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 …

The Harry Reid Land Deal  —  Here is an Associated Press report on the land deal that netted Sen. Harry Reid over $1 million ... note the part of the report that has audio of Sen. Reid hanging up on AP when asked a question about the deal.  (via Flopping Aces)

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.

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.

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.

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 …

Justices Ponder Relationship of Federal and State Courts  —  Whether a murder defendant's right to a fair trial was violated when the judge permitted the victim's relatives to sit behind the prosecutor, wearing buttons with the victim's picture on them, was a question in a case argued before the Supreme Court on Wednesday.

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.

Evangelist: Hastert Promised Me 'In One Week, He Will Be Stepping Down'  —  This afternoon on MSNBC, controversial evangelist K.A. Paul announced that Speaker Dennis Hastert promised him on Tuesday that "he would resign with one week."  —  Paul met with Hastert on Tuesday for more than thirty minutes …

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.

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 …

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 …

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.