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SCOTT STANTISCourtesy Birmingham News

MIKE KEEFECourtesy Denver Post

The November Elections

“It was a thumping,” said President Bush in assessing the results ofmid-term elections that handed the Democrats control of both housesof Congress. Democrats needed to pick up a net fifteen House seatsand six Senate seats to wrest control from the GOP, who had controlledCongress since 1994. They easily captured the House and gainedexactly six Senate seats to build a 51-49 majority. Many observerscalled it one of the nastiest campaigns in years, with particularly out-rageous television ads tainting races in Missouri, and Ohio, and Geor-gia, and . . . well, a lot of other states.

The sobering loss was attributed to a variety of factors: GOP scan-dals, an unpopular war, and the historical tendency for the party inpower to suffer significant losses in mid-term elections. ProbableRepublican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain offered his analy-sis: Too many Republicans had not been “careful stewards of taxpayers’dollars” and had not “adhered to conservative principles.”

The ballots were still being counted when President Bush announcedthe resignation of embattled Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. For-mer CIA Director Robert Gates, called by Bush “an agent of change,”was named to replace him.

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CLAY BENNETTCourtesy Christian Science Monitor

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BOB GORRELLCourtesy Creators Syndicate

STEVE GREENBERGCourtesy Ventura County Star

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ED HALLCourtesy DBR Media

MIKE PETERSCourtesy Dayton Daily News

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JAMES D. CROWECourtesy Mobile Register

ED STEINCourtesy Rocky Mountain News (Colo.)

Terrorism / Iraq

Worldwide terrorism showed no signs of lessening during 2006. Sevenmen, five of them United States citizens, were arrested in a plot tobomb the Sears Tower in Chicago. British authorities thwarted a plotto simultaneously blow up ten or more aircraft leaving London’sHeathrow Airport. The terrorists intended to use explosives disguisedas harmless liquids or gels. A plan to attack train tunnels around NewYork City was also defused.

The new government in Iraq seemed unable to make Baghdad andother parts of the country safe, even with the help of U.S. soldiers.Insurgents killed an average of scores of civilians a day throughoutthe year, primarily by suicide bombers and roadside explosive devices.

In Afghanistan, the Taliban increased the tempo of its attacks againstthe government. Troops from the U.S., Great Britain, and Canada con-tinued to aid Afghani soldiers in their offensives against militantstrongholds.

Zacarias Moussaoui, the only person to be tried in connection withthe 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York, was found guilty and sentencedto life in prison. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the most wanted terrorist inIraq, died when U.S. planes bombed his safehouse.

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NICK ANDERSONCourtesy Houston Chronicle

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RANDY BISHCourtesy Tribune-Review (Pa.)

ANN WHITNEY CLEAVESCourtesy The Palisadian Post (Calif.)

JACK CHAPMANCourtesy DeSoto Times Today

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JAKE FULLERCourtesy Gainesville Sun

STEVE BREENCourtesy San Diego Union-Tribune

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HAP PITKINCourtesy Boulder Daily Camera

JACK HIGGINSCourtesy Chicago Sun-Times

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SCOTT STANTISCourtesy Birmingham News

CARL MOORECourtesy Creators Syndicate

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BRUCE BEATTIECourtesy Daytona Beach News-Journal

DAVID G. BROWNCourtesy Los Angeles Sentinel

ROBERT ARIAILCourtesy The State (S.C.)

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ALAN VITELLOCourtesy Greeley Tribune

ED FISCHERCourtesy Rochester Post-Bulletin

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MARK BAKERCourtesy Army Times

WILLIAM WALLACECourtesy Powell Tribune (Wyo.)

CLAY JONESCourtesy Free Lance-Star (Va.)

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JERRY BARNETTCourtesy Boonville Standard (Ind.)

WAYNE STAYSKALCourtesy Tribune Media Services

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ROY PETERSONCourtesy Vancouver Sun MARK BAKER

Courtesy Army Times

ED GAMBLECourtesy Florida Times-Union

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BOB ENGLEHARTCourtesy Hartford Courant

ADAM ZYGLISCourtesy Buffalo News

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ETTA HULMECourtesy Fort Worth Star-Telegram STEVE GREENBERG

Courtesy Ventura County Star

ROB ROGERSCourtesy Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

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AARON TAYLORCourtesy The Daily Herald (Utah)

MARTY RISKINCourtesy Melrose Free Press (Mass.)

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STEVE GREENBERGCourtesy Ventura County Star

PAUL CONRADCourtesy Tribune Media Services