Murtha decries 'swift boat-style' attacks on ethics  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — Rep. John Murtha, the anti-war congressman who is the likely new House speaker's pick for majority leader, fended off what he called "swift boat-style attacks" on his ethics record Tuesday.

Abramoff Reports to Prison Tomorrow; Offers Testimony on Democratic Senators  —  Brian Ross and Rhonda Schwartz Report:  —  Convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff is scheduled to report to federal prison tomorrow, over the objections of federal prosecutors who say they still need his help to pursue leads on officials he allegedly bribed.

FOX NEWS INTERNAL MEMO: "BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR ANY STATEMENTS FROM THE IRAQI INSURGENTS...THRILLED AT THE PROSPECT OF A DEM CONTROLLED CONGRESS"...  Huffington Post has obtained an internal Fox News memo written by the network's Vice President of news.  The memo details Fox's game plan …

Update: In FL-13, Court Battle Begins As Counting Continues  —  Lawyers for Democratic House candidate Christine Jennings threw down the gauntlet yesterday, asking a state court to secure electronic voting machines and data used in the election.  —  The move would preserve the equipment …

Plutonium found in Iran waste facility  —  VIENNA, Austria - International Atomic Energy experts have found unexplained plutonium and highly enriched uranium traces in a nuclear waste facility in Iran and have asked Tehran for an explanation, an IAEA report said Tuesday.

Netanyahu: It's 1938 and Iran is Germany; Ahmadinejad is preparing another Holocaust  —  LOS ANGELES - Drawing a direct analogy between Iran and Nazi Germany, Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu asserted Monday that the Iranian nuclear program posed a threat not only to Israel, but to the entire western world.

Proposed Iraq pullout lacking specifics  —  The White House yesterday rejected Democrats' proposals for a phased withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq as lacking specifics or "meat on the bones," as President Bush met with the Iraq Study Group, which is seeking to advise the administration on ways to realign Iraq policy.

Former President Bush Blames 'Bloggers' for 'Ugly' Political Climate  —  Last night on Fox News, former President George H.W. Bush said the current political climate has "gotten so adversarial that it's ugly."  Asked to offer an explanation for why there is this "incivility," Bush pinned the blame on bloggers.

New No. 3 position created for Sen. Schumer  —  Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), who played an instrumental role in helping Democrats regain majority control of the Senate, has been rewarded with the third-ranking post in the Senate Democratic leadership.  —  In return for the promotion …

Democrat wins Connecticut House seat  —  HARTFORD, Conn. - Democrat Joe Courtney's victory over Republican Rep. Rob Simmons in their U.S. House contest was confirmed Tuesday by results of a roller-coaster recount that stretched nearly a week and uncovered significant vote-counting flaws.

The Karl Rove crush … My favorite article from the just-completed campaign season appeared in the October 9 issue of Time, in which Mike Allen and James Carney wrote a detailed piece about why Republicans were not worried about the upcoming elections.  "The G.O.P.'s Secret Weapon," read the bold headline.

Advertising guidelines  —  There was some pre-election controversy over my running a Chevron ad.  (It may still be running, for all I know.)  —  I avoided talking about it then to prevent an ill-timed pie war.  But given the increased interest in advertising on the site by interests …

Judge Says Crack Sentencing Goes Too Far  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge who served as a top drug policy adviser to the first President Bush and advocated harsher penalties for crack cocaine crimes said Tuesday the policy had gone too far and was undermining faith in the judicial system.