G.O.P. Sets Aside Work on Immigration  —  As they prepare for a critical pre-election legislative stretch, Congressional Republican leaders have all but abandoned a broad overhaul of immigration laws and instead will concentrate on national security issues they believe play to their political strength.

United House and Senate Democratic Leaders Urge President to Change Course in Iraq; Call for Changes to Iraq Policy  —  Contact: Jim Manley or Rebecca Kirszner (Harry Reid), 202-255-3736 or 202-281-5425; Brendan Daly (Nancy Pelosi), 202-225-3225  —  WASHINGTON, Sept. 4 /U.S. Newswire …

Condi takes historical analogies to an absurd level  —  Last week, top administration officials, including Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld, equated the war in Iraq with fighting Nazis in World War II.  As part of this analogy, the Bush gang made its critics out to be Neville Chamberlain …

'Mortgage Moms' May Star in Midterm Vote  —  With Wages Stagnant and Debt Growing, Democrats See an Opportunity  —  BURLINGTON, Ky. — Life is cramped at the Condit household.  Dale and Sharon Condit and their two young sons need more room but can't seem to sell their current home — on the market now for three months.

Voters are anti-incumbent and angry, new poll finds  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — Most Americans are angry about "something" when it comes to how the country is run, and they are more likely than in previous years to vote for a challenger this November, a new poll suggests.

Liberalism of Fools  —  The Moose objects to the pollution of the blogosphere.  —  For months, the Moose has observed that if you seek anti-Semitic and anti-Israel filth on the internet, look to the left side.  Comment threads and diariists regularly rant against Jews and the Jewish state.

Deadly blast in southern Lebanon  —  A bomb blast near the southern Lebanese city of Sidon has seriously wounded a senior intelligence officer and killed four of his aides and bodyguards.  —  Officials said Samir Shehadeh's car was hit by a remote-controlled bomb as he drove past the village of Rmeileh.

New Republic Suspends an Editor for Attacks on Blog  —  A senior editor at The New Republic was suspended and his blog was shut down on Friday after revelations that he was involved in anonymously attacking readers who criticized his posts.  —  Lee Siegel, creator of the Lee Siegel …

Fact or Fiction?  —  Can someone explain to me how, exactly, ABC thinks that marketing a fictional docudrama about 9/11 through the scintillating stylings of Hugh Hewitt is going to get them over the ratings hump against Monday Night Football on ESPN?  As Sheldon said here yesterday:

Abbas confirms deal on Shalit's release  —  Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas confirmed Tuesday that a deal had been reached to secure the release of kidnapped IDF soldier Cpl. Gilad Shalit.  —  Abbas told Bahrain-based newspaper El-Halij that Shalit would be transferred to Egypt …

U.S. Planes Mistakenly Hit Canadians In Afghanistan  —  One Soldier Is Killed In Incident in South  —  U.S. jets mistakenly strafed Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan on Monday, killing one and bringing to five the number of Canadian troops killed during a major push against the Taliban this weekend.

This Can't Be Love  —  Across the eastern United States, a gruesome ritual is in full swing.  The praying mantis and its relative, the Chinese mantis, are in their courtship season.  A male mantis approaches a female, flapping his wings and swaying his abdomen.  Leaping on her back, he begins to mate.

Nine held in Danish terror raids  —  Danish police have arrested nine suspected terrorists, the country's security intelligence service says.  —  The suspects, believed to be all men under the age of 30, were picked up during overnight raids in Odense, Denmark's third largest city.

Hands Off Constitutions  —  This Isn't the Way to Ban Same-Sex Marriage  —  The chief casualty in the struggle over same-sex marriage has been the American constitutional tradition.  Liberals and conservatives — judges and legislators — bear responsibility for this sad state of affairs.

Sudan's Offensive Comes at Key Time  —  The Sudanese government has dramatically intensified the war in Darfur in a bid to finish off a tenacious, three-year-old rebellion before a U.N. peacekeeping force can deploy there, say analysts, rebels and officials from the African Union monitoring mission.

Bush looking to revive Social Security, tax reform  —  President George W. Bush, in private conversation, is talking about trying to revive his tax and Social Security reform proposals after the 2006 elections.  —  Bush emphasized those two issues after his 2004 re-election victory, but neither made progress.

Afghan Symbol for Change Becomes a Symbol of Failure  —  LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan — It began last summer.  —  On a July morning, Taliban gunmen shot dead the province's most powerful cleric as he walked to the main city mosque to lead morning prayers.  Five months later …