DID DEMOCRATS COVER UP FOLEY MISDEEDS?  —  Various Democrats are accusing Republicans of covering up Congressman Mark Foley's boy problem, a charge for which there is no evidence.  One wonders, though, whether that is exactly what the Democratic Party did.  —  How did the email …

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 …

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.

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":

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 …

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 …

EUGENE ROBINSON GOES DEEP  —  The Washington Post has several bad op-ed columnists, but Eugene Robinson is in a league by himself.  In a column by E.J. Dionne or Harold Meyerson, the reader usually finds at least one piece of pertinent evidence.  And the critic usually finds one layer …

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 …

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 …

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.

Budget Deficit Drops to $250 Billion  —  The federal budget estimate for the fiscal year just completed dropped to $250 billion, congressional estimators said Friday, as the economy continues to fuel impressive tax revenues.  —  The Congressional Budget Office's latest estimate …

Oops, I Thought Matt Drudge Was the "Walter Cronkite of His Era"  —  Famous for doing the GOP's bidding by launching smear offensives against Democrats (see the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth), Matt Drudge this week became completely unglued over the widening Mark Foley scandal …