Removal of Rumsfeld Dates Back to Summer  —  Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld walking back to his motorcade Thursday after touring the Eisenhower Museum in Abilene, Kan.  —  President Bush was moving by late summer toward removing Donald H. Rumsfeld as defense secretary, people inside and outside the White House said Thursday.

Troops fear Rumsfeld's exit will end their Iraq mission  —  Half of America and the upper echelons of the US military may be cheering Donald Rumsfeld's resignation from the post of Defence Secretary, but there was no rejoicing yesterday among those most directly affected by his decisions: the frontline soldiers in Iraq.

Only a Minor Earthquake  —  How serious is the "thumpin' " the Republicans took on Tuesday?  Losing one house is significant but hardly historic.  Losing both houses, however, is defeat of a different order of magnitude, the equivalent in a parliamentary system of a vote of no confidence.

Oh, why don't you just admit it?  —  Okay, I'm depressed about the election.  —  She asks herself a question, then answers it — Rumsfeldianly.  —  What is it, exactly?  —  It's the failure of Americans to support the war.  It's the folding and crumpling because things didn't go well enough …

With Power Set to Be Split, Wiretaps Re-emerge as Issue  —  The Bush administration escalated its defense of the National Security Agency's domestic wiretapping program on Thursday, even as Democrats in Congress vowed to investigate the program aggressively once they assume power.

TO THE SHORES OF TRIPOLI  —  Today is the birthday of the United States Marine Corps.  The Marine Corps Museum (depicted above) opens today in Quantico — "a monument to honor, courage and commitment."  Earlier this week Mark Yost previewed the museum in an excellent column (subscribers only) for the Wall Street Journal.

Like Father, Like Son?  —  Team 41 is a threat to the Bush legacy.  —  With the appointment of Robert Gates—CIA director from 1991 to 1993—to succeed Don Rumsfeld as secretary of defense, George W. Bush has brought upon himself much talk about sons in the shadow of their fathers.

McGovern to Meet With Congress on War  —  George McGovern, the former senator and Democratic presidential candidate, said Thursday that he will meet with more than 60 members of Congress next week to recommend a strategy to remove U.S. troops from Iraq by June.

RNC asks Steele to replace Mehlman  —  Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman, whose party just lost both chambers of Congress, will leave his position in January, and the post as party chief has been offered to Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele.

Redistricting: Home to Roost  —  How Republicans'  —  Gerrymandering Efforts  —  May Have Backfired  —  WASHINGTON — Gerrymandering was supposed to cement Republican control of the House of Representatives, offering incumbents a wall of re-election protection even as public opinion turned sharply against them.

MI5 tracking '30 UK terror plots'  —  MI5 knows of 30 terror plots threatening the UK and is keeping 1,600 individuals under surveillance, the security service's head has said.  —  Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller warned the threat was "serious" and "growing".

TODAY'S LESSON: THERE IS NO LESSON....I finally got around to looking at the overall 2006 exit poll data in detail, and it's pretty interesting.  Anyone planning to make any grand pronouncements about the "lesson" of the election really ought to spend a few minutes comparing the 2006 exit poll data to the 2004 exit poll data first.

Handover to Iraqi Army 'set for the end of next year'  —  American and Iraqi officials have set a date for giving Iraq's forces responsibility for security across the country.  —  Under a plan to be presented to the UN Security Council next month, the Iraqi Government would assume authority …

2006 Elections Hit Lockstep Conservative Talk Hosts' Credibility  —  You can add another casualty to the 2006 elections: the credibility of lockstep conservative talk show radio hosts.  —  There's a difference between a conservative talk show host and a lockstep talk show host.

Out-of-Work GOP Aides Face Tough Road Ahead  —  The hundreds of Republican staffers — not to mention more than a few Members — who will lose their jobs in the next few weeks are going to face a hostile marketplace on K Street as unemployed Republicans flood the market.

CONFESSIONS OF AN ANGRY HUSTLER  —  Ted Haggard's bitter boy toy tells all  —  HEAVEN CAN WAIT Reverend Ted Haggard begs forgiveness  —  On November 3, all-American family man Ted Haggard resigned as head of the 30-million strong National Association of Evangelicals after a male prostitute …