Not Going To Bite  —  My good friend John Hinderaker links to a CBS report about the latest entertainment coming from al-Qaeda this evening, as do some of our mutual friends in the conservative blogosphere, that hails the Democratic midterm victory as a "reasonable" move.

Alternative Minimum Tax Targeted  —  Democrats Seek Fix For Middle-Class Families  —  Democratic leaders this week vowed to make the alternative minimum tax a centerpiece of next year's budget debate, saying the levy threatens to unfairly increase tax bills for millions of middle-class families by the end of the decade.

Feeling Blue?  —  After the Democratic sweep of Congress, President Bush's approval reaches a new low.  But voters want Democrats to chart a moderate course.  —  Brendan Smialowski / Getty Images  —  Can They Work Together?  Pelosi has 34 percent approval ratings, slightly better than Bush's 31 percent

Democrats, Engaging Bush, Vow Early Action on Iraq  —  Democrats sought on Friday to put their new political power to use in shaping the debate over Iraq, promising stepped-up Congressional oversight of the war and a resolution demanding a schedule for reducing the number of troops there.

Democrats Win Bigger Share of Religious Vote  —  Parties Disagree on Why The Gap Has Narrowed  —  As the results of the midterm elections sank in this week, religious leaders across the ideological spectrum found something they could agree on: The "God gap" in American politics has narrowed substantially.

Hamas Offers to End Rule if Aid Resumes  —  Hamas committed today to folding its eight-month government if that would restore the international assistance that was cut off after it won national elections earlier this year.  —  In a shrewd and dramatic speech, the Hamas prime minister …

Post-Election 2006: Playing the Numbers Game  —  News networks recognize Crystal Ball success rate  —  It's been a long election season—seemingly much longer than midterms past—and your Crystal Ball is happy to have served our good readers right up until the end.

John Conyers And The Muslim Caucus  —  Congress: The likely new chairman of the House Judiciary Committee says he's just fighting bigotry in leading a Democrat jihad to deny law enforcement key terror-fighting tools.  But he is in the pocket of Islamists.  —  John Conyers, son …

Health Care Strategies  —  Mark Kleiman observes that "since its reform under Bill Clinton" the Veterans' Administration health care system "now has the best medical-records system going and produces high-quality health care at a reasonable cost" and wonders if we couldn't …

The Architect Speaks  —  After maintaining a relentless optimism in the face of ominous polls, Karl Rove tells TIME why Republicans wound up taking a bath on Election Night.  —  BY MIKE ALLEN/WASHINGTON  —  At the White House senior staff meeting in the Roosevelt Room at 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday …

The Great Revulsion  —  I'm not feeling giddy as much as greatly relieved.  O.K., maybe a little giddy.  Give 'em hell, Harry and Nancy!  —  Here's what I wrote more than three years ago, in the introduction to my column collection "The Great Unraveling": "I have a vision — maybe just a hope …

MYTH BUSTING....You're probably all a little tired of exit poll wonkery by now, but I want to follow up on my earlier post showing that the Democratic win was a broad-based victory, not one based on appealing to any particular demographic group.  Several demographic myths have turned out to be pretty hardy …

Lawmakers Who Won't Be Missed  —  "Conrad, how can you live back there [in Washington] with all those niggers?"  When asked how he had responded, Sen. Burns is reported to have . . . said with a chuckle that he told the rancher that it was 'a hell of a challenge.' "

Tougher race hate laws considered  —  Ministers are considering whether race hate laws should be revised after BNP leader Nick Griffin was cleared of charges relating to speeches he made.  —  A jury decided speeches by Mr Griffin and party activist Mark Collett in 2004 had not incited racial hatred.

Chávez attacks Bush as a 'genocidal' leader  —  Venezuela's president continued his criticism of President Bush after the pro-Chávez legislature declared that the 9/11 attacks were `self-inflicted.'  —  CARACAS - When Venezuela's leftist President Hugo Chávez called President Bush …