How low can the Republicans go?  —  Americans are divided over whether Hastert should resign  —  Come hell or high water-ran the conventional wisdom-Republicans could rely on two issues to win elections: the war on terror and values.  Then came Mark Foley.

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood denounces what it calls 'new Danish insults' to Islam  —  CAIRO, Egypt Egypt's largest Islamic group, the Muslim Brotherhood, on Saturday denounced what it called "new Danish insults" to Islam and urged the world to boycott countries that allow offenses to all religions.

Ex-congressman lashes out  —  In prison letter, he blames contractor for downfall, reporter for his pain  —  WASHINGTON - In a handwritten letter to the reporter who exposed his corruption, former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham portrays life in prison as an agonizing time of regret …

Castro Is Reported to Have Cancer  —  U.S. intelligence reports now say the Cuban leader's condition appears terminal, government officials tell TIME  —  Ever since President Fidel Castro was sidelined for what was said to be abdominal surgery last July, Cuban officials have maintained …

Echoing Drudge and Savage, Dobson and Henninger claimed Foley scandal is "sort of a joke" and a "prank[ ]" by pages … Commenting on the congressional page scandal surrounding former Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL) on the October 6 broadcast of Focus on the Family, James Dobson …

Brave heroes hounded out  —  and TOM REILLY  —  MUSLIM yobs who wrecked a house to stop four brave soldiers moving in after returning from Afghanistan sparked outrage last night.  —  The house in a village near riot-torn Windsor had BRICKS thrown through windows and was DAUBED with messages of hate.

Bush Balks at Criteria for FEMA Director  —  Signing Statement Asserts Right to Ignore Parts of New Homeland Security Law  —  President Bush reserved the right to ignore key changes in Congress's overhaul of the Federal Emergency Management Agency — including a requirement to appoint someone …

Afghanistan: Five Years Later  —  On Oct. 7, 2001, President Bush spoke from the Treaty Room of the White House to announce the beginning of Operation Enduring Freedom, a mission designed to disrupt and destroy al-Qaeda operations in Afghanistan and the regime that had harbored and supported Osama bin Laden's terrorist network.

Foley Case Upsets Tough Balance by Capitol Hill's Gay Republicans  —  Every month or so, 10 top staff members from Capitol Hill meet over dinner to commiserate about their uneasy experience as gay Republicans.  In a wry reference to the "K Street Project," the party's campaign to build influence along …

Ford called self a lawyer but did not pass bar exam  —  Democratic U.S. Senate hopeful Harold Ford Jr. referred to himself as a lawyer earlier this week, but the congressman has not passed the bar exam.  —  Michael Powell, senior adviser to the Ford campaign, said U.S. Rep. Ford took the Tennessee bar exam in February 1997 and failed.

Warning Shots Fired Near Korean Border  —  SEOUL, South Korea — Gunfire rang out Saturday along the heavily armed no man's land separating the divided Koreas, as regional tensions mounted in anticipation of communist North Korea's plan to test its first atomic bomb.

"Media Matters"; by Jamison Foser  —  The Most Trusted Name in News?  —  Ten years ago tomorrow, Fox News slithered onto the scene, beginning its assault on logic and reason and fact and decency and, basically, all that is great about America.  A maniacal scheme hatched …

Minneapolis congressional candidate Fine had record expunged  —  Minneapolis congressional candidate Alan Fine was charged with domestic violence in 1995 and nine years later had his record expunged, in a case in which he and his first ex-wife give different versions of the events that led to him ending up in the Hennepin County jail.

Security Barriers of New York Are Removed  —  They started appearing on Manhattan streets immediately after September 11: concrete and metal barriers in front of skyscrapers, offices and museums.  Some were clunky planters; others were shaped artfully into globes.

The Boring Fabulist  —  "State of Denial" amazes me.  —  Thirty-two years into his career as a writer of books, Bob Woodward has won a reputation as slipshod ("Wired"), slippery ("All the President's Men," "The Final Days"), opportunistic ("Veil"; everything) and generally unaware …

Update on the Federal Budget Deficit  —  The Mark Foley micro-scandal can't change the fact that the American economy is going great guns.  The 2006 budget deficit figures were just released, and the deficit is not only getting better, it is now relatively small by historical standards.