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 …

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 …

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 …

"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 …

Fallen Soldier MSNBC Used for 'Gotcha' Game With Rep. Blackburn Did Not Live in Her District  —  UPDATE — SHUSTER APOLOGIZES: At 6:44 PM EDT, MSNBC broke into the Tucker Carlson show to air a terse apology from Shuster.  See "My Take" below.  —  View video of Shuster apology here.

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 …

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 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) …

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 …

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!"

'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 …

Rudy Giuliani fires chief fundraiser  —  In a sign of potential money woes, Rudy Giuliani has fired his presidential campaign's chief fundraiser and brought in a top rainmaker for President Bush, The Daily News has learned.  —  Anne Dunsmore, who took control of Giuliani's …

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 …

Gorbachev warns Russians against rise of Stalinism  —  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev warned Russians on Wednesday of the risk of a rebirth of Stalinism, saying their country was in danger of forgetting its tragic past.  —  "We should remember those who suffered …