Warner's Statement: "I Have Decided Not To Run For President"  —  Nine months ago, I left the office of Governor in Virginia.  I was immensely proud of what we had accomplished.  We faced historic challenges and got real results.  —  Upon leaving office, I committed all my time and energy …

Intelligence failure cited in Korean crisis  —  Recent U.S. intelligence analyses of North Korea's nuclear and missile programs were flawed and the lack of clarity on the issue hampered U.S. diplomatic efforts to avert the underground blast detected Sunday, according to Bush administration officials.

Political Climate Warms to Lieberman's Favor  —  Two months after a tumultuous Senate primary that was hailed as a watershed moment in American politics, Senator Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut appears to be comfortably ahead of his challenger Ned Lamont in their general election rematch.

HOW ROVE TWISTED FOLEY'S ARM:  —  It seems increasingly clear that the GOP congressional leadership, eager for every safe incumbent in the House to run for re-election, looked the other way as evidence accumulated that Mark Foley had a thing for pages.  Holding onto his seat became more important …

Reid Offers To Disclose His Land Deal ... Five Years Late  —  Harry Reid, stung by the AP's exposure of his complicated land deals with a lobbyist he helped make rich through his personal interventions in Congress, has told the Senate Ethics Committee that he will file amended disclosure statements …

Christopher Hitchens Has Gone Mad  —  The latest New Yorker has a (sadly offline) profile of Christopher Hitchens by Ian parker.  It's not clear to me why Hitchens, whose day of influence has decidedly passed, merits a profile, but it's hard to argue when the material is this good.

U.S. brings first treason case in over 50 years  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A California-born convert to Islam, accused of making a series of al Qaeda propaganda videos, became on Wednesday the first American charged with treason since the World War Two era, U.S. Justice Department officials said.

BREAKING—New House polls will show looming Democratic landslide  —  I usually despise blog posts with the word "BREAKING" in the title, in all caps, but in this rare case I actually am the person breaking the story, so I think it is justiifed.  —  The new Majority Watch from Constituent Dynamics will be released in a few minutes.

POLL: OPPOSITION TO IRAQ WAR GROWING IN SOUTHERN STATES  —  Region's attitudes marked by "sadness," reluctance to endure future war costs  —  DURHAM, N.C. - Despite strong early support for the Iraq war in the South, the region's opposition to the war now matches national levels …

Where I stand on Iraq  —  Sen. Clinton says how Bush went wrong and offers her prescription for the war  —  We have to deal with the Iraq we have, not the Iraq we wish we had.  And the Iraq we have is a deteriorating, violent conflict that, if not technically a civil war, is about as close as you can get.

University instructor likens Bush to Hitler  —  MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin (AP) — A university instructor who came under scrutiny for arguing that the U.S. government orchestrated the September 11 attacks likens President Bush to Adolf Hitler in an essay his students are being required to buy for his course.

High Court in Britain Loosens Strict Libel Law  —  Britain's highest court ruled Wednesday for the first time that journalists have the right to publish allegations about public figures, as long as their reporting is responsible and in the public interest.  —  The ruling, a unanimous judgment …

Hastert Aides Interest Ethics Panel  —  Staff Members' Knowledge of Foley's Actions With Former Pages in Question  —  With House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert denying personal knowledge of former representative Mark Foley's activities, investigators for the House ethics committee are bearing …

Insurers Get an Earful From Senator  —  Sometimes, political connections come in handy.  Ask Senator Trent Lott of Mississippi.  —  Mr. Lott, a Republican and former majority leader, is one of thousands of homeowners on the Gulf Coast who have been fighting with their insurers over payments for damage in Hurricane Katrina.

Religious Whites Disproportionately Shift Away from GOP  —  Change could reflect impact of Foley situation  —  PRINCETON, NJ — An analysis of USA Today/Gallup poll trend data indicates that while Democrats have made gains across the board on the generic Congressional ballot in the latest Oct. 6-8 survey …

Lawyer: Gov't workers got fake diplomas  —  SPOKANE, Wash. - At least 135 federal employees, including a White House staff member and National Security Agency employees, bought bogus online college degrees from a diploma mill, a lawyer in the case against the mill operators said.

Turkish Writer Wins Nobel in Literature  —  STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) — Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk, whose uncommon lyrical gifts and uncompromising politics have brought him acclaim worldwide and prosecution at home, won the Nobel literature prize Thursday for his works dealing with the symbols of clashing cultures.

Report skeptical of fraud at polls  —  Little evidence found despite pending bills  —  WASHINGTON — At a time when many states are instituting new requirements for voter registration and identification, a preliminary report to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission has found little evidence …

Will Voters Pull the Trigger?  —  The old theater adage demands that if you show a pistol in Act 1, you'd better fire the gun in Act 3.  That same wisdom applies to politics.  —  The voters have been pointing a symbolic gun at the Republican regime in Washington for many months now.