Monologues dialogues.  —  David Brooks's column yesterday began this way (TimesSelect link): … Today, we get the letters to the editor.  Gotta defend the iconic monologues, you know.  The first letter says Brooks "misses a key point, and that is power":

Kean calls for Hastert's resignation  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — New Jersey Republican Senate candidate Tom Kean Jr. on Friday called for House Speaker Dennis Hastert to resign over the congressional page cybersex scandal, making him the first major candidate in his party to do so.

White House aide to Rove resigns  —  WASHINGTON - A key aide to presidential political strategist Karl Rove resigned Friday after a congressional report listed hundreds of contacts between disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff and the White House.  —  Susan Ralston, special assistant to President Bush …

Personable Newspaper Executive Ultimately a 'Business Guy'  —  David Hiller is known for his way with people.  But observers expect him to make the bottom line his priority as publisher of The Times.  —  The occasion was the annual advertising department awards ceremony at the Chicago Tribune …

Pelosi says she would drain GOP 'swamp'  —  WASHINGTON - Franklin Roosevelt had his first hundred days.  —  House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi is thinking 100 hours, time enough, she says, to begin to "drain the swamp" after more than a decade of Republican rule.

Rice, in Baghdad, Insists That Iraqis Are 'Making Progress'  —  Wearing a helmet and a flak jacket and flanked by machine-gun-toting bodyguards to defend against insurgents, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice came here Thursday, insisting that there were new signs of progress in Iraq …

In Border Fence's Path, Congressional Roadblocks  —  No sooner did Congress authorize construction of a 700-mile fence on the U.S.-Mexico border last week than lawmakers rushed to approve separate legislation that ensures it will never be built, at least not as advertised, according to Republican lawmakers and immigration experts.

Columbia Faces New Challenges By GOP Group  —  The Columbia College Republicans are at it again.  On the heels of an event they hosted Wednesday, during which the founder of a group that patrols America's borders was attacked and forced offstage by angry protesters, the group is slated to host …

THE PARTISAN STRAITJACKET....David Ignatius: … That's not going to go down well in the blogosphere.  And yet, I don't think this is the sort of instinctive centrism that marks, say, David Broder.  It's more about temperament.  —  And tactics.  If Democrats win in November …

Cannon: Teens "egging on" Foley in online sex scandal  —  WASHINGTON - Rep. Chris Cannon today attempted to clarify public comments he made last night seeming to blame teen-age congressional pages in the unfolding scandal with disgraced ex-Rep. Mark Foley.  —  "These kids are actually precocious kids …

Job Growth Slows, Unemployment Rate Dips  —  Bush to Speak About Jobs and the Economy  —  The U.S. economy created far fewer jobs in September than anticipated, but revised job figures for previous months showed a surprisingly substantial uptick over what was previously reported.

MAKE SCHOOLS SAFE FOR KIDS, NOT CRIMINALS: In a new podcast for the Independence Institute's iVoices.org, I offer a shorter version of an argument I made in detail in a cover story of The Weekly Standard: the only realistic gun control policy which would stop school shootings …

Bush cites authority to bypass FEMA law  —  Signing statement is employed again  —  WASHINGTON — President Bush this week asserted that he has the executive authority to disobey a new law in which Congress has set minimum qualifications for future heads of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Investigation to Look at Facebook  —  University Says Social Networking Site 'Not Exempt'  —  Columbia will review information and images posted on students' Facebook profiles as part of its investigation into Wednesday night's Minutemen brawl, a University spokesman confirmed Thursday evening.

Conspiracy Theories Abound as Oil Prices Fluctuate  —  In mid-May with gasoline prices at $2.95 a gallon and rising, 15 percent of Americans listed high fuel prices as their top concern, outstripping terrorism.  And much of the public seemed ready to vent its wrath on President Bush and the Republican-led Congress.

Angels and Intelligence Estimates  —  Lost between the Foley tsunami and the Woodward hurricane is the storm that began the great Republican collapse of 2006.  It was only a few weeks ago that the Republicans were clawing their way back to contention for the November elections …

RACE CLASHES HIT WINDSOR  —  Extra police are being drafted into the Windsor area today after three nights of violent clashes between white and Asian youths.  —  Gangs have fought battles in the streets using baseball bats and pitchforks.  A Muslim-run dairy which wants to build a mosque was petrol bombed.