Longer Leaves for Troops Blocked  —  Senate Republicans yesterday rejected a bipartisan proposal to lengthen the home leaves of U.S. troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, derailing a measure that war opponents viewed as one of the best chances to force President Bush to accelerate a redeployment of forces.

U.S. May Escort Ahmadinejad to Ground Zero  —  Talks Underway After Iranian Requests a Visit  —  In a move that has stunned New York, the Bloomberg administration is in discussions to escort the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to ground zero during his visit to New York next week, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said today.

Rather Files $70 Million Lawsuit Against CBS  —  Dan Rather, whose career at CBS News ground to an inglorious end 15 months ago over his role in an unsubstantiated report questioning President Bush's Vietnam-era National Guard service, filed a $70 million lawsuit this afternoon against the network …

The President Goes to War Over "Betray Us"  —  Kate O'Beirne and I just got back from a meeting with the president in the Roosevelt Room of the White House for a small group of conservative journalists.  —  There was a lot of ground covered, and the president was in a serious but confident mood …

Weller's next challenge  —  If U.S. Rep. Jerry Weller runs for re-election, he may face two feisty gals: Debbie and Emily.  —  Senate Majority Leader Debbie Halvorson (D-Crete) is considering running for the 11th District congressional seat, in part because of hot pursuit from Emily's List …

CIA SHUT DOWN IN IRAQ  —  According to exclusive information obtained by Pajamas Media's Washington editor Richard Miniter, the movement of key CIA station personnel in Baghdad has been all but shut down.  Are we witnessing Iran's counter-strike to the surge?  —  Support Pajamas Media; Visit Our Advertisers

I Don't Support the Troops..oops, there, I said it  —  This has been digging at me for, oh, about 4 years now.  I have been hesitant to express this thought, in comments sections and in discussion with other people about the Iraq quagmire for fear of, I don't know, being called mean.  Or, un-American.

BREAKING: Kirk England HD-106 (R) to Switch Parties  —  It has come to the attention of Burnt Orange Report that Republican Kirk England of HD-106 will announce he's switching parties tomorrow in Grand Prairie.  England won by only a couple hundred votes in 2006 against Democrat Katy Hubener …

Darth Cheney  —  "You can always tell when the Republicans are getting restless, because the Vice President's motorcade pulls into the Capitol, and Darth Vader emerges," Clinton said just now at Town Hall in New York.  —  "I'm not invited to their meetings and I don't know what he says or does," she said.

Jackson criticizes Obama  —  Presidential candidate's response to Jena, La., case called too weak  —  The Rev. Jesse Jackson called Tuesday on Democrats seeking the 2008 nomination for president to give S.C. voters "something to vote for" when they go to the polls in January.

Johanns to resign, run for Senate, sources say  —  U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns (R) will resign his Cabinet post and run for the Senate seat being vacated by Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), according to local GOP sources.  —  The sources said Johanns plans to resign early next week …

Ugly Alliance  —  Democrats are said to be keen about "connecting the dots"—so let's see if we can connect a few for them.  —  Dot Number One: Last week, MoveOn.org published a full-page ad in the New York Times directed at David Petraeus, the commanding general in Iraq …

UPDATE: Gunmen Blow Up Iraq's North Export Pipeline -Official  —  AMMAN -(Dow Jones)- Unknown attackers have blown up part of an Iraqi pipeline that pumps crude oil from Kirkuk oil fields to the Turkish export terminal, Ceyhan, a senior Iraqi oil official and a shipping agent said Wednesday.

GOP Cornyn To Introduce Senate Resolution Criticizing MoveOn Ad  —  As Congress considers a series of legislation that would drastically alter the course and direction of the Iraq War, one prominent Republican Senator will be focusing his efforts on condemning the newspaper advertisement of an anti-war group.

DNC condemns King 'mosque' remark  —  New York Rep. Peter King, a prominent House Republican, said there are "too many mosques in this country" in a recent interview with Politico.  —  "There are too many people sympathetic to radical Islam," King said.  "We should be looking at them more carefully …

Fears of dollar collapse as Saudis take fright  —  Saudi Arabia has refused to cut interest rates in lockstep with the US Federal Reserve for the first time, signalling that the oil-rich Gulf kingdom is preparing to break the dollar currency peg in a move that risks setting off a stampede out of the dollar across the Middle East.