Lebanese Christian politician killed  —  BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) — Prominent anti-Syrian Christian politician Pierre Gemayel was assassinated in a suburb of Beirut on Tuesday, his Phalange Party radio station and Lebanon's official news agency reported.  —  His fatal shooting will certainly heighten …

Pelosi-Harman friction strains Democrats' unity  —  WASHINGTON — When Jane Harman left Congress in 1998 to run for governor of California, her colleague Nancy Pelosi threw her a party — a chocolate-fudge sundae "social" in the House members' dining room.  —  Two years later …

Baghdad Shias Believe Killings May Increase Once U.S.-led Forces Depart but Large Majorities Still Support Withdrawal Within a Year  —  Shias in the Capital—Unlike Those in the Rest of Iraq—Oppose Disarming Militias  —  Most Shia Arabs living in Baghdad have shifted in recent months …

U.S. Considers Raising Troop Levels in Iraq  —  Pentagon officials conducting a review of Iraq strategy are considering a substantial but temporary increase in American troop levels and the addition of several thousand more trainers to work with Iraqi forces, a senior Defense Department official said Monday.

Democrats Plan Series of Votes on Ethics Reforms  —  Despite divisions among Democrats over how far to go in revising ethics rules, House leaders plan a major rollout of an ethics reform bill early next year to demonstrate concern about an issue that helped defeat the Republicans in the midterm elections.

Clinton Won Easily, but Bankroll Shows the Toll  —  She had only token opposition, but Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton still spent more on her re-election — upward of $30 million — than any other candidate for Senate this year.  So where did all the money go?

Robert Altman, Leading Director, Dies at 81  —  LOS ANGELES (AP) — Robert Altman, the caustic and irreverent satirist behind "M-A-S-H," "Nashville" and "The Player" who made a career out of bucking Hollywood management and story conventions, died at a Los Angeles Hospital, his Sandcastle 5 Productions Company said Tuesday.

Olbermann Delivers A Special Comment Educating Bush on Vietnam  —  Keith gives us another great special comment, this time explaining to Bush the lessons he should have learned in his recent trip to Vietnam.  —  Keith: "It is a shame and it is embarrassing to us all when President Bush travels 8,000 miles …

DISSENT CRUSHED  —  WHY MUSLIMS RARELY SPEAK OUT, EVEN IN U.S.  —  MUSLIMS are often accused of not speaking out sufficiently against terrorism.  Nonie Darwish knows one reason why: Their fellow Muslims won't let them.  —  Darwish, who comes from Egypt and was born and raised a Muslim …

Jihadis and whores  —  Wars are won by destroying the enemy's will to fight.  A nation is never really beaten until it sells its women.  —  The French sold their women to the German occupiers in 1940, and the Germans and Japanese sold their women to the Americans after World War II.

Poll: More Americans prefer Bush's father  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — Only one in four Americans believe President Bush is a better president than his father, George H. W. Bush, a new CNN poll has found.  —  Six in 10 said the elder Bush, who served one term from 1989-1993, did a better job in office …

Top House Democrats to bar military draft plan  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A reinstatement of the military draft, being pushed by a senior Democrat, will not be slated for consideration in the House of Representatives, the chamber's newly elected top leaders said on Monday.

Royal: Britain must choose US or Europe  —  Segolene Royal will try to force Britain to choose between being America's closest ally or being at the heart of Europe if she becomes French president, says a close aide.  —  Her foreign affairs adviser Gilles Savery, a French MEP …

The Lingo Of Vietnam  —  The way President Bush whisked through Vietnam — oh, if only we had done the same 40 years ago — it seemed as if he was feeling an obvious parallel with the war in Iraq.  His aides, who somehow lose IQ points by mere proximity to the commander in chief …

Calif. court says bloggers can't be sued  —  State's Supreme Court said a federal law gives immunity from libel suits  —  Pete Williams  —  The California Supreme Court ruled Monday that bloggers and participants in Internet bulletin board groups cannot be sued for posting defamatory statements made by others.