Air America host Randi Rhodes wasn't mugged  —  Air America radio host Randi Rhodes is temporarily off the air, but claims she was brutally attacked near her Manhattan apartment are bogus, her lawyer and a police source said today.  —  Fellow host Jon Elliott claimed on the liberal radio network …

The Real Iraq We Knew  —  Today marks five years since the authorization of military force in Iraq, setting Operation Iraqi Freedom in motion.  Five years on, the Iraq war is as undermanned and under-resourced as it was from the start.  And, five years on, Iraq is in shambles.

McConnell Aide Acknowledges That He Tried To Spread Bogus Smear Of Graeme Frost  —  Check this out: An aide to GOP leader Mitch McConnell has acknowledged in an interview with Kentucky's Courier-Journal that he actively sought to alert reporters to the wingnut smearing of 12-year-old SCHIP posterkid Graeme Frost:

TPMtv: Meet the Four Horsemen of Rudy's Apocalypse  —  Maybe you love Rudy or maybe you hate him.  But whatever you may think of him, check out his foreign policy team, because that's the key to knowing what to expect from a Rudy presidency.  Especially for candidates with little …

Democrats split on genocide resolution  —  Democrats are split on the value of bringing a controversial Armenian genocide resolution to a floor vote.  —  Five House Democrats plan to hold a news conference Wednesday to urge their leadership not to bring the resolution to the floor …

Putin and Iran  —  Vladimir Putin's warnings against military action against Iran deserve to be taken very seriously.  Since we're not contemplating actually conquering Iran and trying to occupy its territory, people need to understand that the post-strike diplomatic environment …

Rudy Down, Hillary=Barack  —  Some interesting stuff in the new Gallup poll:  —  First off, it has now been more than a year since George W. Bush's job approval rating was above 40 percent in the Gallup poll.  Bush is at 32 percent approval, 64 percent disapproval in the new survey …

House Passes Four-Year Extension of Internet Tax Moratorium  —  Despite grumbling from lawmakers who want a permanent ban, the House voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to extend for four more years a moratorium on taxation of Internet access.  —  The bill (HR 3678) passed 405-2 …

Limbaugh says he told journalist writing story on him: "[W]e're going to find out where your kids go to school"  —  During the October 15 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Rush Limbaugh claimed to have "once" participated in the kind of "destructive reporting and behavior" that, according to him, reporters "dish out."

Ron Paul's America  —  This is Patrick Ruffini's map of where Ron Paul is getting his money.  The strength in the Mountain West is impressive, if unsurprising.  The hostility of the South to his message of individual liberty is also no big whup.  Stuart Benjamin notices how evenly spread Paul's money-base …

Is this Pope John Paul II waving from beyond the grave?  Vatican TV director says yes  —  This fiery figure is being hailed as Pope John Paul II making an appearance beyond the grave.  —  The image, said by believers to show the Holy Father with his right hand raised in blessing …

Lynne Cheney: 'Dick and Barack Obama are eighth cousins.'  —  In an MSNBC interview today, host Norah O'Donnell asked Lynne Cheney her views on Sen. Hillary Clinton's (D-NY) presidential campaign and whether "America is ready for a woman president."  Cheney replied that she actually has a "certain bias":

Retirement season hits GOP hard  —  PACKING UP: Rep. Ray LaHood, shown in 2005, is to retire next year.  "I don't like being in the minority," he said.  "It's not that much fun, and the prospects for the future don't look that good."  —  In 2008, Republicans look certain to be defending …