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Sigh . In describing the reasons he believes the Republicans' presumptive nominee for president would be better prepared than the Democrats' to lead the nation next January, Sen. Joe Lieberman said that history shows the United States would likely face a terrorist attack in 2009. " Our enemies will test the new president early ," Lieberman, I-Conn., told Face The Nation host Bob Schieffer. " Remember that the truck bombing of the World Trade Center happened in the first year of the Clinton administration. 9/11 happened in the first year of the Bush administration ." Lieberman nonetheless distanced himself from remarks by McCain chief strategist Charlie Black, who came under criticism for suggesting in an interview that McCain's election chances would be improved if a terrorist attack occurred before November. "Sometimes even the best of them say things that are not what they intended to say," Lieberman said. "Certainly the implications the...

About freakin' time . The silence between Barack Obama and Bill Clinton has been broken, with the Democratic White House hopeful on Monday asking the former president to campaign for him during their first conversation since the heated primary. Bill Clinton was often Obama's harshest Democratic critic, trying to bring down the Illinois senator as his candidacy surpassed former first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton's. While Hillary Clinton has begun to help Obama by encouraging her supporters to back his campaign, a chill remained between the last Democratic president and the man running to be the next one. Obama spokesman Bill Burton said they had a "terrific conversation" and that Obama is honored to have the former president's support. "He has always believed that Bill Clinton is one of this nation's great leaders and most brilliant minds, and looks forward to seeing him on the campaign trail and receiving his counsel in the months to come," Burton...

More proof that the Bush economic policies are "working:" Cities and counties are battling manhole-cover thefts, a crime spree that police tie to the weak economy. Hundreds of 200-pound covers have disappeared in three months in California, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Georgia as scrap metal prices pop up. "It's a sign of the times," says Sgt. Jay Baker of the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office in Georgia, where 28 manhole covers disappeared in April and May. "When the economy gets bad, people start stealing iron." You don't say. It's the first year he has seen such thefts since he started with the department 16 years ago. The price of heavy melt steel, the medium grade used for manhole covers, has increased from $329 per metric ton in January to $519, according to the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries in Washington, D.C. A thief can get $10 to $15 for a manhole cover, says Ryan Alsop, spokesman for the Long Beach Water De...

The latest Gallop Poll indicates that Democrats will keep Congress (and maybe expand their majority). Of course the question is, "How will Democrats repay the voters that help them hold Congress?" We've already seen what happened with the GOP, after years of promising a bans on abortion and gay marriage: nothing. They had a good six years of complete control and could barely get flag burning on the agenda. The problem for liberals who support the Democratic Party is this: too many Democrats are more afraid of the GOP's base than their own . You see it on all the political shows; you hear it from their quotes on the radio. It's never about enduring the wrath of not supporting a union-friendly bill. Health Care was almost a forgotten cause until people Michael Moore and John Edwards push it back into the political conscious. Meanwhile: abortion, gay marriage, taxes -issues that Republicans have controlled message-wise for years now- remain at the forefront. With the...

When it comes to food, it's every man ( or nation ) for himself. John McCain took some time to meet with Billy Graham . "The Iraq War will pay for itself," proponents said. Remember that . The EPA wants the Pentagon to clean up their garbage . In France: a hostage situation gone bad . For adults, it's like riding a bike . In the aftermath of supermodel Ruslana Korshunova's death her ex tries to figure out what went wrong .

How do Democrats expect to get a real majority of anything if they keep caving ? The biggest problem with the Democratic Party is that they fear the Republican base more than their own . Oliver Willis is still a hardcore DC Comics comics fan . Good for DC; they need all the prodding they can get if they're ever going get that Justice League movie ready in 2037 (j/k). Meanwhile, Marvel has their own studios and are working on putting out the Avengers ...which would be the third Marvel superhero team movie. I've said it before and I'll say it again: the DCAU saved those characters (episodes like "Heart of Ice" and "Starcrossed" for example), it saved them . Just like the big screen is saving Marvel. Caption this Washington Wizard . Would you rather get your superpowers from science or God ? Why not both ? Douglas Feith is dumber than a bag of hammers . Barack Obama brings the issue of race into the spotlight . A Spider-Man 4 with a new cast? Captain Am...

...That he recently met with Log Cabin Republicans (aka, conservatives who are openly gay). Maybe it's because he still wants the rabid GOP base to think that he has a blood hatred for gay people, when in truth he's looking for every vote he can get. (H/t: Randi Rhodes & Friends )

Gloucester High School's principal is still pushing the pregnant teen pact story. Find out why the Williams Sister won't vote .

...this guy: JaVale McGee . Hopefully he's trade bait. Update: Here are some various reactions to (and information about ) Mr. McGee.

It's funny how you find answers to one question by looking for something completely different elsewhere. I was checking out an article on askmen.com entitled, " 5 Things You Didn't Know: The Cold War " and the first "thing" hit me like a ton of bricks: 1- It cost the U.S. about $8 trillion Eminent foreign relations historian Walter LaFeber has put the U.S. military expenditures bill for the Cold War at around $8 trillion. This is a reasonable figure when you take into consideration wars in Korea and Vietnam; intervention in Afghanistan, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Chile, Grenada, and elsewhere; psychological warfare through covert CIA operations such as the Congress for Cultural Freedom and Radio Free Europe; and, of course, the research, development, testing, and construction of tens of thousands of nuclear weapons (at a high point in the late 1960s, both the U.S. and the USSR were each spending $50 million a day on those weapons ). By way of c...