Funding the Troops  —  End the war.  Fund the troops.  You can sum up the argument between George W. Bush and the Democratic majorities in Congress in just six words.  Both the House and the Senate have now passed supplemental appropriations that in different ways call for a beginning of an end to our military involvement in Iraq.

Bush reaffirms rejecting timetable  —  Reid spoke a few hours after Bush said he will reject any legislation along the lines of what Democrats will pass.  "I will strongly reject an artificial timetable (for) withdrawal and/or Washington politicians trying to tell those who wear the uniform how to do their job," the president said.

Ever-Larger Media Matt  —  Okay.  The time has come to let you all in on some changes forthcoming soon in my life and on this blog.  Most notably, I'm leaving my job at The American Prospect to take a position at The Atlantic Monthly where my primary responsibility is going to be . . . producing this blog.

Saving the Earth: The Biodiesel Bus Blog  —  Singer Sheryl Crow and environmentalist Laurie David have been traveling across America on a two-week Stop Global Warming College Tour, which winds up today at George Washington University.  Crow and David (co-producer of the documentary …

JESUS WANTS US TO EXPLOIT THIS TRAGEDY  —  Well, it's a free country, so the Reverend Donald Wilmon's American Family Association has the inalienable right to post "The Day They Kicked God Out of the Schools," a video making those old familiar arguments — that school shootings are the fault …

The GOP: Waiting for Him to Walk  —  The President's Old Friend: The A.G.'s poor performance at the hearings cost him support on the Hill  —  The pressure on Alberto Gonzales to resign intensified last week following his daylong grilling before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Finish the Job. 5 Senators Remain.  —  There are only 5 Senators who refuse to state if they have a hold or an objection to S. 223, the campaign finance electronic filing bill.  Let's finish the job and call their offices.  There is no reason remaining for any Senator who does not have a hold …

RE: Kos  —  In my column this week I reported that Kos had bashed Barack Obama for his position on Iraq war funding.  Obama said he was opposed to adding a withdrawal timetable, or deadline, to the next funding bill the Democrats send Bush after he vetoes the current legislation.

'Gated Communities' For the War-Ravaged  —  U.S. Tries High Walls and High Tech To Bring Safety to Parts of Baghdad  —  BAGHDAD — The U.S. military is walling off at least 10 of Baghdad's most violent neighborhoods and using biometric technology to track some of their residents …

Bedlam Revisited  —  Why the Virginia Tech shooter was not committed.  —  I was in graduate school, studying clinical psychology when they began shutting down the asylums.  The place was California, the time was the early 1970s, and "they" were an unprecedented confederation of progressives, libertarians and fiscal conservatives.

Deadlines, War Money and Pork  —  President Bush is taking every opportunity to rail against the troop withdrawal deadlines in the war-spending bills that Congress is readying for passage.  He warns that Congressional attempts to set deadlines will harm the troops in Iraq …

Few Specifics Evident As Padilla Trial Nears  —  Prosecutor Calls Charge 'Hard to Particularize'  —  MIAMI — The trial of Jose Padilla, the "dirty bomber" whose alleged plotting was used to justify extraordinary presidential power, will get underway next month, and the prosecution's case is rich in atmospherics.