Evangelical Leader Quits Amid Allegations of Gay Sex and Drug Use  —  The news has been abuzz with controversy surrounding the allegations that Ted Haggard had a three-year homosexual relationship with a male prostitute that included drug use.  Haggard is pastor of a 14,000-member church in Colorado …

Democrats, on the Offensive, Could Gain Both Houses  —  Two days before a bitterly fought midterm election, Democrats have moved into position to recapture the House and have laid siege to the Senate, setting the stage for a dramatic recasting of the power structure in Washington …

Yikes!  —  Kristol, Barnes, Labash, Continetti, Matus, Last, and the rest give their midterm election predictions.  —  Senate: 48 (R), 52 (D)  —  House: 192 (R), 243 (D)  —  Dark Horse: Anti-immigration stance backfires with Republican meltdown in Arizona and Colorado.  —  Fred Barnes

The Patrician and the Grunts  —  What we can learn from John Kerry's latest flub.  —  Regrettable though it might be for the United States military to become an untouchable "third rail" in American politics, there can be little sympathy for someone who keeps on brushing against that rail just to see what will happen.

Interrogation is "optional," Guantanamo chief says  —  GUANTANAMO BAY U.S. NAVAL BASE (Reuters) - Guantanamo prisoners are no longer forced to undergo interrogation, including 14 "high-value" prisoners who include the accused mastermind of the September 11 attacks, the detention camp commander said.

Where Plan A left Ahmad Chalabi  —  1. London, August 2006  —  Many miles away in a more dangerous place the dream is ending badly.  The bodies pile up.  Good people stream to the borders.  Leaders pile money onto planes.  The center is giving way.  —  The apartment on South Street …

Donald Rumsfeld... The Best Defense Secretary Ever!  —  Another day... Another liberal attack on Donald Rumsfeld...  Via Instapundit... The Department of Defense came out with a rebuttal to the latest nonsense by the media.  —  An earlier photo of Rummy as nazi from Democrats.com.

Nervous excitement builds for Democrats  —  IF YOU'RE not a big admirer of George W. Bush, you are going into Election Day feeling more than a little schizophrenic.  Red Sox fans know the queasy feeling, around mid-August.  —  On the one hand, it sure looks like This Could Be The Year.

Looking for a Lifeboat  —  A new NEWSWEEK poll shows that the GOP has lost more ground.  Will rallying the base stem a Democratic tide?  —  Jason Reed / Reuters  —  President Bush speaks to supporters in Iowa on Friday  —  As President George W. Bush jets across Red State America this weekend …

THE NEOCON REHABILITATION PROJECT....David Rose's Vanity Fair interview with the neocon elite is getting plenty of well-deserved attention this weekend.  For one thing, it's fun to play the "which quote is the most damning?" game.  Is it Michael Ledeen (the most powerful people in the White House are …

Harris' Prayer Call Stirs Concerns  —  TAMPA - U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris, who has made past comments that raised questions about her religious sensitivity, prayed in a telephone prayer service recently that God would "bring the hearts and minds of our Jewish brothers and sisters into alignment."

"WE SUPPORT THOSE NOT AS SMART AS JOHN KERRY" - AT THE ARMY-AIR FORCE GAME  —  Former Paratrooper and Army Officer, Matthew Currier Burden started Blackfive upon learning of the valorous sacrifice of a friend that was not reported by the journalist whose life he saved.  —  Email: blackfive AT gmail DOT com

War simulation in 1999 pointed out Iraq invasion problems  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — A series of secret U.S. war games in 1999 showed that an invasion and post-war administration of Iraq would require 400,000 troops, nearly three times the number there now.  —  And even then, the games showed …

The Rumor About John Paul Stevens  —  For weeks, commentators have speculated that significant numbers of conservatives, alienated by over-spending, the Iraq War, and other perceived GOP disappointments, will stay home on Election Day, giving one or both Houses of Congress to Democrats.

Cook's Last Forecast  —  Political Wire asked Charlie Cook of the Cook Political Report for his latest forecast on Tuesday's elections.  —  With just over 72 hours to go before the polls close, it's very hard to imagine how the House majority does not turn over, it's a question of how big this thing will be.

For U.S. and Top Iraqi, Animosity Is Mutual  —  The cycle of discord and strained reconciliation that has broken into the open between Iraq's Shiite-led government and the Bush administration has revealed how wide the gulf has become between what the United States expects from the Baghdad government …

Priest burns himself to death over Islam  —  A retired priest committed suicide by setting himself on fire in a German monastery in protest at the spread of Islam and the Protestant Church's inability to contain it.  —  Roland Weisselberg, 73, poured a can of petrol over his head and set light …