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Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Jim Webb on Friday shrugged off criticism of sexually graphic scenes in his novels, while Democrats noted that a prominent Republican has endorsed the book. "James Webb's new novel paints a portrait of a modern Vietnam charged with hopes for the future but haunted by the ghosts of its war-torn past," Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), says on the back cover of "Lost Soldiers," which was published in 2001. "It captures well the lingering scars of the war." In that novel, Webb describes a man embracing his four-year old son and placing the boy's penis in his...

The father of a U.S. Senate candidate on Tuesday tried to dissuade a Tennessee news station from filming a news conference critical of his son, according to the pro-life event's organizers. Brian Johnston, an organizer with Tennessee Right to Life, called a news conference outside the Memphis campaign offices for U.S. Rep. Harold Ford Jr., a Democrat running for U.S. Senate. Johnston told Cybercast News Service he called the conference to expose Ford's real position on abortion. During the campaign Ford has portrayed himself as moderate on abortion and other issues. But before the planned new conference began, Ford's father,...

A New York-based crisis pregnancy center operator is suing one of the most aggressively marketed abortion providers in New York City for alleged false advertising. Expectant Mother Care, which has twice been cleared of false advertising charges made by abortion supporters, claims the "Dr. Emily" abortion clinics are illegally advertising in the "abortion alternatives" section of local telephone directories in violation of state law. "The consumer cannot help but be deceived and misled by the blatant falsehood," Chris Slattery, founder of Expectant Mother Care (EMC) told Cybercast News Service in an exclusive interview Friday. Slattery filed suit in New York...

Democrats are seizing on another leak of classified information to the New York Times -- information not yet seen by Members of Congress and not formally divulged to the House and Senate intelligence committees, the newspaper said. The leaked information, like previous leaks before it, is being used against the Bush administration and Republicans politically, just five weeks before the midterm elections. The New York Times reported on Sunday that an April 2006 National Intelligence Estimate (an assessment by America's 16 intelligence agencies) concluded that the Iraq war has heightened Islamic radicalism and made the global terrorist threat much worse....

Anti-American "antics" at the United Nations by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez might provide an unanticipated boost to the stalled nomination of John Bolton to become permanent U.S. ambassador to the U.N., a conservative analyst said Thursday. "The antics of Chavez at the U.N. show the American people and Congress that we need a strong leader in the U.N., and John Bolton should be confirmed by the Senate," Brian Darling, director of Senate relations for the conservative Heritage Foundation, told Cybercast News Service. On Wednesday, Chavez called President Bush "the devil", which "shows how out of step the United Nations has...

The way Democrats and some judges see it, requiring a photo ID at the polls infringes the rights of America's voters. The Democratic National Committee is applauding a Georgia judge, who has permanently blocked a state voter ID law from taking effect. In the ruling issued Tuesday, Fulton County Superior Court Judge T. Jackson Bedford Jr. said Georgia's new photo ID law violated the state constitution by placing an extra burden on qualified voters. "Any attempt by the Legislature to require more than what is required by the express language of our Constitution cannot withstand judicial scrutiny," Bedford wrote. Press...

The Red Letter Christians, a "progressive" group, says it offers an alternative to the religious right in the discussion about moral values in American politics. The liberal group claims Christian conservatives focus too heavily on abortion and homosexuality. "Since the 2004 election, the term 'values voters' has become a mainstay of the political discussion, and we're hearing it again this fall. But the discussion has generally been very narrow and discusses particularly one specific type of voter -- a conservative, white, evangelical, Republican," said Rev. Jim Wallis, founder and editor of Sojourners Magazine, at the National Press Club in Washington,...

Democratic U.S. Sen. Byron Dorgan insisted Monday that he was not out to promote the film titled "Iraq for Sale" but told reporters that the film does raise "important questions about accountability" on the part of military contractors working on the reconstruction of Iraq. "Iraq for Sale," the North Dakota senator said, is a "very important step forward in raising the questions and pushing the issues that we in this country must confront with respect to contractors' waste, fraud and abuse in spending." As the Senate Democratic Policy Committee chairman, Dorgan has hosted ten hearings to investigate charges of waste...

-"The war in Iraq is the wrong war. No matter how many times the president wants to say it, the war in Iraq is not the war on terror. The war in Afghanistan was." House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) made that comment Wednesday in a speech on the House floor. She was blasting a Republican resolution marking the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Pelosi says Republicans have introduced a partisan and "congratulatory" resolution: "It praises Congress for some reason," Pelosi complained. "Instead of having the focus on the innocent victims of 9/11, it talks about the accomplishments of...

The French foreign minister, whose government is positioning itself to play a leading part in Mideast peace efforts, has described Iran as a respected country that plays a stabilizing role in the region. Philippe Douste-Blazy told a news conference in Beirut Monday that Iran was "a great country, a great people and a great civilization which is respected and which plays a stabilizing role in the region." Hours later, the Frenchmen met with his Iranian counterpart, Manouchehr Mottaki, at the Iranian Embassy. Tehran's mission in the Lebanese capital has been a key channel for Iran's support for Hizballah, and last...

This remains a nation of laws," former Ambassador Joe Wilson said on Friday -- and it also remains a nation of lawsuits, as Wilson demonstrated at a press conference in Washington. Wilson invited reporters to hear why he and his wife Valerie Plame are suing Vice President Dick Cheney, presidential adviser Karl Rove, and former vice presidential aide Lewis "Scooter" Libby. The lawsuit, filed in federal court on Thursday, accuses Cheney, Rove and Libby of conspiring to "discredit, punish and seek revenge" against Wilson -- for his criticism of the Bush administration as it built its case for the war...

Advertisement NEW YORK -- Republicans in Congress moved yesterday to cut U.S. contributions to the United Nations budget just one day before the world body is scheduled to lift a budget cap imposed by the United States and other donors and to resume spending as usual. At least $17 million has been sliced this week from the Bush administration's appropriations request for the U.N. regular budget, as frustration with the United Nations continues to fester among conservative lawmakers. Rep. Scott Garrett, New Jersey Republican, yesterday won approval in a House subcommittee to cut $2 million from the U.S. contribution to...

Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) says the United States needs to "change direction" in Iraq -- because "we can't win a war like this." Murtha, appearing on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday, said he's concerned about the financial and emotional costs of the war, not to mention the way it's being conducted: "We're not fighting this war," Murtha said, referring to officials in Washington who sit in air-conditioned offices. "One percent of the American people, these young men and women are fighting this war, with heavy packs, with 70 pounds of equipment, with helmets on in 130 degrees. That's who's...

The California Democrat currently acting as ranking member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee reportedly launched a profane verbal assault on two employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs after they labeled a press conference held outside the VA headquarters Tuesday a "publicity stunt." Rep. Bob Filner (D-Calif.) is described as "uttering obscenities" at the VA employees in one media account. Filner joined other Democrats Tuesday outside the VA's main offices to criticize VA Secretary Jim Nicholson for waiting three weeks to inform the public about the theft of a computer disc drive that contained the names, birthdates and Social...

While Pennsylvania Democratic Congressman John Murtha has ascended to the national stage as one of the most vocal critics of President Bush's handling of the war in Iraq, he has also long downplayed the controversy and bitterness surrounding the two Purple Hearts he was awarded for military service in Vietnam. Murtha is a retired marine and was the first Vietnam combat veteran elected to Congress. Since 1967, there have been at least three different accounts of the injuries that purportedly earned Murtha his Purple Hearts. Those accounts also appear to conflict with the limited military records that are available, and...