Football makes strange bedfellows  —  Sept. 12: TomKat gets into the football spirit, and love of the Bears costs one fan more than $300,000.  "Countdown" host Keith Olbermann talks to Bears fan Randy Gonigam.  —  MSNBC TV  —  MORE FROM 'COUNTDOWN'  —  • Video: Where are we now?

Chafee BEATS Right Wing Laffey in RI Primary: Bolton Stance Supported  —  Lincoln Chafee has triumphed in his primary vote count tonight.  While many will groan about Chafee's victory because it makes the Rhode Island contest a greater hurdle for the Democratic challenger, I am pleased that Chafee has knocked out the far-right Laffey.

Democrats Call NSA's Input To Senate Panel Inappropriate  —  Democrats on the Senate intelligence committee are complaining that the National Security Agency has played politics in support of the secret program to intercept phone calls between alleged terrorists in the United States and abroad.

Reborn  —  We have always been told there is no recovery from persistent vegetative state - doctors can only make a sufferer's last days as painless as possible.  But is that really the truth?  Across three continents, severely brain-damaged patients are awake and talking after taking ... a sleeping pill.

California: Schwarzenegger by 8  —  Feinstein (D) 58% Mountjoy (R) 35%  —  In California's competitive gubernatorial race, Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger now leads Democratic challenger Phil Angelides 47% to 39% (see crosstabs).  He has thus added a couple points to what had been a six-point lead in August.

Violence rages in Iraq; 65 bodies found  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq - Police found the bodies of 65 men who had been tortured, shot and dumped, most around Baghdad, while car bombs, mortar attacks and shootings killed at least 30 people around Iraq and injured dozens more.

In Fifth District DFL race, Ellison outran opponents  —  The party's endorsed candidate captured 41 percent of the votes in the DFL primany.  Sabo's choice, Mike Erlandson, finished second.  —  State Rep. Keith Ellison overcame setbacks and questions about his past to win the DFL nomination …

The Cold Shoulder  —  IT'S FRIDAY NIGHT, and I'm trolling for interviews at the Code Pink protest outside Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.  But this time, Bruce "The Bouncer" Wolf makes it clear that I am persona non grata.  —  (Click here for audio)

House GOP Leaders Fight Wiretapping Limits  —  House leaders moved yesterday to temper many of the controls that a bill headed toward rapid passage would have imposed on the Bush administration's program for wiretapping terrorism suspects without court approval.

Jersey Turns, Dems Panic; Torricelli, Anyone?  —  A powerful clue that U.S. Senator Robert Menendez might ultimately be forced to withdraw from his bid for a full term in New Jersey emerged last Friday, when he addressed the question head-on just hours after the world learned that he is the subject of a federal criminal investigation.

You must do a lot more to pull your weight, Nato chief chides refuseniks  —  THE political head of Nato appealed yesterday for alliance members to provide hundreds more troops for the mission in southern Afghanistan.  —  With most of the fighting burden falling on the shoulders of the British …

Name the Earmarkers  —  REDSTATE WELCOMES THE MAJORITY LEADER … Last January, I warned of the need for action in Congress to combat the growing perception among Americans that their government is for sale.  I singled out the ancient congressional practice of "earmarking," …

Bush Tells Group He Sees a 'Third Awakening'  —  President Bush said yesterday that he senses a "Third Awakening" of religious devotion in the United States that has coincided with the nation's struggle with international terrorists, a war that he depicted as "a confrontation between good and evil."

Noe gets 27 months in federal prison for illegal Bush contributions  —  Tom Noe, the GOP fund-raiser at the heart of Ohio's biggest political scandal in a generation, was sentenced today to 27 months in a federal prison for illegally funneling money into President Bush's re-election campaign.

Pimping the Greatest Generation  —  The president seemed a little confused last night.  For the last two weeks he's been evoking images of WWII, talking about islamic fascists and the like.  Last night he seemed to be adding the Cold War into the mix.  Apparently, he wants people to believe …

Yes, senator, McCain-Feingold does censor political speech  —  WASHINGTON - Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., takes issue with The Examiner's editorial criticism of the McCain-Feingold bill and its "ban" on certain broadcast ads.  The indignant senator responds that the law "doesn't ban or censor any speech."