When Edwards Nips Senate, Dodd Bites Back

"They have more time because people take more shots at them and we allow them to respond in fairness," Alongi said. "No one was taking shots at Mike Gravel."

Politics Trumps Prominence

Freshman Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) has found herself uninvited as the commencement speaker at her daughter's Catholic high school's graduation because her positions supporting abortion rights and embryonic stem cell research are not in sync with the teachings of the church.

McCaskill spokeswoman Adrianne Marsh said yesterday that McCaskill had been invited to speak at St. Joseph's Academy in a St. Louis suburb but received a call rescinding the invitation.

"We don't want to spend a lot of time talking about this, in the interest of her daughters, who both attend the school," said Marsh. "We want to ensure the girls are able to enjoy the commencement and not be put on political display."

In a statement, McCaskill said: "I was thrilled that the great, young women at St. Joseph's Academy invited me to speak at their graduation. It was a special opportunity because my daughter is one of the graduates. I'm disappointed that the Archbishop has made this decision. It does not diminish my respect and admiration for St. Joseph's Academy, their faculty, and students."

Petraeus's Lifesaver

As Gen. David Petraeus-- top commander of U.S. forces in Iraq -- was being grilled in Washington last week about the progress of the war, he could have used that friendly face in Congress he could always count on: Bill Frist, the Republican senator from Tennessee who retired last year.

One of the less-known facts about the men is that before Frist was majority leader of the Senate and before Petraeus was dispatched to Iraq, Frist helped save Petraeus's life.

A surgeon, Frist remembers the episode with precision. It was Sept. 21, 1991 -- three years before Frist was elected to the Senate -- and the doctor was the head of thoracic trauma at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

He was at a sporting event with his oldest son when he was summoned to the hospital to handle a patient shot in an accident at Fort Campbell in Kentucky. Frist met the helicopter on the roof of the hospital and found Petraeus with a gaping hole in his chest, hemorrhaging.

"Stop wasting time," a barely conscious Petraeus ordered Frist. "Open my chest this very minute if you need to."

Recounting the incident in an e-mail to The Post, Petraeus said he had been leading a training exercise when a soldier tripped, accidentally firing his M16. The bullet ripped through Petraeus about an inch from his heart -- the only time he has ever been shot.

"The surgery . . . repaired the damage done by the M16 round that went right through my right chest -- happily over the 'A' in PETRAEUS rather than over the 'A' in U.S. ARMY (as the latter is over my heart)," he wrote.

Frist and Petraeus became friends, running together and visiting each other with their families. "He is a truly great guy who is concerned about others. . . . He took a huge interest in the soldiers and families at Fort Campbell -- one time even spending a night in the barracks with our troopers to experience life from their perspective," wrote Petraeus.

But Frist was not on hand a few years later when Petraeus broke his pelvis after his parachute collapsed at low altitude. Obviously, the general lived to tell the tale.