House OKs Iraq troop withdrawal bill  —  WASHINGTON - A sharply divided House brushed aside a veto threat Wednesday and passed legislation that would order President Bush to begin withdrawing troops from Iraq by Oct. 1.  The 218-208 vote came as the top U.S. commander in Iraq told lawmakers …

Republicans equal life; Democrats equal death?  —  Olbermann: Rudy Giuliani exploiting fear for power and personal gain  —  SPECIAL COMMENT  —  A special comment about Rudolph Giuliani's remarks at a Lincoln Day dinner in New Hampshire:  —  Since some indeterminable hour between …

House panel votes to subpoena Rice on Iraq  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Democratic lawmakers voted on Wednesday to subpoena Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to testify about administration justifications for the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003.  —  On a party-line vote of 21-10 …

War Bill Passes House, Requiring an Iraq Pullout  —  The House on Wednesday narrowly approved a $124 billion war spending bill that would require American troops to begin withdrawing from Iraq by Oct. 1, setting the stage for the first veto fight between President Bush and majority Democrats.

Supreme Court Revisits Campaign Finance Law  —  The Supreme Court put defenders of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law on the defensive today in a spirited argument that suggested the court could soon open a significant loophole in the measure.  —  At issue is a major provision …

Fox's Gibson: U.S. invasion "unmasked" Iraqis as "knuckle-dragging savages from the 10th century"  —  On the April 23 broadcast of his Fox News Radio show, John Gibson argued that the Iraqi people — whom he described as "knuckle-dragging savages from the 10th century" — are at "fault" for the situation in Iraq.

Big media hide truth about immigration  —  Editor's note: Lou Dobbs' commentary appears weekly on CNN.com.  —  NEW YORK (CNN) — The Bush administration and the leadership of the Democratic Party are preparing to take another legislative leap at imposing a massive illegal alien amnesty on American citizens.

Dean: Bar Media and Candidates Will Talk  —  The head of the Democratic Party said Wednesday that the best way to get presidential candidates to talk frankly about issues is to lock out the media.  —  During the Mortgage Bankers Association conference, a banker expressed frustration …

Petraeus Ex Machina  —  General David Petraeus went to Capitol Hill Wednesday to brief Congress behind closed doors on the progress of the surge.  No word on whether he walked across the Potomac to get there.  —  But given the glowing terms increasingly desperate Republicans have been using …

Court Asked to Limit Lawyers at Guantánamo  —  The Justice Department has asked a federal appeals court to impose tighter restrictions on the hundreds of lawyers who represent detainees at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and the request has become a central issue in a new legal battle over the administration's detention policies.

MC Bush.  —  Today is Africa Malaria Day.  Over one million people die each year from the treatable and preventable disease; 80 percent of the deaths take place in Sub-Saharan Africa.  Today, President Bush called for "a smart and sustained campaign" that involves distributing insecticide-treated bed nets …