The US Republican Party, like any major party in a two party system? is a bit of a frankenstein mix of different interest groups?, cultures and philosophies. Now closing out the first year of his second term, George Bush's administration has seemed to do something to alienate all of them.

"WASHINGTON — The US House of Representatives voted Thursday to extend the USA Patriot Act, the nation's main antiterrorism tool, just hours after televisions in the Capitol beamed images of a new attack in London. 14 of the 16 original provisions of the Patriot Act we made permanent and the House will extend the other two for an additional 10 years.

Iran - June 18, 2005 Iran is in a struggle for its own political soul, Iran’s presidential elections on June 17th resulted in no clear winner. Business tycoon Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani had a slight lead with 18.37 percent of the votes, followed closely by a hardliner - Tehran's mayor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with 17% and reformist Mehdi Karroubi with 15.22 percent. On election day George Bush? criticised the clerical authorities for interfering in the election process.In late May, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme clerical leader of the Islamic republic acted to reinstate two reformers who had not been on the list of “acceptable” candidates for the Presidency. Iran's former vice president, reformist Mohammad Ali Abtahi, who quit the cabinet in 2004, explained that the core problem was "finding an equilibrium" between democracy, human rights and Islam.