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.

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 …

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 …

HATEFUL 'MOVE' VS. JOE  —  SITE'S ANTI-JEWISH SLURS  —  A string of anti-Semitic rants about Sen. Joe Lieberman have popped up on the liberal MoveOn.org's open forum Web site, drawing criticism from the Anti-Defamation League.  —  It's the latest flap in the contentious race between Lieberman …

'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.

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.

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:

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.

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.

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 …

Yeas and Nays: Tuesday, Sept. 5  —  Inside the Beltway - Jeff DuFour and Patrick Gavin cover people, power and politics each weekday from inside the beltway.  Email them at yan@dcexaminer.com  —  The doctor's doctor  —  With Congress back in session today, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist …

ON LABOR DAY, MORE OF THE MINIMUM WAGE ARGUMENTS  —  According to Bureau of Labor stats, the number of people working in the US (16 or older) is 151,000,000.  And the number who earn or are paid minimum wage?  —  520,000 .  —  Yup. .  003 of the work force earns minimum wage.

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.

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.