Lazy and uneducated photo of the day!  —  Someone just sent me this.  I think it's too good to be true, but you can inspect the full-sized version yourself by clicking the image.  —  If it is a photoshop, it's awfully well done.  —  Update: Readers think it's real.  I concur.

U.S. Central Command Charts Sharp Movement of the Civil Conflict in Iraq Toward Chaos  —  A classified briefing prepared two weeks ago by the United States Central Command portrays Iraq as edging toward chaos, in a chart that the military is using as a barometer of civil conflict.

Rush's Interview with President George W. Bush  —  RUSH: Mr. President.  —  THE PRESIDENT: Hey, Rush, how are you?  —  RUSH: Never better.  It's a thrill to have you on the program today and many thanks for making time for us.  —  THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, sir, for giving me a chance to visit with you.

Letter from Mike Stark  —  The following is a letter to NBC29 from Mike Stark, the man who was tackled for a comment he made at Senator Allen's campaign stop in Charlottesville on Tuesday.  —  My name is Mike Stark.  I am a law student at the University of Virginia, a marine, and a citizen journalist.

Governor race a tossup … The Maryland governor's race is a virtual tie less than a week before Election Day, as Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s relentless attacks on Mayor Martin O'Malley's record on crime and schools have eroded the Democrat's support in the Baltimore suburbs, a new poll for The Sun shows.

Claire McCaskill's Bogus Soldier Stories Unraveled  —  On August 19, 2003, at 4:45 p.m. local time, a truck bomb exploded outside the United Nations Headquarters in Baghdad.  Several American military personnel were called to the scene to evacuate those who were badly hurt...

Nearly half of Americans uncertain God exists: poll  —  Nearly half of Americans are not sure God exists, according to a poll that also found divisions among the public on whether God is male or female or whether God has a human form and has control over events.

What's Wrong With The Press Corps?  —  This.  Greenwald comments: … It's not just unseemly, it's unprofessional.  The point of journalism, of punditry, of analysis, is that it's independent.  That doesn't mean it's not ideological, or even totally non-partisan, but that it's not written to attract external approval.

Partisan Trends: Dems Peaking at the Right Time  —  In the final full month before Election 2006, the number of people identifying themselves as Republicans has fallen to its lowest level since we began reporting this measure of partisan trends in January 2004.

What if We're to Blame?  —  "Towering over Presidents and [Congress] . . . public opinion stands out, in the United States, as the great source of power, the master of servants who tremble before it."  — James Bryce, "The American Commonwealth," 1888  —  The problem of American democracy is (of course) democracy.