Democrats don't vow full Iraq withdrawal by 2013  —  The enormity of the military conflict in Iraq was spelled out in the simplest of all admissions tonight:  —  Among all of the leading Democratic candidates for president, none was willing to commit to a promise in a campaign debate …

Verizon Rejects Messages of Abortion Rights Group  —  Saying it had the right to block "controversial or unsavory" text messages, Verizon Wireless has rejected a request from Naral Pro-Choice America, the abortion rights group, to make Verizon's mobile network available for a text-message program.

2 Patriot Act Provisions Ruled Unlawful  —  PORTLAND, Ore. — Two provisions of the USA Patriot Act are unconstitutional because they allow search warrants to be issued without a showing of probable cause, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.  —  U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken ruled …

"Childrens do learn," Bush tells school kids  —  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Offering a grammar lesson guaranteed to make any English teacher cringe, President George W. Bush told a group of New York school kids on Wednesday: "Childrens do learn."  —  Bush made his latest grammatical slip …

House Republicans in the Red, Numbers Show  —  Avni Patel Reports:  —  A crucial GOP fundraising committee is nearly broke, according to its latest monthly filing with the Federal Election Committee last week.  —  The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) …

Gotcha!  Err, maybe not...  So remember when David Shuster excoriated Rep. Marsha Blackburn on MSNBC for not knowing the name of the most recent soldier from her district to have died in Iraq?  It went something like this: … Well, it turns out that Pvt. Jeremy Bohannon isn't from Blackburn's district.

Poll Shows Republican Race Tightening  —  MANCHESTER, N.H. — The Republican race for president has tightened up with three candidates now toward the top in New Hampshire, according to a new poll.  —  The latest WMUR/CNN New Hampshire Primary Poll shows that among likely Republican voters …

Shootings by Blackwater Exceed Other Firms in Iraq  —  The American security contractor Blackwater USA has been involved in a far higher rate of shootings while guarding American diplomats in Iraq than other security firms providing similar services to the State Department …

Blowing smoke  —  Okay, Muslim foot-baths in Kansas City airport, gender-segregated swimming sessions at French municipal pools, banning pork from Aussie hospital menus, no eating donuts for Belgian cops during Ramadan, no seeing-eye dogs or alcohol in Minneapolis taxi cabs, fine, fine, fine.

Plan Uses Taxes to Fight Climate Change  —  WASHINGTON — Dealing with global warming will be painful, says one of the most powerful Democrats in Congress.  To back up his claim he is proposing a recipe many people won't like _ a 50-cent gasoline tax, a carbon tax and scaling back tax breaks for some home owners.

House Condemns MoveOn.org Attack  —  The House on Wednesday overwhelmingly voted to condemn the liberal advocacy group MoveOn.org for a recent advertisement attacking the top U.S. general in Iraq.  —  By a 341-79 vote, the House passed a resolution praising the patriotism Gen. David Petraeus …

US First Lady Appeals to Burmese Junta: 'Don't Fire on Your People'  —  U.S. first lady Laura Bush is urging the Burmese military government to show restraint and refrain from further violence against pro-democracy protesters.  In an interview with White House correspondent Paula Wolfson …

'A Coup Has Occurred'  —  September 26, 2007 (Text of a speech delivered September 20, 2007)  —  Below is an edited transcript of Ellsberg's remarkable speech:  —  I think nothing has higher priority than averting an attack on Iran, which I think will be accompanied by a further change …

Bush cherry picks Juan Williams for an interview and NPR refuses  —  Very nice...There's a big reason why Bush chose Williams for an interview instead of who NPR wanted.  Cheney used this technique for Meet the Press and made Russert look like a fool.  It's called " Controlling the Message!"

Senate Urges Bush to Name Iranian Guard as Terrorist Group  —  The Senate approved a resolution today urging the Bush administration to designate Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a foreign terrorist organization, and lawmakers briefly set aside partisan differences to approve …