Approval of Congress lowest in a decade  —  Only about a quarter of Americans approve of how it's doing its job, a poll shows; most see 'business as usual.'  —  WASHINGTON — Fueled by disappointment at the pace of change since Democrats assumed the majority on Capitol Hill …

President Bush 'has watch stolen off wrist' during Albanian walkabout  —  Whatever happened to the president's watch?  —  One moment President George W. Bush was glad-handing Albanians on Sunday, proudly sporting a watch with a dark strap on his left wrist.  Moments later, it was gone.

Border Security Can Be Implemented Without Senate Bill  —  Today, nine U.S. Senators wrote a letter to President Bush urging him to fulfill the border security provisions listed in the Senate immigration bill whether the legislation passes or not.  Each border security trigger in the bill …

CAIR membership falls 90% since 9/11  —  Membership in the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has declined more than 90 percent since the 2001 terrorist attacks, according to tax documents obtained by The Washington Times.  —  The number of reported members spiraled …

"TEAR DOWN THIS WALL"  —  Twenty years ago today Ronald Reagan stood in front of the Berlin Wall at the Brandenburg Gate and gave the speech heard 'round the world.  Our friend Peter Robinson was the man who wrote the speech.  He tells the story behind the speech in his terrific book How Ronald Reagan Changed My Life.

Clinton Owes Lead in Poll To Support From Women  —  The consistent lead that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York has maintained over Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois and others in the race for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination is due largely to one factor: her support from women.

McCain camp enters campaign 'dog days'  —  Bracing for a fundraising report at the end of the month that is unlikely to alleviate the headaches that have plagued his campaign, Arizona Sen. John McCain and his top advisers have fashioned a survival plan they hope will steady his GOP nomination run.

David Chase speaks!  —  What do you do when your TV world ends?  You go to dinner, then keep quiet.  Sunday night, "Sopranos" creator David Chase took his wife out for dinner in France, where he's fled to avoid "all the Monday morning quarterbacking" about the show's finale.

Nuremberg prosecutor says Guantanamo trials unfair  —  MIAMI (Reuters) - The U.S. war crimes tribunals at Guantanamo have betrayed the principles of fairness that made the Nazi war crimes trials at Nuremberg a judicial landmark, one of the U.S. Nuremberg prosecutors said on Monday.

In Parting Shot, Blair Calls Press a 'Feral Beast'  —  In the land that produced "Scoop," Evelyn Waugh's novel of journalistic ambition and ineptitude, it would seem unsurprising for politicians to criticize reporters on occasion.  But was it justified, as Prime Minister Tony Blair did today, to call the press a "feral beast"?

Do away with public schools  —  Government is inept at running schools.  It should subsidize education for needy students, then get out of the way.  —  HERE'S A GOOD question for you: Why have public schools at all?  —  OK, cue the marching music.  We need public schools because blah blah blah and yada yada yada.

Bramble ramble: State senator leaves Romney camp, backs McCain for White House  —  Sen. John McCain has a new Utah ally in his race for the presidency - state Senate Majority Leader Curtis Bramble.  —  But this is far from the standard political endorsement.

Mueller Often Uses FBI Jet Bought for Counterterrorism  —  When the FBI asked Congress this spring to provide $3.6 million in the war spending bill for its Gulfstream V jet, it said the money was needed to ensure that the aircraft, packed with state-of-the-art security and communications gear …

Virginia's GOP chairman will serve as Bush counselor  —  Gillespie leaving job to replace Bartlett at White House  —  Edward W. Gillespie will step down as Republican Party of Virginia chairman today to become counselor to President Bush in the White House.

Hamas TV: We have taken over the northern Gaza Strip  —  Hamas launched a full-scale attack Tuesday afternoon against Fatah security bases and positions in Gaza, and succeeded in taking over a number of them, Israel Radio reported.  —  Hamas-affiliated television said that the organization overtook …

U.S. Warns Iraq That Progress Is Needed Soon  —  The top American military commander for the Middle East has warned Iraq's prime minister in a closed-door conversation that the Iraqi government needs to make tangible political progress by next month to counter the growing tide of opposition to the war in Congress.

In Senate Vote, G.O.P. Fights Off Gonzales Rebuke  —  Senate Republicans blocked a symbolic no-confidence vote against Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales on Monday evening, dismissing the measure as an irrelevant gesture, though Democrats had hoped it might intensify pressure on Mr. Gonzales to resign.

Report: Contracting head illegally political  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — The head of the main federal contracting agency, a longtime GOP supporter, should be "punished to the fullest extent" for violating a ban on political advocacy on government time, a watchdog agency concluded.

Politico Hedges Its Bets, Claims Conservatives Will 'Back' And 'Bolt' From Giuliani  —  On May 28, Politico's senior political writer David Paul Kuhn wrote an article with the headline "Social conservatives bite bullet, back Rudy."  Kuhn's lead declared the conservative base was increasingly falling …

YouTube Fuels — and Foils — Campaigns  —  WASHINGTON — For months, the presidential wannabes have been churning out serious, talking-to-the-camera videos for YouTube.  So far, viewers prefer the spontaneous, unauthorized, less flattering fare.  —  Traffic on YouTube related …