"If you disagree with the administration on ideological grounds, they're going to come down with a hammer. This has huge implications for the free flow of speech in this country," says Gary Bass, executive director of OMB Watch, itself a nonprofit, which released the report last week as part of its 20-year-old mission to monitor White House budget and spending decisions.

As dramatic as that assessment sounds, the assault has been nearly invisible to the public. The Bush administration and its allies have hit progressives under the radar, maneuvering in the soporific—if enormously important—realm of nonprofit oversight. The idea of a right-wing conspiracy to audit nonprofits is more likely to set off yawns than outrage. Yet virtually every imaginable social cause—civil liberties, reproductive rights, affirmative action, accessible health care—relies on a lifeline of nonprofit advocates, fundraisers, and service providers. Since nonprofits operate on a tax-exempt basis and often receive government funding, they have always been subject to federal oversight and are forbidden from engaging in electoral politics. Under George W. Bush, however, oversight has quietly morphed into ideologically motivated intimidation and censorship, according to OMB Watch's review of some dozen specific conflicts.

Even though causes of the right have their own tax-exempt advocates, conservatives have long reviled nonprofits in general for "supporting the welfare state," according to Bass. He points to the major efforts to defund nonprofits and restrict their advocacy during the Reagan administration in the '80s and in Newt Gingrich's Congress in the '90s.

This is a really scary time right now. The war and terrorism in the Middle East, the crisis of leadership in many of these oil-supply countries in the developing world, the crisis of global warming -- all these are very clearly tied to energy. I mean, what the hell is going on? Why isn't our leadership connecting the dots? What's so frightening about these issues is feeling like you don't have any control over them. So for me, these lifestyle decisions are a way of having control and feeling less guilty. I walk around feeling a sort of existential guilt all the time; for me this house is a way of feeling less guilty about the universe.

It's Meetup night for the Draft Wesley Clark movement, and early Monday evening, there's a sign on the door leading upstairs: "Closed for Private Party." There, the guys who started this mini-movement in April are bustling around the two pool tables and the Dr. Who pinball machine, putting out bumper stickers and buttons, pasting up a banner. Priscilla Chism climbs the stairs, sees she's the first one there, asks hesitantly, "Do we sign in anywhere?" ... Some 30,000 people have sent Clark letters begging him to run, and $338,000 has been pledged to his campaign if he gets in, draft organizers say. On Monday night, Clarksters gathered at 92 Meetups across the country. "Something is going on here," says Hlinko.

As for the conventional wisdom that says Clark is too late to the party to raise funds and build support, co-founder Josh Margulies trots out the practiced answer: "The last time a Rhodes scholar from Arkansas announced against an incumbent named Bush who had just won a war in Iraq, he did okay. And he declared in October."

BIRCH: If I may comment, Reverend Falwell, the fact is, is that this church is making its own decision. They take the Bible seriously also. They don't need you to interpret it for them. And, as a matter of fact, as I've said on this program, this so- called sin of homosexuality didn't make the top ten. You have never, ever answered my question regarding Leviticus and Romans and the other parts of the Bible that do not survive translation from the original scripture. And, frankly, you don't represent...

FALWELL: Oh, my gracious.

BIRCH: Excuse me, Reverend Falwell. You do not represent mainstream Christians, mainline Christians. You represent extreme Christian fundamentalism. We should never forget there was a time that this country burned witches at the stake. Fundamentalism is bad in any form.

The Patriot Act, passed after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, amended the definition of material support to include "expert advice and assistance." One of the plaintiffs in the case, Dr. Nagalingam Jeyalangim, would like to work as a doctor in his war-torn homeland of Sri Lanka. However, because some hospitals are controlled by rebel forces there, he fears he could be prosecuted for "providing material support" to a terrorist group, according to the filing.

"In its rush to pass the Patriot Act just six weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks, Congress overlooked one of our most fundamental rights -- the right to express our political beliefs, especially those that are controversial," CCR attorney Nancy Chang said in a statement. "Now it's up to the judiciary to correct Congress' excesses."

NPR reporters, hosts and ombudsmen should not be in the business of making their own opinions known about matters of public controversy. When they do, the public quickly senses that NPR compromises its ability to report in a fair manner. In this pundit-crazed media culture, there are more than enough people who opine as soon as the klieg lights come on. NPR and its listeners deserve a better form of public discourse ...

The lure of speaking one's mind is tempting. In my experience, journalists who have been in the business for a while often fall victim to the siren song of punditry... much like the eunuch in the harem, some journalists end up resenting having all of the responsibilities and none of the pleasures.

NPR is in the process of writing its own ethics guide. It can't come too soon because of issues such as this one where Liasson appeared to abandon her role of reporter. Situations such as this one inevitably come back to haunt both the reporter and NPR.

During one of her routine appearances on Fox television, National Public Radio political correspondent Mara Liasson commented on McDermott and Bonior: "These guys are a disgrace. Look, everybody knows it's 101, politics 101, that you don't go to an adversary country, an enemy country, and badmouth the United States, its policies and the president of the United States. I mean, these guys ought to, I don't know, resign."

Now that it's evident the president of the United States not only "would" mislead the American people but actually did – with the result of a horrendous war – it's time to ask when the pundits who went after McDermott with such vengeance last fall might publicly concede that he made a valid and crucial point ...

Much more importantly, if a mainstream political journalist like Mara Liasson was so quick to suggest 10 months ago that McDermott resign for inopportunely seeking to prevent a war, when will she advocate that the president resign for dishonestly promoting a war – or, failing resignation, face impeachment?

It's much too early to predict a Dean win in the caucuses, but it's interesting to speculate why he has come to lead a field of better-known contenders, including four sitting U.S. senators and two members of the U.S. House.

"I am not a national security strategist or a military tactician," Rendon said. "I am a politician, and a person who uses communication to meet public policy or corporate policy objectives. In fact, I am an information warrior and a perception manager." He reminded the Air Force cadets that when victorious troops rolled into Kuwait City at the end of the first war in the Persian Gulf, they were greeted by hundreds of Kuwaitis waving small American flags. The scene, flashed around the world on television screens, sent the message that U.S. Marines were being welcomed in Kuwait as liberating heroes.

"Did you ever stop to wonder," Rendon asked, "how the people of Kuwait City, after being held hostage for seven long and painful months, were able to get hand-held American, and for that matter, the flags of other coalition countries?" He paused for effect. "Well, you now know the answer. That was one of my jobs then."

Of course, we have no way of knowing whether Rendon or any other PR specialist helped influence the toppling of Saddam's statue or other specific images that the public saw during the war in Iraq. Public relations firms often do their work behind the scenes, and Rendon—with whom the Pentagon signed a new agreement in February 2002—is usually reticent about his work. But his description of himself as a "perception manager" echoes the language of Pentagon planners, who define "perception management" as "actions to convey and (or) deny selected information and indicators to foreign audiences to influence their emotions, motives, and objective reasoning. … In various ways, perception management combines truth projection, operations security, cover, and deception, and psyops [psychological operations]."

It's much too early to predict a Dean win in the caucuses, but it's interesting to speculate why he has come to lead a field of better-known contenders, including four sitting U.S. senators and two members of the U.S. House.

Perhaps that in itself is a big part of the reason - that Dean isn't a sitting senator or representative. He's a Washington outsider, a fresh face, at a time many Democrats may be looking for someone who hasn't been part of the Washington establishment.

The opposition rap against Dean is that he is too far left, that nominating him would be like the nomination of George McGovern in 1972. But that doesn't wash. Dean's record as governor seems to have been as a moderate with emphasis on fiscal restraint. On issues such as health care, he is for incremental improvements, not sweeping change.

The "too liberal" charge stems from Dean's opposition to the war in Iraq, which several of his Democratic rivals supported. But that hardly makes him a radical. A large percentage of Americans opposed the war, and in its aftermath growing numbers question its justification. As time wears on, his position may look less like radicalism and more like common sense.

Garcia's husband, Jose, lost his job of 18 years at a poultry plant last summer. Recently, he found a temporary position transporting auto equipment, but he must work longer hours for $1,200 a month -- about $400 less than his old job.

His is one of many examples of underemployment and joblessness in an economic downturn that has been especially tough on minorities. According to national statistics released Friday, the July jobless rate for Hispanics was 8.2 percent, down slightly from June's six-year high of 8.4 percent. For blacks, unemployment was 11.1 percent in July, more than twice that of whites.

"There's just no opportunity," said Garcia, 46. "For me to find another job the same, there just aren't any."

Minorities have long had higher unemployment rates than whites, but this slowdown has been particularly painful. For Hispanics, unemployment began rising earlier -- in the summer of 2000 -- than for others, and the sour economy has hurt a group that tends to be younger and include more immigrants, said Roberto Suro, director of the Pew Hispanic Center.

