At U.N., Chavez calls Bush 'the devil'  —  UNITED NATIONS - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez took his verbal battle with the United States to the floor of the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday, calling President Bush "the devil."  —  The impassioned speech by the leftist leader came …

AP vs. the "so-called blogosphere"  —  It's spin time.  The Associated (With Terrorists) Press is now waging a p.r. campaign against what it calls the "so-called blogosphere" over detained photographer Bilal Hussein.  After five months of stonewalling, the "so-called reporters" …

This man's sign says it all.  —  Tens of thousands of freedom loving people showed up from all over the country.  —  It was gorgeous.  They came in droves to protest holocaust denier, nuked up Ahmadinejad's outrageous appearance at the UN.  —  Here in this video I ask the Headmaster …

McAuliffe to join Clinton  —  Former Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe has told business associates and Democratic donors that he will chair Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's (D-N.Y.) presidential campaign next year, according to several Democratic sources.

Roger Waters: The Pink in Floyd  —  For the second time in my life, I'm writing a column about Pink Floyd.  More specifically, the man I have always considered to be the brains of the band: Roger Waters.  The first time I wrote about him was 26-years ago when I was a high school senior at C.B. West …

The Sharpton Factor  —  Who knew a weeks-old endorsement from the Rev. Al Sharpton could cause such a commotion in Connecticut?  (Then again, everything causes a commotion in Connecticut.)  —  First, a primer: During the primary, Ned Lamont had just a handful of Democratic stars swing …

Mark Warner: About Those Tax Cuts...  Ex-VA Gov. Mark Warner (D) wants you to know: he thinks the Bush tax cuts for the richest Americans, enacted during an expensive war and with rising federal budget deficits, were "morally wrong and economically wrong" and that he would indeed support their repeal.

STEWART ON BENEDICT....As much as I enjoy the Daily Show, I occasionally get tired of suggestions that Jon Stewart is the only guy in America who "really gets it."  Yesterday, however, I finally got around to reading Pope Benedict's recent remarks on reason and faith, and I was appalled.

More on that USA Today/Gallup Poll  —  Our update to the Slate Election Scorecard yesterday tries to put the results for the generic congressional vote from the USA Today/Gallup survey into some perspective.  It also reintroduces the controversy over likely voter models in general …

Editing Horizontally: Thanks to Reuters, NewAssignment.Net Can Hire Someone  —  They're giving us $100,000.  That will underwrite the costs of hiring our first editor, which is going to be a fun job.  —  Today I am announcing at Comment is Free and PressThink that Reuters is giving $100,000 to NewAssignment.Net.

Life Is Better; It Isn't Better.  Which Is It?  —  When the first snow falls on the North Shore of Chicago this winter, Robert Gordon will take his Toro snow blower out of the garage and think about how lucky he is not to be using a shovel.  Mr. Gordon is 66 years old and evidently quite healthy …

Panel Leans Toward Phased Iraq Withdrawal or International Talks  —  WASHINGTON — A panel mandated by Congress to develop new Iraq policy is leaning toward recommending either a phased withdrawal of soldiers or a new engagement initiative with Iran and Syria to end the violence in Iraq.

Bush says would go after bin Laden in Pakistan  —Text+WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush said on Wednesday if he had firm intelligence that Osama bin Laden was in Pakistan, he would issue the order to go into that country after the al Qaeda leader.

Everybody Has One: Bloggers and the Death of Opinion Journalism  —  Not that long ago, many people thought the Internet would break down partisan boundaries and improve the quality of political debate in this country — a prediction that sounds as silly today as previous hype about the educational potential of television and radio.

Washington Blade Parts Ways With Jeff Gannon  —  Following Executive Editor Chris Crain's departure from The Washington Blade, the paper chose Kevin Naff as his replacement this week.  One of Naff's first decisions was to sever ties with columnist Jeff Gannon.  —  We spoke with Naff:

Jihad enablers  —  Before you can discuss the manifest seriousness of the latest controversy involving the pope, you have to acknowledge its hilarity.  Pope Benedict XVI, in an austere philosophical address, invoked Byzantine emperor Manuel II Paleologus, the 14th century ruler who offered a harsh assessment of Islam.

Allen tells of his Jewish heritage  —  He acknowledges he knew of his lineage when faulting a reporter for her question  —  U.S. Sen. George Allen, R-Va., yesterday acknowledged his Jewish ancestry, a day after angrily ducking a question about possible Jewish forebears in a debate with his Democratic challenger.