U.S. to Hand Iraq a New Timetable on Security Role  —  The Bush administration is drafting a timetable for the Iraqi government to address sectarian divisions and assume a larger role in securing the country, senior American officials said.  —  Details of the blueprint …

Vote Early and Often  —  A Democratic takeover will be a setback for moderates and conservatives.  —  David Kuo, once an official of President Bush's faith-based initiative, published a book this month that attacks the White House for privately ridiculing evangelical Christians while cynically manipulating how they vote.

Cleland  —  It's not the biggest deal in the world, per se, but continuing liberal obsession with Max Cleland strikes me as a bit odd.  Josh Marshall hails a witty Cleland line at a campaign event for John Tester and remarks: "If the Dems take Congress, that image will bookend the era …

Rep. Hunter fires back at U-T article  —  Buys big ad to rebut story about his home  —  In a move rarely seen in politics, U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter bought a full-page ad in yesterday's editions of The San Diego Union-Tribune to rebut what he said were false impressions created by the newspaper regarding his East County home.

We are biased, admit the stars of BBC News  —  It was the day that a host of BBC executives and star presenters admitted what critics have been telling them for years: the BBC is dominated by trendy, Left-leaning liberals who are biased against Christianity and in favour of multiculturalism.

Diplomat cites U.S. 'stupidity' in Iraq  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq - A senior U.S. diplomat said the United States had shown "arrogance" and "stupidity" in Iraq but was now ready to talk with any group except Al-Qaida in Iraq to facilitate national reconciliation.  —  In an interview with Al-Jazeera …

Tight race for Hyde seat, latest poll shows  —  Incumbent Bean leads in 8th Congressional District  —  The candidates for the west suburban congressional seat being vacated by retiring Republican Rep. Henry Hyde are locked in a tight contest while first-term Rep. Melissa Bean holds …

Ford Jr. shows up at Corker event uninvited  —  Harold Ford Jr. showed up uninvited at a campaign event for rival Republican Bob Corker at a private charter airstrip in Memphis this morning.  Corker had scheduled the media event earlier this week.  —  News reporters were surprised …

Wilder advises Webb to make stance clear  —  RICHMOND — Mayor L. Douglas Wilder, a former governor and one of the state's leading Democrats, has some advice for his party's U.S. Senate nominee James H. Webb Jr. — let voters know what you stand for.  —  "The question is …

How Foley Skirted Rules To Pursue Relationships  —  Former Pages Describe Lawmaker's Advances  —  They met on the House floor.  He was a 16-year-old political junkie, dressed in the drab navy blazer and gray slacks of a congressional page, rushing phone messages to the members he served.

"They Should Beat Them Lightly"  —  The words of Mahmoud Shalash, an imam from Lexington, Kentucky, as quoted by Asra Q. Nomani in an op-ed in the Washington Post.  That is the answer she got when she protested to the imam about his lecture to about 100 men about how to treat their wives.

The genteel revolt that is remaking US policy on Iraq  —  Republican veterans push for end to interventionist approach  —  A "polite rebellion" is under way among previously loyal allies of President Bush aimed at persuading him to change course in Iraq and quietly abandon the foreign policy doctrine …

The veil stretches our tolerance to its limits  —  Shahid Malik, the Labour MP for Dewsbury, spoke for almost the entire nation yesterday when he told Aisha Azmi - the Muslim teaching assistant suspended for wearing a veil - "to just let this thing go".  An employment tribunal has rightly rejected …