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NEW YORK – Maxim Magazine’s second "Salute to the Military" special edition features a country music cutie, a seriously hot Marine, and several of the magazine's iconic Hometown Hotties from across this great land of ours. "American Idol" veteran and avid military supporter Kelli Pickler graces the cover, and the magazine's head honcho said choosing the singer was a no brainer. “She is not only beautiful, but she is a USO veteran. She’s been on five tours overseas in the past couple of years," Maxim editor-in-chief Dan Bova told FOX411.com. "She comes from a military family and she has a...

The back-and-forth over Jerome Corsi's book, "The Obama Nation," has been heated, largely unfair to the author, and predictably attacked by alleged "objective" journalists and Democratic mouthpieces (but I repeat myself), as noted by several NewsBusters posters, including Tim Graham (here, here, and here), Geoff Dickens, Mark Finkelstein, and Clay Waters. But that doesn't mean there haven't been moments of humor. A delicious one comes at the expense of the Associated Press's Nedra Pickler. In her Thursday hit piece on Corsi's book, here is how Pickler described the online publication where Corsi writes a periodic column: Corsi writes for World...

HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) - Democrat Barack Obama says he won't just be a president for the American people, but the animals too. "What about animal rights?" a woman shouted out during the candidate's town hall meeting outside Las Vegas Wednesday after he discussed issues that relate more to humans, like war, health care and the economy. Obama responded that he cares about animal rights very much, "not only because I have a 9-year-old and 6-year-old who want a dog." He said he sponsored a bill to prevent horse slaughter in the Illinois state Senate and has been repeatedly endorsed by...

ALBEMARLE, N.C. -- The father of Albemarle native and “American Idol” star Kellie Pickler has been arrested and faces several charges in Stanly County. The sheriff’s office says Clyde “Bo” Pickler was charged Wednesday with communicating threats, assault on a female and assault with a deadly weapon. All of the charges are misdemeanors. Pickler was released from prison in May 2006 after serving more than three years for aggravated assault and battery charges after he stabbed a man. His daughter had been eliminated from the popular TV show the week before. The two hadn’t seen each other in years when...

Edwards' Bloggers Apologize for Comments Thursday February 8, 2007 5:31 PM By NEDRA PICKLER Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards said Thursday he was personally offended by the provocative messages two of his campaign bloggers wrote criticizing the Catholic church, but he's not going to fire them. Edwards issued a written statement about the fate of Amanda Marcotte and Melissa McEwan, two days after the head of the conservative Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights demanded they be fired for messages they wrote before working on the campaign. The campaign distributed written apologies from...

President Bush is known as a plainspoken man, a straight-talker. So how did a word like "kerfuffle" come out of his mouth? It's not an everyday word; it means a commotion or fuss. Bush casually used it during a question-and-answer session after a speech at the City Club here. Someone had asked about his administration's warrantless surveillance program, which has stirred concern about whether it exceeds the bounds of his authority and violates the law. Saying the program had "created quite a kerfuffle in the press," Bush gave his rationale for authorizing it. No question, the program has riled some...

ABOARD AIR FORCE II - Vice President Dick Cheney didn't suffer for comfort on the cavernous cargo plane that he rode into Iraq and Afghanistan this week.The Air Force loaded the plane with the "silver bullet," a mobile home in the sky strapped down in the middle of the belly. The accommodations included sleeping and working quarters that protected him from the noise and cold of the cargo hold during a more than five-hour flight into Baghdad.The rest of his traveling party was not so lucky. Cheney's senior staff and junior aides were assigned to a cramped three rows of...

WASHINGTON - President Bush said Monday he has "a big agenda in mind" for his second term that begins this week and that four years is going to be a short time to meet all his goals. "We got to get moving and get some things done before -- before people kind of write me off," Bush told CBS News in an interview. He said he hopes that with his final election behind him, Republicans and Democrats in Congress will work together to pass his legislation. Unity will be the most important theme of his inaugural address on Thursday, he...

TIPTON, Iowa (AP) -- John Kerry often says he loves that his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, speaks her mind. But that doesn't mean he always agrees with her. And on Tuesday he said he didn't. Kerry told reporters he disagreed with his wife's assessment that the possible U.S. capture of al-Qaida terrorist leader Osama bin Laden before the Nov. 2 election could be politically motivated. He momentarily confused the man blamed for the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks with deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, saying: "I have said again and again that even if Saddam Hussein is captured or killed in...

WASHINGTON - John Kerry (news - web sites) on Saturday looked to frame the next presidential debate in a specriticizing President Bush (news - web sites)'s economic record, but also tried to get in a final word about their last face-off by declaring himself the winner and Bush a liar. "George Bush (news - web sites) lost the debate," an announcer says in a television ad Kerry's campaign unveiled Saturday. "Now he's lying about it." The Democratic presidential candidate's accusation came two days after his first debate with Bush, when he told moderator Jim Lehrer that he avoids saying that...