconcile their differences and send an Iraq spending bill to the White House, Senator Harry Reid, the majority leader, said Thursday that "this war is lost," a stark assessment …

Training Iraqi troops no longer driving force in U.S. policy  —  WASHINGTON - Military planners have abandoned the idea that standing up Iraqi troops will enable American soldiers to start coming home soon and now believe that U.S. troops will have to defeat the insurgents and secure control of troubled provinces.

Maybe Gonzales Won't Recall His Painful Day on the Hill  —  Alberto Gonzales's tenure as attorney general was pronounced dead at 3:02 p.m. yesterday by Tom Coburn, M.D.  —  The good doctor, who also happens to be a Republican member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, made this clinical judgment …

A HERO IS LAID TO REST  —  The funeral of Professor Liviu Librescu, who gave his life to save his students at VA Tech, took place this morning.  PJM Tel Aviv editor Allison Kaplan Sommer was there.  —  The Middle Eastern sun shone bright in the cemetery where Professor Liviu Librescu …

Radio host Michael Smerconish to be simulcast on MSNBC in place of Imus  —  According to an April 20 article on Philly.com, the website of The Philadelphia Inquirer, "The Big Talker 1210 AM morning show of Daily News columnist Michael Smerconish is to be simulcast Monday through Wednesday on MSNBC."

'I found Saddam's WMD bunkers'  —  It's a fair bet that you have never heard of a guy called Dave Gaubatz.  It's also a fair bet that you think the hunt for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq has found absolutely nothing, nada, zilch; and that therefore there never were any WMD programmes …

Three days after guilty plea, Griles ties the knot  —  Two Bush administration officials who have been linked in scandal are now linked in wedlock.  —  The union of former Deputy Interior Secretary J. Steven Griles and Sue Ellen Wooldridge could have implications for the investigation into Griles's ties to ex-lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

PRESS GAGGLE  —  MS. PERINO: I have a few things to announce, and I also have the week ahead, which is kind of lengthy, so we'll do that at the end, okay?  —  This morning — the President taped his radio address this morning.  This topic is the tragic shootings that occurred at Virginia Tech this week.

Impeachment Fever Rises  —  When Nancy Pelosi announced last fall that impeachment was "off the table," official Washington accepted that the primary avenue for holding lawless Presidents to account had been closed off by the new Speaker of the House.  But the Republic's citizenry has not been so inclined.

Times Co., Gannett and Tribune Co. Report Declines  —  Buffeted by an ongoing advertising recession, The New York Times Company and the Gannett Company announced yesterday that their first-quarter profits declined while the Tribune Company reported a loss.  —  The disappointing results underscored …

Fauxtography at CBC: Global Warming  —  The CBC decides to add some dramatic effect to a story about global warming by changing the coloration this picture of the Toronto skyline.  And they didn't even bother to change the file name from the original.  Oh, and those smokestacks?  Torn down in 2006.

MONOPOLY ON THE USE OF FORCE: I was corresponding with a friend of mine — a very smart fellow, and a lawyer and a journalist — about concealed carry for university professors.  He disagreed with my view, and as best I can tell in general was skeptical about laws allowing concealed carry in public.

'Devastating' Moyers Probe of Press and Iraq Coming  —  NEW YORK (Commentary) The most powerful indictment of the news media for falling down in its duties in the run-up to the war in Iraq will appear next Wednesday, a 90-minute PBS broadcast called "Buying the War," which marks the return of "Bill Moyers Journal."