Why Is This GOP Strategist Smiling?  —  The day had been full of ominous warnings.  Polls showed the Republicans on the losing side of almost every issue and the 2008 presidential race — and now they're forced to defend a controversial veto of a popular children's health bill.

An Exit Toward Soul-Searching  —  As Bush Staffers Leave, Questions About Legacy Abound  —  It had been four days since Meghan O'Sullivan left her job at the White House.  Just four days since she gave up her Secret Service pass, her classified hard drive and her entree to the president.

FRANK RICH, CLARENCE THOMAS, AND THE MISSOURI ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL: In today's New York Times, Frank Rich has a rather nasty essay that purports to catch Justice Thomas misrepresenting his past.  The specific example is Justice Thomas's first job out of law school in the Missouri Attorney General's Office.

Muslim medical students get picky  —  Some Muslim medical students are refusing to attend lectures or answer exam questions on alcohol-related or sexually transmitted diseases because they claim it offends their religious beliefs.  —  Some trainee doctors say learning to treat the diseases conflicts …

On Torture and American Values  —  Once upon a time, it was the United States that urged all nations to obey the letter and the spirit of international treaties and protect human rights and liberties.  American leaders denounced secret prisons where people were held without charges, tortured and killed.

Charge It to My Kids  —  Every so often a quote comes out of the Bush administration that leaves you asking: Am I crazy or are they?  I had one of those moments last week when Dana Perino, the White House press secretary, was asked about a proposal by some Congressional Democrats to levy …

Medicare Audits Show Problems in Private Plans  —  Tens of thousands of Medicare recipients have been victims of deceptive sales tactics and had claims improperly denied by private insurers that run the system's huge new drug benefit program and offer other private insurance options encouraged …

BUM RUSH  —  HOW THE DEMS PLAN TO TAKE DOWN THEIR REAL OPPONENTS: RUSH AND O'REILLY  —  In the parable of the million monkeys banging on typewriters for a million years, the reward is supposed to be the complete works of Shakespeare.  But have you heard the parable of the million interns?

Petraeus: Iran still fueling war  —  FORWARD OPERATING BASE CALDWELL, Iraq (CNN) — Although America's top general in Iraq called al Qaeda "the wolf closest to the sled," he said sectarian fighting among militias fueled by Iran could be the biggest long-term challenge for Iraq.

Even sprinkler systems fail at U.S. embassy in Baghdad  —  WASHINGTON — The latest problem with the trouble-plagued new U.S. embassy complex in Iraq is that the sprinkler systems meant to contain a fire do not work, according to officials in Congress and the State Department.

Militant atheists are wrong  —  A flurry of literary attacks on God may also be closing the book on imagination.  —  Voltaire famously quipped that if God didn't exist, he would have to be invented.  American publishers would enthusiastically agree because God, it turns out …

Old party soldier takes sides: Fighting then and now  —  Hard to believe your eyes, but there he was looking thinner, frailer and all of his 85 years old.  —  George McGovern, with some effort but nattily-dressed, made his way across an Iowa stage littered with hay bales …

Pelosi prays for Bush to change policies  —  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Sunday that she prays for President Bush to change his policies "all the time" and specifically has prayed for him to sign SCHIP legislation that would expand health insurance for uninsured children.

The snidely liberals won't watch your back  —  When Salman Rushdie was under threat, following the publication of Satanic Verses, the UK government moved to provide him protection - despite his habit of making critical comments about the UK.  Not everyone was so keen about Salman though.