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WASHINGTON -- The last time the Dow Jones industrial average closed at a record high, America was living in a giddy economic era when good times and budget surpluses seemed as if they might continue indefinitely. It was Jan. 14, 2000, the start of another year, another century and another millennium. The economy was roaring along. The jobless rate was a low 4 percent. The "new economy" of young entrepreneurs energized markets with new tech companies that didn't turn a profit. Nobody seemed to care, and excesses piled on top of excesses.

When I first saw this article this morning, I asked my daughter to pinch me. But, it was still there. I then asked her to slap me. No change. Finally, smelling salts. Alas, it was still on my computer screen, and from the Washington Post no less: “The Redder They Are, The Harder They Fall; Republicans More Damaged by Scandals.”

Some common threads seem to link two men, both in terms of their rise to power and their views on religion, state The speeches and interviews occurring this week at the United Nations general assembly have drawn global attention to the halls of the UN. But truly at the centre of the controversy are two men, Iranian President Ahmadinejad and U.S. President Bush. Both are highly controversial in their home countries and abroad, and would at first glance seem to be polar opposites. Yet, some common threads seem to link the two men – both in terms of their rise...

The Fitzpatrick Plame investigation has spurred the New York Times into examining how their reporters conduct themselves. Apparently, the Gray Lady wants her staff to act more like terrorists and drug dealers. Reporters are being told to delete emails, destroy notes, and use disposable cell phones in order to stymie future investigations.

WASHINGTON – Vice President Dick Cheney offered a veiled attack Sunday on critics of the administration's Iraq policy, saying the domestic debate over the war is emboldening adversaries who believe they can undermine the resolve of the American people. "They can't beat us in a stand-up fight – they never have – but they're absolutely convinced they can break our will, that the American people don't have the stomach for the fight," Mr. Cheney said on NBC's Meet the Press. The vice president said U.S. allies in Afghanistan and Iraq have doubts that America will finish the job there. "And...

Hezbollah guerrillas also endanger U.N. troops by systematically setting up rocket launches alongside U.N. bases, either in the hope that Israel will think twice before firing back, or with the cynical aim of generating bad publicity for Israel by enticing it to bomb peacekeeping troops. They had sidled up to the U.N. bases to strike Israel at least four times in 24 hours this week, officials here said.

It is common now to charge that the invasion of Iraq was a moment where America's ambitions surpassed its abilities. Various articles have surfaced of late declaring that even President George W. Bush may be grasping the folly of his ways. A great deal of attention earlier this month focused on a Time magazine cover story declaring "The End of Cowboy Diplomacy." The July/August issue of Foreign Affairs contains a piece entitled "The End of the Bush Revolution," as well as an essay by Joseph Nye proclaiming that the Bush Administration's transformational foreign policy is unlikely to survive. But has...

Ledeen, author of the book, The Terror Masters, said the appeasement policy is being implemented by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who has gone so far as to undermine the effort of Senate conservatives, led by Senator Rick Santorum, to put some financial resources into a pro-democracy movement in Iran that could threaten the power of the ruling Mullahs. In order to derail Santorum's amendment, Ledeen said, Rice appealed to Senator Joseph Biden, ranking Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, and told him that such a move might undermine negotiations with Tehran.

WACO, Texas - Cindy Sheehan and four other war protesters filed a lawsuit Friday challenging roadside camping and parking bans near President Bush's Crawford ranch. Sheehan, who lives in Berkeley, Calif., was in Waco to file the case, which asks that the ordinances not be enforced during protests in August and ultimately be declared void. The suit, filed in state district court, was filed against McLennan County, the sheriff and county commissioners. Sheehan, whose oldest son Casey was killed in Iraq in 2004, reinvigorated the anti-war movement last summer with her peace vigil — dubbed "Camp Casey" — that started...

Economy Zips Ahead at a 5.6 Percent Pace Jun 29 8:45 AM US/Eastern Email this story By JEANNINE AVERSA AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON The economy sprang out of a year-end rut and zipped ahead in the opening quarter of this year at a 5.6 percent pace, the fastest in 2 1/2 years and even stronger than previously thought. The new snapshot of gross domestic product for the January-to-March period exceeded the 5.3 percent growth rate estimated a month ago, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. The upgraded reading _ based on more complete information _ matched economists' forecasts. The stronger GDP...

In the wake of the decision by the New York Times to reveal covert tactics used by our nation to track terrorist financing as a means of defeating them, Bill Keller offered the following as part of his explanation: Since September 11, 2001, our government has launched broad and secret anti-terror monitoring programs without seeking authorizing legislation and without fully briefing the Congress. Most Americans seem to support extraordinary measures in defense against this extraordinary threat, but some officials who have been involved in these programs have spoken to the Times about their discomfort over the legality of the government's...

WASHINGTON - The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee called Sunday for criminal prosecution of The New York Times, saying its report Friday on government surveillance of confidential banking records "compromised America's anti-terrorist policies." Interviewed on Fox News Sunday, Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., accused the newspaper of compromising national security when it exposed a Treasury Department program that attempts to track terrorist financing by secretly monitoring worldwide money transfers. The program, instituted after the Sept. 11 attacks, bypasses safeguards put in place to prevent government abuse.Similar reports were published the same day by other media outlets. "By disclosing this...

On Fox right now

NOW: Nothing in the report points to a "knowing cover-up" of the facts BEFORE:"There has to have been a coverup of this thing," Rep. John P. Murtha "No question about it."

WASHINGTON - A jury Tuesday convicted a former Bush administration official of four counts of lying and obstructing justice in the first trial to be held in connection with the influence-peddling scandal of lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Tuesday's news that presidential adviser Karl Rove won't face prosecution lifted a cloud over the White House and gave President Bush another reason to hope that his worst days are behind him. As Bush basked in cheers from U.S. troops during a secret visit to Baghdad, his closest adviser was back at work in the White House free from worry about a possible indictment in the CIA leak case. All in all, it was another good day for the president, who finally has a few reasons to celebrate after a long string of setbacks that battered his popularity. The developments...

A picture is worth a thousand words. It seems to me that this is another red x moment from CNN.

US President George W. Bush isn't known for his willingness for giving interviews, but he recently sat down with German TV presenter Sabine Christiansen for 30 minutes. He answered her questions readily -- but also showed that he's become little more than a spectator of his own political decline. A man and a woman sit in front of an unlit fireplace in the White House. The woman is Germany's most well known TV presenter. The man is the most powerful man in the world -- or at least that's how he's introduced before the interview begins. And yet what we're...