Rushing to Honesty  —  This is how the Washington Post piece today on the Limbaugh-Fox controversy begins: "Possibly worse than making fun of someone's disability is saying that it's imaginary.  That is not to mock someone's body, but to challenge a person's guts, integrity, sanity."

General Weighs 2nd Troop Shift to Calm Baghdad  —  The top American military commander in Iraq said Tuesday that it was possible he might need to call for an increase in American troop levels in Baghdad to reinvigorate a plan to recapture the capital's streets from insurgents and death squads.

Insult to Injury in Iraq  —  It's been coming for a long time: the idea that fixing Iraq is the Iraqis' problem, not ours — that we've done all we can and now it's up to them.  —  Such arguments have been latent in the Bush administration's Iraq strategy and explicit in Democratic critiques of that strategy for some time.

One of FBI's 'Most Wanted Terrorists' confirmed dead  —  (CNN) — An al Qaeda operative wanted in connection with the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings was killed in April in Pakistan, American officials have confirmed.  —  Pakistani officials had said that Muhsin Musa Matwalli Atwah was killed …

NAACP: Tenn. Senate ad plays to racism  —  NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A political TV ad targeting a black candidate for Senate contains what critics, including the NAACP, are calling racist sexual innuendo about a black man and white woman.  —  The Republican National Committee ad began airing Friday …

Congressman From Arizona Is the Focus of an Inquiry  —  Federal authorities in Arizona have opened an inquiry into whether Representative Rick Renzi introduced legislation that benefited a military contractor that employs his father, law enforcement officials said Tuesday.

Poll: Senate within Dems' grasp, but pitfalls remain  —  Control of the chamber could hinge on the outcomes in Missouri, Tennessee and Virginia.  —  Washington — Democrats are within range of capturing a Senate majority, but face potentially decisive resistance from rural voters …

The House Elections  —  People are always asking me, Which party is going to win the House elections?  The answer is, I don't know.  We have very many more publicly released polls than we used to have, and therefore more basis for making estimates.  But they're still just estimates, subject to error.

COVERING IRAQ: THE MODERN WAY OF WAR CORRESPONDENCE (EXTENDED VERSION)  —  Would you trust a Hurricane Katrina report datelined "direct from Detroit"?  Or coverage of the World Trade Center attack from Chicago?  Why then should we believe a Time Magazine investigation of the Haditha killings …

Federal Rules Back Single-Sex Public Education  —  The Bush administration is giving public school districts broad new latitude to expand the number of single-sex classes, and even schools, in what is widely considered the most significant policy change on the issue since …

The GOP Leans on A Proven Strategy  —  Beset by discouraging polls and division within ideological ranks, the White House is accelerating efforts to woo back disaffected conservatives and energize the Republican base in a reprise of a strategy that succeeded in the last two campaign cycles.

Georgetown gets $20 million from prince promoting Islam  —  Just months later, university ejects evangelical Christians from campus  —  The Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University has been renamed after Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal donated $20 million to its projects.

Ford camp's answers vary on Playboy party  —  The way Republicans like to tell it, Harold Ford Jr. partied with Playboy playmates at a Super Bowl Party last year.  —  So, was he there or not?  —  Responses from the Memphis Democrat and his campaign have varied:

Bush Finding Welcome Mats as G.O.P. Looks for an Edge  —  President Bush cannot show up just anywhere in the waning days of this midterm campaign.  But there is a certain class of Republicans who are somewhere between eager and willing to have him at their sides.

Venezuelan's Diatribe at U.N. May Have Backfired  —  Venezuela's populist leader, Hugo Chávez, earned giggles and guffaws at the United Nations last month with his mass appeal diatribe ridiculing President Bush as the devil.  Mr. Chávez said he could still smell the telltale scent …

Galician blogger charged for supporting Israel (UPDATED)  —  Galician blogger Alejandro de Llano has told in his blog that he has been charged with the great crime of supporting Israel and being against the Palestinian people.  —  Two years ago, the Galician nationalist Major of Oleiros …