The once-mighty House Speaker has resorted to guilt by association, and in doing so projects his own weakness and his intentions to hang on to the Speakership.

At issue within the noise being made about the Justice Department is whether that part of the Executive Branch and the immense powers contained within it have been used inappropriately by the Bush administration. As you might guess, the evidence points to that very brand of malfeasance.

Just yesterday I found myself wondering when this week's news story about the impending restoration of Perry-vetoed community college funds was going to show up. This morning, I saw why that story was delayed: because the restoration actually happened.

Via Harvey Kronberg's Quorum Report: Mikal Watts, citing familial concerns, has withdrawn his bid for the Democratic nomination for US Senate. Official statement below the jump. Update: Noriega's official statement also added.

The State Department finds it can't really account for just a bit over $1.2 billion in paid invoices to private firms, and Bush would like more money, including some for nonessential projects, even after vetoing children's health care.

Members of Congress and candidates for office all blog, as do pundits, reporters, and organizations. I suppose, then, it was only a matter of time before sitting Cabinet Secretaries started journaling through some administrative rage and joined us out here on the frontier.

You would think last night's Republican debate was subtitled "What To Do About Hillary?" And if that was the subtext, the main card would say "No One Is As Conservative As Me."

Fred Thompson says he's in it to win it, but in Iowa and New Hampshire, he has barely raised enough money to buy a car, let alone enough votes for a nomination.

Florida Senator Mel Martinez announced yesterday that he was resigning as chair of the GOP after nine months on the job. Mission accomplished?

Not too long ago, I wrote in this space about Joe Jaworski, a candidate for State Senate in District 11. He was in Dallas last night at a fundraiser coordinated by Russell Langley, and he continues to impress: the out-of-district event last night brought in about $30,000 for his campaign.