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A bridge over the I-75 in Hazel Park, Michigan has collapsed following a massive explosion after a gas tanker overturned.

“Nobody is perfect” was the not-so-profound observation of White House press secretary Robert Gibbs over the past several days as he tried to fend off criticism of the tax troubles of three top appointees. One of the three -- Timothy Geithner -- survived congressional and public scrutiny and was confirmed as secretary of treasury. But former South Dakota Sen. Tom Daschle -- who made a bundle in speaking fees and giving advice to health-care companies after he was defeated for re-election -- felt compelled to bow out from his nomination as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services...

President George W. Bush should stop worrying about his legacy. It’s already established. By his deeds you shall know him; preemptive war, torture and wiretapping, for starters. Nothing said in history can wipe out those flaws in his administration. And no revisionist historian down the road can diminish the importance of those acts. He has governed with threats -- and by nourishing fear in the American people. The president seems to have a hard time abiding by the law. Referring to his struggles with Congress during his first year in office, Bush joked that ``a dictatorship would be heck of...

If Americans want to continue the Iraq war, then Sen. John McCain -- the apparent Republican presidential candidate and relentless hawk -- is their man. It seems McCain was not kidding when he said the U.S. might have to remain in Iraq for 100 years. At a town meeting in New Hampshire, McCain was told that President Bush had indicated the possibility of U.S. forces staying in Iraq for 50 years. “Make it a hundred,’’ McCain responded. Presumably McCain means that would still be with a volunteer U.S. army because even the “straight talking” senator would not dare to suggest...

Like it or not, race and gender will play roles in the choice of a Democratic presidential standard bearer. It can't be avoided, even though the party's leading candidates have decided to bury the hatchet. In the Tuesday night debate in Las Vegas, both Sens. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., said their supporters had been over-zealous in their week-long tiff over the role of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the enactment of federal civil rights legislation in the 1960s. The two candidates agreed to stop the squabbling and to keep their focus on current issues. Someday, they...

Every theater-style seat in the White House briefing room, now closed for renovation, had a brass plaque inscribed with the name of a news organization. Only one, in the middle of the front row, had a name: “HELEN THOMAS,” it said. The unique assigned seat between the chairs for CBS News and ABC News was reserved for the legendary United Press International correspondent who is now a columnist for Hearst Newspapers. The press corps is scheduled to move from temporary facilities back into the spiffed-up, rewired briefing room in May or June. Thomas, who has been questioning presidents and press...

I saw Helen Thomas on TV during the Clintoon administration saying that she believed Vince Foster was murdered, and furthermore stated that it happened right there in the white house. So the question is: Helen what makes you believe Vince Foster was murdered, and if you beleive that is true then will you ask Hilliary about the murder?

President George W. Bush picked Iraq as his preemptive battleground nearly four years ago and now is asking a war-weary country to give his military escalation a chance to work. On Wednesday, with the applause for his State of the Union speech just a fading memory, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee gave its answer to Bush's plea. By a 12-9 vote, the panel approved a non-binding resolution telling Bush that his plan to escalate the U.S. military presence in Iraq was "not in the national interest." The full Senate will vote on the issue next week. Bush is on the...

Congress Must Assert Power Over War Bush Term Will End Before War Does Helen Thomas, Hearst White House columnist It's time for Congress to re-assert its sole constitutional authority to declare war. But do the newly empowered lawmakers have the courage? Both President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney gave TV interviews Sunday to assert their argument that the commander-in-chief has the right to continue the war against Iraq even if it is against the will of the American people and Congress. The president is obviously playing for time. Bush is losing ground with more and more members...

The passing of President Gerald Ford is a reminder that the Republican Party was once led by political moderates who have now been replaced by members of the radical right (read that as "neocons") and evangelicals. Ford, who had served as House Republican leader, vice president and president, understood that politics is the art of compromise. He had many friends on the opposite side of the political aisle who heartily supported his nomination to be Richard M. Nixon's vice president when Spiro Agnew was forced to step down in 1973 amid bribery allegations. That doesn't mean Ford was not a...

For the record, Helen Thomas, who at age 86 has been covering news at the White House for about half a century, no longer heads straight to the office at 5:30 a.m. each weekday. Instead, she goes to Starbucks, where she orders her coffee -- black -- and settles in for some quality reading time with the New York Times and Washington Post. Then, she heads to the White House press room.

A new Helen Thomas thread!!!

President George W. Bush has alerted the American people that the war in Iraq will go on for a long time -- easily into the next presidency. Bush's 2003 "cakewalk" invasion of Iraq to bring about a "regime change" has expanded into what he told a news conference Wednesday is "the beginning stages of an ideological battle." According to the official White House line, Bush is pondering his options for a "new way forward" in Iraq, with his decision to be announced next month. But the president indicated Wednesday that he has already made his choice, hinting to reporters at...

WASHINGTON -- With Iraq falling apart, it's getting lonely at the top for President Bush.His hawkish neo-con advisers are deserting him. He had to fire Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. The Democrats have won control of Congress. U.S. allies are angry at his Iraq policies. And even Henry Kissinger -- one of Bush's foreign policy advisers and a key architect of the Vietnam debacle -- has decided Iraq is a can't-win situation. He earlier had told Bush, "The only exit strategy is victory."Bush's father, former President George H. W. Bush, has come to his defense. It's Bush 41 rushing to rescue...

While Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi and President George W. Bush chat over lunch, Helen Thomas and Marc Sandalow can only speculate about what's on the menu. An olive branch from Bush, maybe? Other questions Helen considers: How will Bush deal with the new Congress? How will Pelosi handle the more conservative members of her party? Will anything change in Iraq? And will the Dems try and impeach the President?

If the Democrats win control of the House in the Nov. 7 midterm elections, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., would likely be the first woman in U.S. history to become speaker of the House. The holder of that post is No. 2 in the line of succession for the presidency, right behind the vice president. Democrats need to win 15 seats to gain control of the House from the Republicans who have been in the majority since 1994. If they win, some Democrats have been hinting that they would use their new powers to launch some edgy investigations of the reasons...

WASHINGTON -- Former Secretary of State James Baker is riding to the rescue of President Bush. So what else is new? Baker has been there many times before for the Bush family -- to pull their chestnuts out of the fire. This time it appears he is being called to help President Bush finesse his way out of the Iraqi debacle and save face. Baker is a master at resolving tricky situations, and he does it with a smile. He is the Republican co-chairman of a bipartisan panel, called "The Iraq Study Group," created last March with a nudge from...