'Journalists' Tell Howard Kurtz Why Good News from Iraq Shouldn't Get Reported (updated w/video)  —  As CNN's Howard Kurtz accurately pointed out on Sunday's "Reliable Sources," few media outlets seemed at all interested in giving much attention to the great news out of Iraq last week regarding September's sharp decline in casualties.

Why Is This GOP Strategist Smiling?  —  The day had been full of ominous warnings.  Polls showed the Republicans on the losing side of almost every issue and the 2008 presidential race — and now they're forced to defend a controversial veto of a popular children's health bill.

Brother, can you spare a CHIP?  —  This would seem to be a fairly typical media trajectory.  The Democrats sign up a sick kid to read their Saturday morning radio address.  As Paul Krugman has observed, Bill Kristol, Rush Limbaugh and the rest of us heartless bastards on the right were no doubt too busy laughing to pay attention.

Is America Now South Asia?  —  No developed country in the world actually bestows political office on women because they were once the wives of presidents.  It has tended to happen in South Asia - Sri Lanka, India, the Philippines - but certainly not in modern, developed, Western societies.

Beauchamp Update  —  If you've been following the Scott Thomas Beauchamp Affair, I strongly recommend reading the latest update from The New Republic.  The short version is that the Army's investigation of the case appears to be confined to a) releasing no information about their investigation …

Al Qaeda in Haditha: The battle the media ignored  —  Buried in the mountain of exhibits attached to the once secret Haditha, Iraq murder inquiry prepared by US Army Maj. Gen. Eldon A. Bargewell is an obscure Marine Corps intelligence summary (see pdf) that says the deadly encounter …

FRANK RICH, CLARENCE THOMAS, AND THE MISSOURI ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL: In today's New York Times, Frank Rich has a rather nasty essay that purports to catch Justice Thomas misrepresenting his past.  The specific example is Justice Thomas's first job out of law school in the Missouri Attorney General's Office.

Barnes: Obama not "strong on national security" because he opposed war "when the entire world believed" Saddam had WMD  —  On the October 6 edition of Fox News' The Beltway Boys, co-host and Weekly Standard executive editor Fred Barnes claimed that Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) is …

An Exit Toward Soul-Searching  —  As Bush Staffers Leave, Questions About Legacy Abound  —  It had been four days since Meghan O'Sullivan left her job at the White House.  Just four days since she gave up her Secret Service pass, her classified hard drive and her entree to the president.

Fineman: Intel Community To Release 'Three Iran Reports' To 'Slow Down' Bush's Warmongering  —  On the Chris Matthews Show today, NBC's Howard Fineman revealed that the intelligence community will release "three different reports" in upcoming weeks to "slow down" the administration's current drumbeat for war with Iran:

Clinton gets snippy with Iowan over Iran  —  From NBC/NJ's Athena Jones  —  NEW HAMPTON, Iowa — At a campaign stop here, Hillary Clinton sparred verbally for several minutes with a man who pressed her on her recent vote to call Iran's army a terrorist organization.

More Torture Memos  —  PRESIDENT BUSH said Friday, as he has many times before, that "this government does not torture people."  But presidential declarations can't change the facts.  The record shows that Mr. Bush and a compliant Justice Department have repeatedly authorized the CIA …