Too Bad  —  President Bush has torn the conservative coalition asunder.  —  What political conservatives and on-the-ground Republicans must understand at this point is that they are not breaking with the White House on immigration.  They are not resisting, fighting and thereby setting …

Top Bush Aide Leaving White House  —  WASHINGTON — Dan Bartlett, one of President Bush's most trusted advisers and his longest-serving aide, said Friday he is resigning to begin a career outside of government.  —  The move was announced on Bartlett's 36th birthday.

Aide Says Edwards Misspoke on Reading Classified Iraq Report  —  Former Senator John Edwards, a Democratic presidential candidate, told an interviewer on Wednesday that he had read the classified October 2002 National Intelligence Estimate before voting to authorize force in Iraq, but his campaign retracted the statement yesterday.

RNC faces donor falloff, fires solicitors  —  The Republican National Committee, hit by a grass-roots donors' rebellion over President Bush's immigration policy, has fired all 65 of its telephone solicitors, The Washington Times has learned.  —  Faced with an estimated 40 percent falloff …

One Place Where Obama Goes Elbow to Elbow  —  Last Christmas, Senator Barack Obama flew to Hawaii to contemplate a presidential bid in the peace of his childhood home.  But there, on a humid playground near Waikiki Beach, he found himself being roughed up by some of his best friends.

Sunni Insurgents Battle in Baghdad  —  Residents of Western Neighborhood Join Groups' Fight Against Al-Qaeda in Iraq  —  Sunni residents of a west Baghdad neighborhood used assault rifles and a roadside bomb to battle the Sunni insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq this week …

Senate Panel Questions C.I.A. Detentions  —  The Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday questioned the continuing value of the Central Intelligence Agency's secret interrogation program for terrorism suspects, suggesting that international condemnation and the obstacles it has created …

Get in Line, Einstein  —  Beware legislative behemoths.  Beware "comprehensive immigration reform."  Any bill that is 380 pages long is bound to have nooks and crannies reflecting private deals, quiet paybacks and ad hoc arrangements that you often don't learn about until it's too late.

Kyl Unmasked as 'Senator Secrecy' on FOIA Reform; Defends Big Government's First Line of Defense  —  Sen. Jon Kyl, R-AZ, has conceded that he is the senator behind the secret hold on the proposed Open Government Reform Act of 2007, which would provide much-needed improvements in the federal Freedom of Information Act.

Shays, Lieberman: Please stop talking  —  Maybe Messrs.  Shays and Lieberman can clear up a few things.  —  Those two esteemed congressional representatives are recently back from trips to the never-ending war in Iraq, but neither of them seems especially downbeat.

Administration Rebukes Putin on His Policies  —  A top Russia expert at the State Department issued an unusually sharp public criticism on Thursday of Moscow's behavior under President Vladimir V. Putin, describing the Kremlin as bullying its neighbors while silencing political opponents and suppressing individual rights at home.