President Hugo Chavez Delivers Remarks at the U.N. General Assembly  —  SPEAKER: HUGO CHAVEZ, PRESIDENT OF VENEZUELA  —  CHAVEZ (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): ... over our heads.  I had considered reading from this book, but for the sake of time, I shall just leave it as a recommendation.  It reads easily.

Poll Finds Most Americans Displeased With Congress  —  With the midterm elections less than seven weeks away, Americans have an overwhelmingly negative view of the Republican-controlled Congress, with substantial majorities saying that they disapprove of the job it is doing and that its members …

Allen's Mother Revealed Jewish Heritage to Him Last Month  —  Henrietta "Etty" Allen said Wednesday that she concealed her upbringing as a Jew in North Africa from her children, including Sen. George Allen (R-Va.), until a conversation across the dining room table in late August.

Ideals and Realities Clash In Bush 'Freedom Agenda'  —  At the United Nations lectern this week, President Bush hailed the spread of democracy.  "From Beirut to Baghdad," he said, "people are making the choice for freedom."  Yet even as he spoke, tanks were rolling through the streets …

Bombshell: ABC independently confirms success of CIA "torture" tactics  —  Ace e-mailed me the instant this finished airing on O'Reilly with the subject header "must record".  He was right, as you'll see.  —  Anti-"torture" absolutists like Sullivan adamantly deny that harsh tactics produce reliable information.

Klobuchar aide loses job for viewing leaked Kennedy ad  —  Communications director was asked to resign after watching an unreleased Kennedy ad on the Web.  —  A high-level staffer on Amy Klobuchar's U.S. Senate campaign has lost her job and the DFLer's race against Republican Mark Kennedy …

Independence Days  —  American politics reached a critical turn last week.  The revolt of several Republican senators against President Bush's insistence on a free hand in treating terrorist detainees signaled the emergence of an independent force in elections and government.

Senate GOP Flock Wanders as Election Nears  —  Tuesdays in the Senate are normally reserved for catered "policy lunches" aimed at getting the party on message for the week.  But things are far from normal in the Senate these days.  —  Republicans circulated in and out of this week's luncheon …

U.S. Policy on Iran Evolves Toward Diplomacy  —  Before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, U.S. officials confidently predicted that the toppling of Saddam Hussein would lead to renewed momentum on the Israeli-Palestinian peace track.  "The road to Jerusalem leads through Baghdad" was a common refrain.

No One Dares to Help  —  The wounded die alone on Baghdad's streets.  An offer of aid could be your own death sentence, an Iraqi reporter writes. … BAGHDAD — On a recent Sunday, I was buying groceries in my beloved Amariya neighborhood in western Baghdad when I heard the sound of an AK-47 for about three seconds.

The Rightroots 15 Day Challenge: Success!  —  When we started the whole 15 day challenge, I figured it wouldn't be all that hard to pull in 100 contributions for each of our 21 candidates.  However, we got off to a really slow start and something that normally is a big positive …

Suits Say U.S. Impeded Audits for Oil Leases  —  Four government auditors who monitor leases for oil and gas on federal property say the Interior Department suppressed their efforts to recover millions of dollars from companies they said were cheating the government.

Ehrlich Wants Paper Ballots For Nov. Vote  —  State Election Chief Says Staff Toiling to Fix Electronic Glitches  —  A week after the primary election was plagued by human error and technical glitches, Maryland Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R) called yesterday for the state to scrap …

Rangel Vows Bipartisanship, Action on Trade as House Panel Head  —  Sept. 20 (Bloomberg) — Democratic Representative Charles Rangel vowed to reach out to Republicans if his party wins control of the House in November, while acknowledging that they may find his plans for changing tax policy unpalatable.

Libya's travesty  —  Six medical workers in Libya face execution.  It is not too late for scientists to speak up on their behalf.  —  Imagine that five American nurses and a British doctor have been detained and tortured in a Libyan prison since 1999, and that a Libyan prosecutor called …

Keith Olbermann and Jane Hamsher Discuss Politics and Blogs  —  Keith had Jane from Firedoglake on tonight to talk about the meeting last week with Bill Clinton and progressive bloggers, as well as Hillary's possible 2008 run.  —  Video -WMV Video - QT  —  It is good to see Bill Clinton …

False Claims About Body Armor  —  A new group falsely accuses Republicans of voting against body armor for troops.  Both sides have misled the public about this issue.  —  Summary  —  A new ad claims Republican Sen. George Allen of Virginia "voted against giving our troops" modern body armor.

CIA 'refused to operate' secret jails  —  The Bush administration had to empty its secret prisons and transfer terror suspects to the military-run detention centre at Guantánamo this month in part because CIA interrogators had refused to carry out further interrogations and run the secret facilities …

Carey defends the Pope  —  I was all set to concoct a posting called something like "Why I am not a Christian - reason number seventeen" ho ho, about how you can't expect much in the way of a robust defence of Civilisation against Islamic barbarism from people whose basic belief about their enemies …

Harris to stump with president afterall  —  WASHINGTON — On Tuesday morning, it looked like U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris was going to miss Thursday's rally in Orlando with President Bush and Republican gubernatorial nominee Charlie Crist.  —  Harris' schedule showed her participating in votes …