Top Items:
Michael Abramowitz / Washington Post:
White House Upbeat About GOP Prospects — Self-Assurance of Bush, Rove and Others Is Not Shared by Many in the Party — Amid widespread panic in the Republican establishment about the coming midterm elections, there are two people whose confidence about GOP prospects strikes …
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Glenn Reynolds / Instapundit.com:
A GOP PRE-MORTEM: So is it over for the GOP majorities in Congress? It's still too early to say, I guess, but when even John Hinderaker is sounding extremely gloomy that's certainly the way to bet. — So I want to stress, for the edification of any Republican leaders who might pay attention …
Discussion:
Chicago Boyz, The Next Hurrah, Riehl World View, The Moderate Voice, JustOneMinute, Windypundit, Viking Pundit and Dean's World
Kevin Hayden / The American Street:
GOP's Top Bloggers Abandon Ship, While Remaining in Denial — It's 24 days to the election and Glenn Reynolds is following John Hinderaker to the showers today in anticipation of a GOP defeat. While cautiously beginning with "It's still too early to say" he quickly follows with "that's certainly the way to bet."
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice
Robin Toner / New York Times:
Democrats Have Intensity, but G.O.P. Has Its Machine — Clif Kelley, a retired economist from Columbus, Ohio, is the walking, talking, fuming embodiment of what pollsters say is a defining feature of this election: the intensity of Democrats. — Mr. Kelley and a handful of fellow Democrats …
Discussion:
AMERICAblog
Captain Ed / Captain's Quarters:
Sea Of Blue? (Updated) — We're a little more than three weeks out from the midterm elections, and a sense of pessimism can be sensed from the Right. It's expressed best, although briefly, by Power Line, which takes a look at the polling reports at Real Clear Politics and sees a "sea of blue".
D. B. Light / Light Seeking Light:
Do the Republicans "Deserve" to Lose?
Do the Republicans "Deserve" to Lose?
Discussion:
Alabama Liberation Front
Tom Raum / Associated Press:
Bush keeps revising war justification — WASHINGTON - President Bush keeps revising his explanation for why the U.S. is in Iraq, moving from narrow military objectives at first to history-of-civilization stakes now. — Initially, the rationale was specific: to stop Saddam Hussein from using …
Discussion:
The Heretik
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John P. Murtha / Washington Post:
Confessions of a 'Defeatocrat' — The Republicans are running scared. In the White House, on Capitol Hill and on the campaign trail, they're worried about losing control of Congress. And so the administration and the GOP have launched a desperate assault on Democrats and our position on the war in Iraq.
Discussion:
Blue Crab Boulevard
LC Jackboot IC / Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler:
Where Do We Find Such Men? … He saw the threat and acted, without hesitation or concern for himself to protect his friends. No time to consider the alternatives, organize a protest or conduct a poll. — That brave young man seized the moment sacrificing himself to save his brothers.
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William Kristol / Weekly Standard:
Huffing and Puffing — We can no longer afford to accept the unacceptable and tolerate the intolerable. — On October 11, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld spoke—and it became clear just how bad things are. Interviewed by the San Francisco …
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The Big Trunk / Power Line:
DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES — I've resisted Bill Kristol's observation …
DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES — I've resisted Bill Kristol's observation …
Discussion:
Jerusalem Post
Sam Roberts / New York Times:
It's Official: To Be Married Means to Be Outnumbered — Amanda Hawn and Nate Larsen recently in their apartment near San Francisco. "Moving in together has simplified life," Ms. Hawn said. — Married couples, whose numbers have been declining for decades as a proportion of American households …
Steve Paulson / Salon:
The flying spaghetti monster — Why are we here on earth? To Richard Dawkins, that's a remarkably stupid question. In a heated interview, the famous biologist insists that religion is evil and God might as well be a children's fantasy. — Editor's note: This is the latest entry …
Extreme Mortman:
Correcting Olbermann's Report On David Kuo — "The vast majority of what David writes is factually untrue." — The Bush White House toward David Kuo's new book? — Nope. It's his former boss, Craig Winn of the out-of-businss company Value America, about Kuo's prior book, Dot.bomb …
Vanessa / Plucky Punk's Happy Land:
A Call To Arms — If you're not already well versed in the travesty that happened to Biting Beaver, click here to read her story and here to read the consequences. — Long story short: an adult woman with several children in a committed relationship was not able to obtain emergency contraception in time …
Lara Jakes Jordan / Associated Press:
U.S. Citizen Facing Execution in Iraq — WASHINGTON — Lawyers for an American citizen facing execution in Iraq appealed Friday in U.S. federal court to keep the man in American custody _ preventing his death _ while another case is being appealed. — The citizen, Mohammad Munaf …
Redstate:
Slums, drugs, and spousal abuse — STATE AUDITOR CLAIRE MCCASKILL (D-Missouri) has cast herself as a champion of "strong, small town values" in her 2006 challenge to incumbent Republican Senator Jim Talent. A mere twenty-three days before the election, in a race which could decide control of the Senate …
Discussion:
The News Buckit
Lindsay Beyerstein / Majikthise:
I get letters... All punctuation and spelling original, including the odd habit of putting spaces before punctuation marks. [Raw source below the fold.] — Return-path: — Received: from mac.com (smtpin22-en2 [10.13.11.252]) — by ms82.mac.com (iPlanet Messaging Server 5.2 HotFix 2.11 (built Mar 22 2006))
Discussion:
Eschaton
Independent:
Salman Rushdie: His life, his work and his religion — In the 17 years since Ayatollah Khomeini passed a death sentence on Salman Rushdie, the writer's unflinching criticism of the religion into which he was born has never been stifled. Now, as the force of Islamist fury reverberates around the world …