Sources: Thompson announcement on Sept. 6  —  Fred Thompson's campaign-in-waiting will hold a 4 p.m. conference call today with supporters to brief them on plans for the former Tennessee senator's presidential announcement next week, according to an e-mail obtained by Politico.com.

Texas governor spares getaway driver  —  HUNTSVILLE, Texas - Gov. Rick Perry accepted a parole board recommendation Thursday to spare condemned inmate Kenneth Foster, the getaway driver in a 1996 murder who had been scheduled for execution within hours.  —  The sentence had drawn protests …

FOOT TAPPING AND BATHROOM CRUISING....Yesterday one of my readers emailed to say he was annoyed by all the ignorant blog commentary emanating from straight young whippersnappers on the subject of Larry Craig's restroom shenanigans in Minnesota: … Today, non-whippersnapper blogger …

Chemical Weapons Scare at U.N. Headquarters  —  Brian Ross Reports:  —  United Nations weapons inspectors discovered six to eight vials of a dangerous chemical warfare agent, phosgene, as they were cleaning out offices at a U.N. building in New York, federal authorities tell the Blotter on ABCNews.com.

Locked, Loaded and Looney  —  As the Army's suicide rate hits record levels in the Iraq war, there's small wonder practically everyone in Congress wants to deal with the parallel emerging crisis of depressed veterans tempted to take their own lives.  Everyone, that is, except Senator Tom Coburn, Republican of Oklahoma.

Porter ties U.S. withdrawal from Iraq to $9 gasoline  —  Lawmaker reports on his trip to country  —  WASHINGTON — Gasoline prices could rise to about $9 per gallon if the United States withdraws troops from Iraq prematurely, Rep. Jon Porter said he was told on a trip to Iraq that ended this week.

Warner to announce re-election plans  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — Virginia Sen. John Warner, the influential former chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, will announce his decision on whether or not he will seek re-election at the University of Virginia on Friday.

When Fox News Republicans Lie, Democrats Should Tell The Truth  —  Regarding Karen Hanretty's comments in which she invoked the name of Barry Goldwater while she lied about me:  —  I knew Barry Goldwater.  Barry Goldwater was an authentic conservative who believed in political discourse of honesty and civility.

'Post' Homophobia Still Mysteriously Unfunny  —  You know what?  We're getting pretty bored by the New York Post's homophobia.  For a while, we giggled at "Page Six"'s use of archaic adjectives like "swishy" and "limp-wristed" to describe gay subjects.  We tried to find the humor …

BREAKING NEWS: Polk judge rules against gay marriage ban  —  A Polk County judge on Thursday struck down Iowa's law banning gay marriage.  —  The ruling by Judge Robert Hanson concluded that the state's prohibition on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional and he ordered the Polk County recorder …

BUSH VISITS THAT PART OF THE WORLD  —  When my wife was in school in Louisiana, she had a teacher who began a sentence one day with, "When you leave Louisiana and go to America . . ."  —  Now, Louisiana has long been different from the rest of the country, its French and Spanish colonial roots long pre-dating Anglo influence.