Top GOP Staffer Forced Out for Role in Page Scandal  —  Brian Ross and Rhonda Schwartz Report:  —  ABC News' Senior National Correspondent Jake Tapper reports that Kirk Fordham has resigned.  —  The chief of staff for Republican Congressman Tom Reynolds, Kirk Fordham …

Powell: Staying course in Iraq isn't enough  —  The United States and allies can not resolve the current sectarian violence in Iraq, former Secretary of State Colin Powell said today during a lecture in Minneapolis.  —  "Only the Iraqi people can resolve this," Powell said.

Bush Labor Board Takes Organizing Rights Away From Millions Of Nurses And Other Workers  —  This afternoon, George W. Bush's National Labor Relations Board, in a party-line 3-2 decision, took away bargaining rights for millions of American nurses and other workers.

Banned on YouTube  —  Back in February, you may remember, I cobbled together a little mini-movie called "First, They Came" inspired by the Mohammed Cartoon riots.  It's a simple slideshow highlighting the victims of Islamic violence over the years.  We posted it at YouTube a while ago.  No problems.

Gunman Said He Molested Girls Long Ago  —  QUARRYVILLE, Pa. (AP) - Charles Carl Roberts IV started buying supplies for a siege six days before storming the one-room Amish school.  He made a checklist of what to bring.  He wrote out four suicide notes.  —  Carrying several guns …

U.S. Military Ties Iraqi Unit to Militia  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) — Iraqi authorities have taken a brigade of up to 700 policemen out of service and put members under investigation for ''possible complicity'' with death squads following a mass kidnapping earlier this week, the U.S. military said Wednesday.

Man Sues Secret Service Agent Over Arrest After Approaching Cheney and Denouncing War  —  A Colorado man who was arrested in June on harassment charges after he approached Vice President Dick Cheney to denounce the war in Iraq filed a federal lawsuit on Tuesday accusing a Secret Service agent of civil rights violations.

Tequila Mockingbird  —  JUSTICE SCALIA OPENS THE 2006 TERM WITH A BANG.  —  My cabdriver seems to be taking pains to stick to the back streets on his way to the Supreme Court this morning; he's steering clear of the streets that bound the Capitol Building, as if all the sex/influence peddling …

Reuters/Zogby Poll: Dems Hold Leads in Races for Key House GOP Seats as Republicans grapple with sex scandal  —  Democrats hold leads in races for 11 out of 15 key Republican-held House seats, the first in a series of Reuters/Zogby tracking polls shows.  This sets the stage for a full-tilt battle …

Al-Qaida's Narrative of Doubt  —  Several declassified al-Qaida documents — one discovered after the June 2006 air strike that killed al-Qaida's Iraqi emir, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi — strongly suggest al-Qaida's leaders fear they are losing the War on Terror.  —  On Sept. 18, Iraqi National …

R.W. Apple, a Times Journalist in Full, Dies at 71  —  R. W. Apple Jr., who in more than 40 years as a correspondent and editor at The New York Times wrote about war and revolution, politics and government, food and drink, and the revenge of living well from more than 100 countries, died early this morning in Washington.

GOP Playbook: Studds, Studds, Studds  —  You've heard Tom DeLay refer to it.  The Indiana Republican Party chair held a telephone news conference to talk to about it.  It's the talking point of the day for Republicans — and yes, it is a talking point.  —  Gerry Studds (D-MA) had sex with a 17-year-old male page.

W. Va. Lawmaker Embarasssed by Photos  —  CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A state senator said he is evaluating whether to continue his bid for a second term after a Charleston television station aired revealing pictures of him last week.  —  "My family has urged me not to withdraw from the election …