POWDER PUFF SPOOKS KEITH  —  MSNBC loudmouth Keith Olbermann flipped out when he opened his home mail yesterday.  The acerbic host of "Countdown with Keith Olbermann" was terrified when he opened a suspicious-looking letter with a California postmark and a batch of white powder poured out.

House approves bill on terror detainees  —  WASHINGTON - The House approved legislation Wednesday giving the Bush administration authority to interrogate and prosecute terrorism detainees, moving President Bush to the edge of a pre-election victory with a key piece of his anti-terror plan.

Ailes: `An assault on all journalists'  —  NEW YORK - Fox News chief Roger Ailes says former President Clinton's response to Chris Wallace's question about going after Osama bin Laden represents "an assault on all journalists."  —  Ailes said Clinton had a "wild overreaction" in the interview, broadcast on "Fox News Sunday."

Deja vu — Judith Apter Klinghoffer  —  POLL: AL QAEDA LOST IN IRAQ  —  Al Qaeda has desicively lost the Iraqi battlefield. … Iraqi confidence in Iraqi forces (as opposed to militias) is increasing while its confidence in US forces is decreasing.  Given US policies there can be little doubt …

New Hope for Democrats in Bid for Senate  —  Six weeks before Election Day, the Democrats suddenly face a map with unexpected opportunities in their battle for control of the Senate.  —  In Virginia, a state that few expected to be seriously competitive, Senator George Allen, a Republican …

Bush urges bickering allies on terrorism  —  WASHINGTON - President Bush appealed to the bickering presidents of Pakistan and Afghanistan on Wednesday to put aside their differences and "strategize together" over dinner on ways to defeat the common enemy of terrorism.

Rushing Off a Cliff  —  Here's what happens when this irresponsible Congress railroads a profoundly important bill to serve the mindless politics of a midterm election: The Bush administration uses Republicans' fear of losing their majority to push through ghastly ideas about antiterrorism …

Casey increases lead over Santorum  —  Democrat Bob Casey appears to have doubled his lead over Sen. Rick Santorum in Pennsylvania's Senate race, according to a poll released today.  —  Mr. Casey had a 14-point lead in the Quinnipiac University Poll, with 54 percent of likely voters saying …

BLUE AMERICA: Angie Paccione (CO-04)  —  [Angie Paccione joins us in the comments today to discuss her candidacy in the CO-04.  Please stop by and give her a great FDL welcome.  As always in Blue America threads, please stay on topic and please be polite.  Welcome, Angie!  — CHS]

Allen and Webb Keep Digging  —  George Allen's and James Webb's race to the bottom continues in a heated fashion.  —  Today we learned, and you may want to sit down for this, Webb may have used the N-word.  For people who have read Webb's books, this comes as something less than an earth-shattering revelation.

What Do You Know?  —  If you're an American college student, probably not much. … So how is America's modern education system doing in this regard?  Are our citizens enlightened enough to exercise the powers of our democracy?  Do our colleges and universities provide their students …

On the NIE, the Right and the Left Are Both Wrong  —  The National Intelligence Estimate regarding trends in global terrorism, partially released by the administration yesterday in response to weekend news leaks, is not centrally about Iraq, and it is certainly not the final word on the subject.

Chairman seeks review, possible removal of memorial inscriptions  —  PHOENIX — A state commission that authorized placement of the Arizona 9-11 Memorial in Wesley Bolin Plaza will review controversial laser-cut inscriptions "and see if some of them could be removed," the panel's chairman said Wednesday.

Mitt Romney lies about abortion  —  "I believe that abortion should be safe and legal in this country.  I have since the time when my Mom took that position when she ran in 1970 as a U.S. Senate candidate.  I believe that since Roe v. Wade has been the law for 20 years that we should sustain and support it …

Jeanine Pirro Under Criminal Investigation  —  ALBANY, N.Y. — NewsChannel 4's Jonathan Dienst has learned Jeanine Pirro, the Republican candidate for New York Attorney General, has been under state and federal criminal investigation.  — Images: Pirro Probed For Alleged Spy Plan

GOP Attack Calls May Violate Fed Rules  —  Starting about four weeks ago, Paige Barnes said she started getting "tons of calls a day," sometimes between ten and twenty, from angry West Virginians and Iowans, demanding that her company stop bombarding them with political calls.

UK military claim Taleban defeat  —  The Taleban are tactically defeated in Helmand, the commander of the UK forces in Afghanistan has said.  —  Brigadier Ed Butler told the BBC that Nato had inflicted significant casualties on the Taleban who had failed to remove them from the south.