The spectacular Rocky Mountain chain stretches more than 1,000 miles through the western United States. Its northernmost reaches -- home to the gray cliffs of the Chinese wall and Yellowstone's geysers -- give way to the tawny grasslands of Wyoming's upper Green River valley and the wildflowers of Colorado's alpine meadows. It ends down south in the white moonscape deserts of New Mexico's Guadalupe-Otero. Encompassing a vast array of landscapes and a great diversity of wildlife, the Rockies are the wilderness backbone of the West.

But the entire Rocky Mountain chain is now under threat. The White House is aggressively pursuing a plan to open the last protected wildlands in the Rockies -- including Bridger-Teton National Forest and the Jack Morrow Hills in the Red Desert -- to energy companies for fossil-fuel production, even though about 90 percent of public land in the Rockies is already open to oil and gas exploration. Drilling would pollute watersheds, disturb unique animal herds, and forever alter the region's wild profile.

NRDC and others have delayed several attempts to fast-track oil and gas development and have held destructive energy policies at bay so far. But attempts to plunder these public lands have intensified, and we must continue mounting vigorous opposition to the Bush administration's plan.

The Iraqi war hangover is continuing to undermine the public's faith in Tony Blair and his New Labour Government, a new poll suggested today. The Populus poll for The Times found 34% support for Labour - two points down on July.

Mr Blair's woes were good news for the Liberal Democrats, who were on 25% - four points up on last month. The Conservatives were on 32%, also down two points.

The poll contained further good news for Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy, who recorded a personal trust rating of plus 23% - compared to Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith's plus 10% and Mr Blair's minus 4%. Populus, who interviewed 1,000 people over the weekend, also asked voters to rate the main party leaders by marks out of 10. Mr Blair recorded 4.92, down from 5.75 in May; Mr Duncan Smith was unchanged at 4.35; and Mr Kennedy scored 5, up from 4.89 when the question was last asked in May.

KING: You actually think, though, out of nowhere, you could win this?

DEAN: I do. I really do. This is an insurgency candidate, a candidacy. We are way ahead of where I ever thought we were going to be and I really do believe that most Democrats in this country want someone who is going to take on the president directly and is not afraid to do that and doesn't focus every position based on what the polls say and what his focus groups say. Look, I don't check the polls before I take positions and it has gotten me in trouble before. I also don't always check carefully about when I say what I think. And that's gotten me in some trouble before. But what the American people are going to see, should I get the nomination, is a Democrat who is not afraid to be a Democrat again.

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Eric,

This may seem very strange, but I think you'll get a kick out of it. Go to a comic book store, yes a comic book store, and get JLA issue #83.

In it Lex Luthor is president of the U.S. He is going to attack the country of Qurac. It has WMDs, so says President Luthor. There's a scene reminiscent of Ari Fliescher's remark that the war would be cheap if someone assassinated Saddam.

There are the American iconic superheroes, Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman questioning Luthor, "where's the proof?" Luthor replies, "I will not wait until Americans are killed to act," and "The world would be significantly safer place without him."

Batman - "We have no intelligence to corroborate your findings."
Wonder Woman - "There's no impending threat."
Superman - "Why can't you just wait until you have more proof, we've lived with this problem for years."

And the best line given to Superman in years, "But I will know the truth, and I will not feel ashamed or be called Un-American for demanding it."

Fortunately for Superman, what he's going through is only a dream.

No huge surprise. The segments were a revival of the old "Point/Counterpoint" segments that lasted a mere four years (ending in 1979) and were themselves never much of a viewer draw. But Clinton and Dole as TV debaters never clicked, and actually, never even debated: Their segments were pre-taped, with neither man appearing together. A CBS News spokesman said last week that the network will "explore other ways to showcase their differences." That means they could appear on the program in a different format as early as this fall.

The poem, titled "Illegal Poem," uses broken English to suggest that white Americans are "crazy" to pay for public assistance to illegal Mexican immigrants. Winnebago County Republican Party officials said Friday that the poem had been placed on the site by a volunteer Webmaster, and they promised to remove it immediately.

"The sentiments and characterizations it makes are certainly not those of the Winnebago County Republican Party," said Ron Montgomery, a member of the county party's board of directors.

County party Chairwoman Michelle Litgens said she didn't know of the poem's existence on the Web site until she was contacted by a reporter.

"Unfortunately, I'm not an Internet-savvy individual," she said.

