And while at Captain's Quarters, don't miss the post on the   soon-to-be-an-embarrassment column regarding the 2008 presidential race today, naming John McCain as the Republican frontrunner for the nomination. John McCain as frontrunner? What a sense of humor - the guy is a joke, not really a Republican, and just might have trouble being re-elected in his own state!

Dan at Digger's Realm has the story on "Save Our State" holding a second rally protesting a taxpayer funded monument in Baldwin Park at the Metrolink Station declaring that California would once again be part of Mexico. Previously, they were attacked by Mexican reconquistas and supporters of illegal aliens on May 14th, 2005 (pics and video here).

Arthur Chrenkoff has a great idea and posts on a concept that many Americans have probably churned over in their minds. He suggests, "Creating an "ownership society" in Iraq could not only fuel democracy in one country. It could set a worthy example for other oil-rich nations. It could help secure a lasting peace, grounded in commonsense, Rawlsian justice. Such an outcome might, in some measure, redeem the sacrifices that Iraqis, Americans and our coalition allies are now enduring."  Read it ...

John Burgess at Crossroads Arabia, in yesterday's post, has an interview with  Thomas Lippman, formerly a foreign correspondent for The Washington Post, is the author of Inside the Mirage: America's Fragile Relationship with Saudi Arabia (reviewed here) is currently an Adjunct Scholar at the Middle East Institute. John also covers Secretary of State Rice's press roundtable with Saudi media in Riyadh yesterday. She was joined by American Ambassador Oberwetter and John has a link to a full transcript of that meeting. The Arab News report on it can be found at this link.

And last but certainly not least, don't forget to check out Scrappleface's expose of "LEAK: Durbin Apology Draft Differs from Final Version."