Top Items:
Washington Post:
House Republicans Move to Back Hastert — Speaker Gains Support as Lawmakers, President Seek Best Defense Against Scandal — Republicans are calculating that the smartest way to survive the Mark Foley sex scandal is to rally around House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) …
Discussion:
Hot Air, AMERICAblog, Riehl World View, Time, Associated Press, LamontBlog, The Carpetbagger Report and TPMmuckraker
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Jeff Zeleny / New York Times:
Hastert Vows to Overcome Scandal — J. Dennis Hastert, who was installed as House speaker eight years ago through backroom maneuvering in a moment of crisis for his party, has no distinct power base in Congress, not much of a national reputation and, in an age of television politics, little polish in front of the camera.
Dan Eggen / Washington Post:
Watchdog Group Disputes FBI's Claims on E-Mails
Watchdog Group Disputes FBI's Claims on E-Mails
Discussion:
UPI, Riehl World View, CNN, The Strata-Sphere, Super Fun Power Hour, Townhall.com Blog's …, Think Progress, Citizens Blogging … and Macsmind
Alan Cooperman / Washington Post:
GOP's Hold on Evangelicals Weakening — Party's Showing in Midterm Elections May Be Hurt as Polls Indicate Support Dropping in Base — ANOKA, Minn. — Lynn Sunde, an evangelical Christian, is considering what for her is a radical step. Come November, she may vote for a Democrat for Congress.
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Asia Times:
Kim's message: War is coming to US soil — Speaking Freely is an Asia Times Online feature that allows guest writers to have their say. Please click here if you are interested in contributing. — The Foreign Ministry of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea announced on October 3 …
Discussion:
THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, QandO, The Real Ugly American.com, The Moderate Voice and Blue Crab Boulevard
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Captain Ed / Captain's Quarters:
North Korea: War Is Coming To American Soil — A rambling, disjointed editorial by a man known as Kim Jong-Il's "unofficial spokesman" tells Asia Times readers that North Korea does not intend to build its nuclear weapons to use as bargaining chips. Kim will build them to turn American cities into "towering infernos":
Josh Hirschland / Columbia Daily Spectator:
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.
Discussion:
The Corner
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David Espo / Associated Press:
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.
David S. Cloud / New York Times:
Senator Says U.S. Should Rethink Iraq Strategy — The Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee warned Thursday that the situation in Iraq was "drifting sideways" and said that the United States should consider a "change of course" if violence did not diminish soon.
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Philip Shenon / New York Times:
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 …
Keith Olbermann / MSNBC:
A special comment about lying — Keith Olbermann on the difference between terrorists and critics — SPECIAL COMMENT — While the leadership in Congress has self-destructed over the revelations of an unmatched, and unrelieved, march through a cesspool ...
Discussion:
The American Street, All Spin Zone, Comments From Left Field, NewsBusters.org and Inside Cable News
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Leslie Miller / Associated Press:
Bush says he can edit security reports — WASHINGTON - President Bush, again defying Congress, says he has the power to edit the Homeland Security Department's reports about whether it obeys privacy rules while handling background checks, ID cards and watchlists.
Lewis Smith / Times of London:
Seizures of radioactive materials fuel 'dirty bomb' fears — SEIZURES of smuggled radioactive material capable of making a terrorist "dirty bomb" have doubled in the past four years, according to official figures seen by The Times. — Smugglers have been caught trying …
John F. Harris / Washington Post:
New Media A Weapon in New World Of Politics — At first glance, three uproars that buffeted American politics in recent weeks have little in common. — Former congressman Mark Foley (R-Fla.) ended his political career over sexually charged e-mails to former House pages.
Associated Press:
Purported spokesman for an Iraqi insurgent group offers negotiations with the United States — BAGHDAD, Iraq A purported spokesman for a Sunni insurgent group, the Islamic Army in Iraq, offered to open negotiations with the Americans in an audiotape aired by Al-Jazeera television on Thursday.
Gay Patriot:
Human Rights Campaign Involved in Gay GOP Witchhunt — **UPDATE BELOW** — David Corn, who said he would never publish the names on "The List", seems to be outing by dribbles now. He has already named a name, proving he is a hypocrite. — But in a stab to the heart of every gay …
Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:
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 …
USA Today:
Race for Senate control tightens — WASHINGTON — Democrats are within striking distance of winning control of the Senate in the Nov. 7 elections, USA TODAY/Gallup Polls in six key states show as the campaigns head into their final month. — The number of Republican-held seats …