My Plan for Iraq  —  THE call by Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki for a timetable for the removal of American troops from Iraq presents an enormous opportunity.  We should seize this moment to begin the phased redeployment of combat troops that I have long advocated …

David Remnick On That New Yorker Cover: It's Satire, Meant To Target “Distortions And Misconceptions And Prejudices” About Obama  —  Earlier today, the New Yorker released its cover for the July 21, 2008 issue — and the reaction was swift and furious.  —  The cover by Barry Blitt, called …

AP Stringer Stands by as Taliban Murder 2 Women, Gets Snuff Footage [UPDATE: Worse than Bilal Hussein!]  [UPDATE: Confirmed: Took Video of Murder]  —  AP photographer Rahmatullah Naikzad was a witness to a Taliban murder.  The two women were alleged to have been prostitutes who served Western clientèle.

Is Fournier saving or destroying the AP?  —  Ron Fournier says he regards Sandy Johnson, his predecessor as head of The Associated Press's Washington bureau, as “a mentor.”  —  Johnson, though, regards Fournier, who replaced her in a hard-feelings shake-up in May, as a threat …

Terrorist Watch List Hits One Million Names  —  ACLU launches online watch list complaint form  —  Contact: (202) 675-2312 or media@dcaclu.org  —  WASHINGTON, DC - The nation's terrorist watch list has hit one million names, according to a tally maintained by the American Civil Liberties Union based upon …

McCain's Hillary Problem  —  He's running her same campaign.  And she lost.  —  Feel free to tell me I'm nuts for asking the question, but doesn't it seem that, more and more, the McCain campaign is turning into the Clinton campaign?  —  The comparison smacked me upside the head last week …

DO YOUR JOB: STOP IGNORING SCHEUNEMANN'S PAST  —  As you can see, the McCain campaign is moving ahead with a new stab-in-the-back style attack on Obama over Iraq.  But as Team McCain is raising the volume on these slash-and-burn style attacks, it's time for some coverage of the guy who's McCain's brain on Iraq.

McLaughlin takes heat for ‘Oreo’ comment  —  (CNN) — Longtime Washington talk-show host John McLaughlin is facing fire Monday for referring to Barack Obama as an “Oreo” during a segment on his Sunday political program, “The McLaughlin Group.  —  The veteran Washington journalist was discussing …

McCains to Profit on Anheuser, InBev Deal  —  T. W. Farnam reports on the presidential race.  —  Cindy McCain, wife of Republican presidential candidate John McCain, is set to get a huge payout from the sale of Anheuser-Busch Cos., brewer of Budweiser and hundreds of other brands, to Belgian beverage giant InBev NV.

Citigroup's $1.1 Trillion of Mysterious Assets Shadows Earnings  —  At an investor presentation in May, Citigroup Inc. Chief Executive Officer Vikram Pandit said shrinking the bank's $2.2 trillion balance sheet, the biggest in the U.S., was a cornerstone of his turnaround plan.

Clinton supporters want floor vote  —  It ain't over 'til the fat lady sings.  — Dan Cook  —  Operation Chaos may not yet have finished, according to CQ Politics.  While Hillary Clinton negotiates for a place of honor at the convention, some of her followers have a more important role in mind for her.

McCain's Perez Hilton Problem  —  It's no secret that last week was not a good one for John McCain.  His old friend, Phil Gramm, demonstrated such a sad case of foot in mouth disease with his “mental recession” line that it was almost as though Gramm was acting as an Obama campaign covert operative.

The Surprising Closeness of the Contest  —  Despite a general sentiment that John McCain's campaign has gone through an extremely difficult — and disorganized — past month, a series of recent polls suggest that the Arizona senator remains within striking distance of Barack Obama with less …

Morning Bell: The Left's Crony Capitalism Exposed  —  In 2004, after a tip from a whistle blower who was later fired, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (Ofheo) issued a report finding that the government-sponsored entity Fannie Mae had engaged in Enron-like accounting machinations …

Bush lifts oil drilling ban, wants Congress to act  —  WASHINGTON - President Bush on Monday lifted an executive ban on offshore oil drilling and challenged Congress to follow suit, aiming to turn the enormous public frustration about gasoline prices into political leverage.

Election 2008: Michigan Presidential Election  —  Michigan: Obama's Lead Grows to 8%  —  Barack Obama has more than doubled his lead over John McCain to eight percentage points in the economic battleground state of Michigan, with much of his new support coming from voters who have moved away from the Republican hopeful.

Taliban Breached NATO Base in Deadly Clash  —  KABUL, Afghanistan — The Taliban insurgents who attacked a remote American-run outpost near the Pakistan border on Sunday numbered nearly 200 fighters, almost three times the size of the allied force, and some breached the NATO compound …

POLITICS AND POWER  —  Yet another member of John McCain's presidential campaign is stepping down after coming under scrutiny for shady business dealings.  McCain finance co-chair and former New Jersey congressman Jim Courter, chief executive of telecom corporation IDT …

Iglesias: Ashcroft Was ‘Pushed Out’ Because He ‘Refused To Sign Off On The Warrantless Wiretaps’  —  In March 2004, then-acting Attorney General James Comey refused to sign an order extending President Bush's warrantless domestic spying program “amid concerns about its legality and oversight.”