* SD Democratic Senator Tim Johnson is in critical condition following emergency brain surgery. Everybody pray panic. [WP

* It was Pentagon day in President Bush's whirlwind "gimmie advice" tour, with the Joint Chiefs backing the "train 'em, don't fight 'em" plan for Iraq. [WP, NYT]

* Nancy Pelosi to satiate Democrats' lust for overseeing things by announcing creation of a new intelligence spending panel. [WSJ]

* Also, war funding will be made part of the regular budget. [NYT]

* The lone Republican ray of hope: '08 hopefuls have reputations independent of "boat anchor" Bush. [WSJ]

* All you gotta know about Charlie Rangel is, "he's awesome!" [WP]

* The 2006 Midterms put Tom DeLay "in the grave with dirt on top of him." [WP]

* Subpoena issued for the ACLU to return a memo with information "mildly embarrassing" to the government. [WP, NYT]