Video: Rangel says men join the army only if they can't have "a decent career"  —  Hence his support for the draft.  If even our volunteers are there involuntarily, why shouldn't everyone be? … This won't get as much attention as what Lurch said (or was understood to have said) a few weeks ago.

Iraq Study Group Weighs Overture to Iran and Syria  —  A draft report on strategies for Iraq, which will be debated here by a bipartisan commission beginning Monday, urges an aggressive regional diplomatic initiative that includes direct talks with Iran and Syria but sets no timetables …

Sword of the Shia  —  He can deal out death through his black-clad followers and roil the government any time he chooses.  Why Moqtada al-Sadr may end up deciding America's fate in Iraq.  —  Wathiq Khuzaie / Getty Images for Newsweek  —  Underestimated No More: Educated Shiites once dismissed …

Obama talks with top advisers in Iowa  —  The Illinois senator gets filled in on the caucus leadoff state as he weighs a 2008 presidential bid.  —  Democrat Barack Obama has sought the advice of top campaign workers in Iowa and has established a seedling support network in this state …

No  —  Look, people who advocate adding "personal accounts" to Social Security are just stupid people.  Really, just morons.  There's no reason to do it.  There's no reason to take any part of Social Security contributions and put them in a little fund account with my name on it.

Chavez vows to beat the "devil"  —  CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuela's leftist President Hugo Chavez on Sunday promised hundreds of thousands of supporters he would win a resounding victory in his December 3 reelection bid he describes as a challenge to Washington.

MTP Transcript for Nov. 25  —  MR. TIM RUSSERT: Our issues this Sunday: One year ago the Republican governor of California had an approval rating of just 32 percent.  His disapproval: sky-high at 58 percent.  And yet, two weeks ago, in the midst of a national Democratic landslide, he was overwhelmingly re-elected.

Do we need another T.R.?  —  If John McCain gets his way, you'll have your faith in the country restored ... or else!  —  YOU CAN READ 1,000 profiles of GOP presidential front-runner John McCain without encountering a single paragraph examining his core ideological philosophy.

The really tough way to control drugs is to license them  —  A young American friend last week visited Camden Lock, north London, and returned amazed.  In a hundred yards he was offered brazenly in the street just about every drug he could imagine.  It was easier to buy cannabis or cocaine than a cigarette or a can of beer.

Bookcase 'trap' killed US woman  —  The body of a missing US woman has been found by her family, wedged upside down behind a bookcase in her room.  —  Mariesa Weber, 38, is believed to have fallen over and become trapped as she tried to reach behind the bookcase to adjust the plug for a TV set.

Chief Talks About Police Shooting  —  Atlanta's police chief talked Sunday night about a controversial police shooting involving a 92-year-old woman.  It was the first time Chief Richard Pennington has commented on the incident.  —  It all started Tuesday when Narcotics officers served …