Only in the parallel universe of the Bush administration is down considered up. Indeed, in response to British Prime Minister Tony Blair's announcement that America's primary ally will be withdrawing 1,600 more troops from Iraq - to 5,500, down from 40,000 at the start of the conflict - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called it a positive sign. "The British have done what is really the plan for the country as a whole, which ... [full story]

A couple sits on the couch watching TV. The man says: 'Al-Qaida and the Taliban are making a comeback.' The woman replies: 'So's Al Gore. Go figure.' Editorial cartoon by Bruce Beattie. [full story]

It's not clear to us what's changed between December, when the Bush administration said it would not sit down with the rogue regimes of Syria and Iran, and this week, when Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said announced the United States will join a pair of meetings to include both the Iranians and Syrians. In rejecting the Iraq Study Group's recommendation that the United States engage Iran and Syria to find a solution to the ... [full story]

A witch doctor holds a knife and stands on a podium labeled '24-hour news cycle.' There are figures labeled as 'Diaper Astronaut' and 'Anna Nicole.' He says: 'Britney, you're next...' Editorial cartoon by Scott Stantis. [full story]

Celebrities sell – that’s largely why they’re celebrities. Britney Spears’ rehab-rotation makes headlines and sells newspapers. Anna Nicole Smith’s death is fodder for nearly every media outlet in America. When Oprah Winfrey talks, millions of people listen. Unfortunately, when celebrities talk politics, it also sells, and buyers should beware.  HBO’s Bill Maher regularly skewers conservatives in the basest way, with words he would never use against liberals. For instance, on Feb. 20, he told NBC’s ... [full story]

Americans need affordable, accessible and high-performing colleges and universities, but the regulations being pushed by the federal government would only hinder reaching that goal. U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings is lobbying for congressional approval of the creation of a national database that would track the progress of individual students through college. The information theoretically would be used by consumers to assess the universities' performance. Spellings has been unable to get Congress to pass legislation ... [full story]

This country's response to the president on Iran, nuclear-bound and said to be meddling in Iraq, should be crafted around two words: shouldn't and can't. The United States shouldn't jump into any other military adventure on Iran's account for a host of reasons. Key among them is because diplomacy spills no blood and hasn't been given ample opportunity. But also because this country simply can't. It is stretched too thin in Iraq to do anything ... [full story]

A U.S. military helicopter is targeted by an explosive. The helicopter is shaped as a duck. The caption says: 'Insurgents take aim.' Editorial cartoon by John Sherffius. [full story]

No one can seriously argue anymore that global warming isn't happening and that human activity isn't a significant part of the cause. The question now is what to do about it. The summary of the latest report by an international panel of scientists put together by the United Nations says that global warming is a reality and that it is very likely -- a 90 percent probability, the panel says -- that human activity in the ... [full story]

A couple sits at a table holding hands. A waiter stands nearby. In the caption the woman says: 'I' don't care about roses or chocolates ... How far would you drive for me in a diaper?' Editorial cartoon by Bruce Beattie. [full story]

Here is the price of the Bush administration having played fast and loose with the facts in the run-up to the war in Iraq: On Sunday, senior U.S. military officials in Baghdad gathered together about two dozen members of the press and showed them two tables full of nasty weapons of the kind blamed for the deaths of 170 U.S. troops in Iraq. The weapons, they asserted, had come from Iran.   Douglas Feith - Defense Dept. ... [full story]

President George W. Bush is dressed in a plaid suit and holds a bottle. He stands in front of a sign that says: 'Dr. Bush's Iran weapons claims and hair rejuvenation tonic.' A group of bald people with angry faces stand around him. One says: 'Saaaaay... Didn't you pass through here a few years back?' Editorial cartoon by Mike Thompson [full story]

In the bad old days of the Soviet Union, it was the practice of the Communist government to embed a political officer with every military unit and aboard every Soviet ship. The duty of a zampolit, an abbreviation of the Russian phrase "deputy of the commander for political work," was to operate independently from the military chain of command, enforcing party discipline. How odd that now, some 15 years after the fall of the Soviet ... [full story]