After GOP Iraq-Withdrawal Filibuster, Reid Sets Aside Defense Authorization Bill  —  In an in-your-face response to Republicans continuing to block a full Senate vote on withdrawing American troops from Iraq, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) just moments ago set aside …

US: Top al-Qaida in Iraq figure captured  —  BAGHDAD - The U.S. command said Wednesday the highest-ranking Iraqi in the leadership of al-Qaida in Iraq has been arrested, adding that information from him indicates the group's foreign-based leadership wields considerable influence over the Iraqi chapter.

Can Poverty Define John Edwards?  —  "This is the cause of my life," says John Edwards.  "When I die, if I've done something serious to help eradicate poverty, I'll die a happy man."  The candidate and I are riding in a minivan from Youngstown, Ohio to Pittsburgh on Tuesday, Day Two of his …

Flynt Ready to Implicate Another Senator  —  Larry King interviewed Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt last night on how he linked Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) to an alleged prostitution ring.  Flynt now says he's got information linking another U.S. Senator to a sex scandal.

BEST BLOGS BANNED.  TRUTH SILENCED  —  I mentioned earlier on my show that Atlas Shrugs has been banned in the UK and the EU according to Pim's Ghost.  Stranger still, the number of visits to this site generated by google search have all but disappeared in the past couple of days.

Legal odds against Vick just got much longer … A grand jury indicted Atlanta Falcons' quarterback Michael Vick on Tuesday, which at least partially answers one question that has lingered since the news first broke about an alleged dogfighting operation on property owned by Vick in Virginia: Was Vick involved?

Generation Chickenhawk: the Unauthorized College Republican Convention Tour

Obama, Clinton Draw Wall Street Donors Amid Bush Disenchantment  —  Wall Street donors are demonstrating their disenchantment with President George W. Bush and his policies on Iraq and the economy by giving more to Democratic presidential hopefuls Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton than to Republican candidates.

R. Milhous Giuliani  —  With the same rootless confidence that causes people to ignore hurricane warnings, many social conservatives remain in denial about Rudy Giuliani's chances of winning the Republican nomination.  —  But with three debates and eight months as the Republican front-runner under his belt …

WHY SO SECRETIVE?:  —  The Washington Post finally manages to figure out who met with Cheney's secret energy task force in 2001: … None of that is terribly surprising: It's not like anyone thought Cheney was meeting with Green Mountain Energy and Amory Lovins day after day.

Voters unhappy with Bush; Congress: Reuters poll  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Most U.S. voters think the country is on the wrong track and remain deeply unhappy with President George W. Bush and Congress, but still feel good about their finances and optimistic about the future, according to a Reuters/Zogby poll released on Wednesday.

If We Don't Call Them Names, the Terrorists Win  —  After the terrorist near misses in London and Glasgow, British officials did the expected.  They raised their nation's threat-assessment level.  They weighed the balance between civil liberties and new, tougher security measures.

Wash. Post's Murray: GOP won't support Iraq withdrawal because "[t]hey're just not willing to do that to the military"  —  On the July 18 edition of MSNBC Live, during a discussion of Senate Republicans' move blocking an up or down vote on a Democratic amendment aimed at withdrawing troops from Iraq …

Fredo Finally Gives U.S. Attorney a Good Evaluation  —  In the Justice Department's Great Hall (the very room where giant, blue drapes covered the underdressed statuary during John Ashcroft's tenure as attorney general), an array of prosecutors, securities regulators and FBI honchos gathered yesterday …