If the purpose of Iraq was ever to keep us safe from terrorism by fighting al-Quaeda, the Bush administration has officially failed.

May yesterday have been the last Democratic primary debate we'll see this season? It looks like that may really be the case this time.

Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama meet tonight in the City of Brotherly Love for what may be the last debate of this primary season. (Yes, we've said that before, but this time we mean it!) And as always, we'll be liveblogging the event here. Join us after the jump for the play-by-play.

Yesterday Pope Benedict XVI landed in Maryland. This is a big deal for everyone — although it might turn out to be an inconvenience for Gordon Brown.

John McCain made headlines yesterday, both for problems from DNC lawsuits and problems of his own creation.

The Associated Press just wants to get it out there that John McCain is really, really conservative. In case anyone forgot. And some of you may have, since he is sometimes portrayed as being something other than really, really conservative.

This weekend mounted one very important question: why would McCain raise money for Giuliani?

Well, this is odd.

In an April 3 memo obtained by Washington Wire, [McCain] campaign manager Rick Davis asked donors — in the spirit of party unity — to help with “a special request”: paying off the campaign debt accrued by Giuliani in the Republican presidential primary.

In Case you missed and are interested in that sort of thing, President Bush's tax returns came out last week, as did Cheneys. Dick Cheney pulls in a pretty decent yearly nut. I'm curious if another Vice President has so far outstripped his President in earnings.

Planes kept having problems, the GOP's interior war was illustrated in detail, and Colin Powell came out against Bush's tendency to punt on decisions concerning Iraq in these last late days of his administration.