VENEZUELA VOTES -PHOTOS  —  Voting around Caracas on Sunday.  These photos were taken by a pool of 38 citizen journalists who documented the electoral process.  Their fascinating slideshow can be found at this Flickr site, here.  Hat tip: Venezuela Today  —  Venezuelans went to the polls today …

Aide Says Bush Plans Changes in Approach to Iraq  —  President Bush plans "significant changes" in his approach to Iraq after he reviews options drafted by an outside panel of experts and suggestions from others in the administration and Congress, Stephen J. Hadley, the national security adviser, said today.

Sectarian clashes in West Beirut kill 1  —  BEIRUT, Lebanon - Violent clashes broke out Sunday between Shiite and Sunni Muslims in the capital, leaving one man dead from gunshot wounds at a time when tensions throughout Lebanon threaten the country's fragile sectarian and political balance.

Lieberman Endorses Escalation In Iraq, Surprised Rumsfeld Didn't Suggest It In Memo  —  Today on CBS's Face the Nation, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) said it was "surprising" that "the one thing [Donald Rumsfeld's memo] doesn't raise as a possibility is to increase the number of our troops."

Adviser: Clinton Actively Weighs '08 Bid  —  WASHINGTON (AP) - Democratic jockeying for the White House in 2008 intensified on Sunday with Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh taking the first official step toward a run and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton gauging support among fellow New York lawmakers.

New on the Web: Politics as Usual  —  THE Netroots.  " "People Power.  " "Crashing the Gate.  " The lingo of liberal Web bloggers bespeaks contempt for the political establishment.  The same disdain is apparent among many bloggers on the right, who argued passionately for a change …

Nine U.S. troops killed in Iraq … BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — Nine U.S. troops died in Iraq during the weekend, including five killed by roadside bombs, the U.S. military reported Sunday.  —  Two soldiers were killed and two wounded Sunday when a roadside bomb exploded near their vehicle in northern Iraq …

Lieberman: Talking To Iran And Syria Is Like The 'Local Fire Dept Asking Arsonists To Help'  —  Today on CBS Face the Nation, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) argued that direct talks with Syria and Iran won't work and compared it to "your local fire department asking a couple of arsonists to help put out the fire.

'Rest easy, sleep well my brothers.  Know the line has held, your job is done.'  —  E very year for more than a decade, at the height of the season, Morrill Worcester would pack up a truckload of his Christmas wreaths and head down from Maine to Arlington National Cemetery.

FDL Book Salon: Wait!  Don't Move To Canada!  —  I am so pleased that Bill Scher joins us for an FDL Book Salon on his book Wait!  Don't Move to Canada: A Stay-and-Fight Strategy to Win Back America today.  Bill is the Executive Editor at Liberal Oasis, and appears regularly on Air America …

Joe Biden's Trent Lott moment  —  Will this be Joe Biden's Trent Lott moment?  —  26 days after Democrats win the mid-terms, Joe Biden exhorts the Republican party to "get back up."  Then, Biden (D-Hair Club for Men) claims that, just because the country voted Democrats back into power …

Those contemptuous atheists... why won't they be kind?  —  Nicholas Kristof — in a TimesSelect column — wants atheists to back off and quit pressuring religious people about their beliefs: … The Christian Right has largely retreated from the culture wars?  In-your-face atheists are "the Atheist Left"?

Politics: McCain's Ground War  —  The senator is calling for more boots on the ground in Iraq.  Is this any way to wage a presidential campaign?  —  Peter Spaulding was John McCain's man in New Hampshire, and with good reason.  The longest-serving member of the state's Executive Council …