But Dean is always looking for them. When his aides gets rashes or pains, the doctor asks the frank clinical questions. His campaign manager, Joe Trippi, had to draw a line when Dean called in from the road and began quizzing him. "I've heard you've had pain on your left side," Dean told Trippi. "I need to ask you a few questions: When was your last bowel movement and is there blood in your urine?" Trippi responded, "Wait a minute, Governor, I'm not sure I'm ready to go here with my candidate." Dean showed up the next day "and now he's trying to give me a physical," Trippi said. He finally went to a clinic and discovered he had a cracked rib.

Powell's Had Enough

While George W. Bush takes the entire month of August off in Texas, the Bush Administration is seeking to eliminate the right of more than 8 million American workers to receive overtime pay. While Bush rests in Texas, millions of Americans are spending a sleepless summer worrying about their jobs, their paychecks and the economy.

Organized labor will be among the most potent political forces in the 2004 election. And an AFL-CIO endorsement in the Democratic primary could dramatically alter a race that has as yet failed to produce a front-runner.

No one expects the AFL-CIO to throw its support behind a candidate at this week's meeting. But several top union officials said it is increasingly likely that the labor federation will take a step in that direction on Wednesday, when its executive council meets to discuss the issue.

"They probably will set a date for an endorsement or at least they'll accept the concept" that the AFL-CIO's board should meet later this year to see if any candidate can get the two-thirds vote needed, said Gerald McEntee, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. McEntee sits on the executive council and his union is one of the AFL-CIO's largest members.

Let me start by putting a quote up on the screen from columnist Andrew Sullivan. He says, "The press, which in large part opposed the war in the first place, has done all it can to turn this success into a 'quagmire.'" Do you believe that biased journalists are deliberately painting a dark picture of the events in Iraq?

In a letter to station managers in Madison, Wisconsin, where the ad has run, Caroline Hunter, a Republican Party lawyer, wrote: "It has come to our attention that your station will begin airing false and misleading advertisements. … The Democratic National Committee … has no right to willfully spread false information in a deliberate attempt to mislead the American people. … As an FCC licensee you have a responsibility to … avoid deliberate misrepresentations of the facts. Such obligations must be taken seriously. This letter puts you on notice that the information contained in the above-cited advertisement is false and misleading; therefore, you are obligated to refrain from airing this advertisement."

This year, the 184,000 tax filers with incomes of $1 million or more will receive slightly more in total new income tax cuts as a result of the new legislation — $17 billion in tax cuts — than the $16 billion in increased child tax credits going to 26 million tax filers ... The distribution of the tax cuts provided by this year's tax-cut legislation will become more heavily concentrated among high-income households over time. This is because the principal provisions that benefit middle-income families simply accelerate tax cuts that would have taken place anyway in subsequent years, while the major new tax cut in the legislation — the provision reducing taxes on capital gains and dividend income — disproportionately helps those with very high incomes. Tax Policy Center data indicate that ultimately, about 40 percent of the tax-cut benefits from this provision will accrue to the one-tenth of one percent of filers with incomes of more than $1 million.

In the past few years, however, these policies have come under attack from surprising quarters. Opponents range from public health activists to libertarian-minded political figures such as former Secretary of State George Shultz. On the one hand, the critics have argued, these policies have failed to make progress toward a drug-free America. On the other, the war has proved to be too expensive to sustain. In an era of shrinking state resources, legislators have come to understand that budgets cannot be balanced, and needed social programs cannot be maintained, unless the country's bloated prison system is shrunk back down to a more realistic size. These two concerns have converged to create a window of opportunity for drug-policy reformers to push their case where it matters most: in the states.

Winter is hesitatingly giving way to spring, and New Mexico's former Governor Gary Johnson is tending to a broken leg in preparation for an expedition to climb Mount Everest. His daredevil athleticism is a marker of the same temperament that allowed Johnson, a Republican, to become the only governor ever to publicly support drug legalization while in office. The significant progress he made on drug-policy reform during his eight-year tenure helped to turn the tide for state reform movements across the country. "Johnson was a huge advocate," says Jerry Montoya, who runs a county needle-exchange program in the state, "ahead of federal policy in terms of thinking, in terms of philosophy."

In the debate, Cheney said that ''people should be free to enter into any kind of relationship they want to enter into.'' He also said he wasn't sure if the government should officially sanction homosexual relationships through permitting marriage.

''That matter is regulated by the states,'' Cheney said. ''I think different states are likely to come to different conclusions, and that's appropriate. I don't think there should necessarily be a federal policy in this area.''