The US Congress has overwhelmingly approved tough new sanctions on Syria over its alleged ties to Muslim extremists and claimed efforts to obtain nuclear, biological and chemical weapons.

But Democrat senator Robert Byrd, who voted against the measure, said he feared it could lead to US military action against Syria.
"The bill speaks of hostile actions by Syria against US-led forces in Iraq," he said.

The Pew survey found that white evangelicals are leaving the Democratic Party in droves. Fifteen years ago, white evangelicals were split equally between the two parties; now they're twice as likely to be Republicans. Likewise, white Catholics who attend Mass regularly used to be strongly Democratic; now they are more likely to be Republican.

krugman - Yesterday's absurd conspiracy theory about the Bush administration has a way of turning into today's conventional wisdom. Remember when people were ridiculed for claiming that Dick Cheney and Paul Wolfowitz, eager to fight a war, were hyping the threat from Iraq?