Bartlett: 'It's Never Been A Stay The Course Strategy'  —  On CBS this morning, White House Counselor Dan Bartlett claimed that the administration has "never" had "a stay-the-course strategy."  Watch it:  —  President Bush made the same claim over the weekend.  It's not true.

Rush Limbaugh attacks Michael J. Fox: " ...he was either off the medication or he was acting.  He is an actor, after all."  —  Rush Limbaugh will say anything to attack anyone who challenges George Bush and his policies.  This time, his target is Michael J. Fox.  Meds are something Rush does have a little experience with.

State Department official: I misspoke on Iraq policy  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — A senior State Department diplomat apologized Sunday for having told the Arab satellite network Al-Jazeera on Saturday that there is a strong possibility history will show the United States displayed "arrogance" and "stupidity" in its handling of the Iraq war.

REPORT: Bush Officials Were 'Rooting' For North Korea to Test Nuclear Weapon  —  Senior Bush administration officials wanted North Korea to test a nuclear weapon because it would prove their point that the regime must be overthrown.  —  This astonishing revelation was buried in the middle …

Why Barack Obama Should Run for President  —  Though you probably know me as someone who's not a fan of Barack Obama, I do want the Senator to run for President in 2008.  I think it would be good for him, good for the party, and good for the country.  I'm big on process, on public debate …

Active-Duty Troops Launch Campaign to Press Congress to End U.S. Occupation of Iraq  —  65 Members to Send "Appeals for Redress" Under the Military Whistle-blower Protection Act  —  Contact: Trevor Fitzgibbon, 202-246-5303, or Alex Howe, or Laura Gross, 202-822-5200, for Fenton Communications

Mud in the face  —  Clinton foe: 'Whew' she was hideous before 'work'  —  Hillary Clinton's Republican challenger is getting personal and it's not pretty: He says the senator used to be ugly - and speculates she got "millions of dollars" in plastic surgery.  —  "You ever see a picture of her back then?

God knows why faith is thriving  —  A group of leading atheists is puzzled by the continued existence and vitality of religion.  —  As biologist Richard Dawkins puts it in his new book "The God Delusion," faith is a form of irrationality, what he terms a "virus of the mind."

Electronic Voting Machines Could Skew Elections  —  Researchers, Candidates Have Little Confidence in Machines Designed to Make Elections Easier to Call  —  Cheryl Kagan, a former Maryland Democratic legislator, was shocked when she opened her mail Wednesday morning.  —  Inside, she discovered three computer discs.

BEST GOP HOPE: SCARE 'EM SILLY  —  WITH only two weeks left 'til Election Day, Republicans won't save themselves with phony optimism - pathetic claims that, somehow, they're mounting a comeback.  They need to sound a note of alarm and fill the airwaves with specifics of exactly what will happen if the Democrats triumph.

Late Nite FDL: God Bless Barney Frank  —  "The right to privacy should not be the right to hypocrisy.  These people who want to demonize other people shouldn't be able to go home, close the door, and do it themselves."  (Barney Frank on the practice of outing gay Republicans, hat-tip to my secret lovaaaah, Jesus' General)

Bush Plans to Revive Social Security Proposal With New Congress  —  Oct. 22 (Bloomberg) — President George W. Bush said Republicans can hold their congressional majority by focusing on national security and the economy, and that he will return to overhauling Social Security as a top domestic priority for his last two years in office.

Lamont camp presses complaints over Lieberman 'slush fund'  —  Officials in Ned Lamont's U.S. Senate campaign said today they expect to file complaints with both federal and state authorities concerning $387,000 in "petty cash" U.S. Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman spent before the Democratic primary election.

To Stand or Fall in Baghdad: Capital Is Key to Mission  —  Capt. Richard Low, right, talking with members of the Iraqi National Police recently.  Two Iraqi officers, from different checkpoints in Baghdad, discovered that their radios did not have matching frequencies.  More Photos >

RNC Mailing Accuses Pa. Democrat Of Helping To Start the War in Iraq  —  WASHINGTON — Voters in Pennsylvania's rural, conservative 10th Congressional District received an unlikely mailing earlier this month accusing a former Navy lieutenant of helping start the Iraq war.

The Dow Jones Industrials Reach New High  —  Wall Street extended its October rally Monday as investors grew more optimistic about upcoming earnings reports and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said it will cut capital spending to drive overall returns.  The Dow Jones industrials shot up more than 110 points and crossed 12,100 for the first time.

God of Our Fathers  —  Not since the medieval church baptized, as it were, Aristotle as some sort of early — very early — church father has there been an intellectual hijacking as audacious as the attempt to present America's principal founders as devout Christians.

Litigation Day  —  Control of Congress may be decided in the courts, starting Nov. 8.  —  Everyone is speculating about which party will control Congress after next month's voting.  But we may not know for a while.  We could see either party pursue the kind of lawsuits that Al Gore unleashed …

Guns buyback has no effect on murder rate  —  HALF a billion dollars spent buying back hundreds of thousands of guns after the Port Arthur massacre had no effect on the homicide rate, says a study published in an influential British journal.  —  The report by two Australian academics …

Washington Whispers  —  Calling President Bush's third and best treasury secretary, Hank Paulson, a different kind of bird than Washington is used to doesn't ruffle the feathers of the former Goldman Sachs chairman.  How could it?  A nature buff who got his start in birding at 26 …

Poll: GOP could lose control of Congress  —  Just two weeks before Election Day, poll results continue to signal that Republicans could lose control of one or both chambers of Congress.  —  ELECTIONLINE: What do you think?  —  The latest USA TODAY/Gallup national poll, taken over the weekend, shows that: