Bush: 'I Am Relevant'  —  A defensive President Bush insisted that he was still relevant this morning in a news conference dominated by his bitter complaints about the Democratic Congress.  —  Asked how he found himself vetoing a children's health insurance bill that had passed Congress …

Press Conference by the President  —  THE PRESIDENT: Good morning.  We're now more than halfway through October, and the new leaders in Congress have had more than nine months to get things done for the American people.  Unfortunately, they haven't managed to pass many important bills.

Birth-Control Foe To Run Office on Family Planning  —  The Bush administration again has appointed a chief of family planning programs at the Department of Health and Human Services who has been critical of contraception.  —  Susan Orr, most recently an associate commissioner in the Administration …

Stephen Colbert: I am running for president  —  NEW YORK (AP) — Stephen Colbert has announced his candidacy for president on "The Colbert Report," tossing his satirical hat into the ring of an already crowded race.  —  "I shall seek the office of the president of the United States," …

Larry Craig isn't Internet literate?  Don't buy it  —  Bathrooms and buses  —  Among all of the bathrooms Sen. Larry Craig has visited, none has been on the information superhighway.  Or so he says.  —  In his interview with Matt Lauer that aired on NBC's "Matt Lauer Reports" …

McKinney registers in Calif., where some want to nominate her  —  Former congresswoman Cynthia McKinney has registered to vote in California, where some want her to run for president as a Green Party candidate.  —  McKinney posted a letter on her Web site last month saying she has no interest in the Green Party nomination.

Morgan Stanley Sells Entire New York Times Stake  —  Oct. 17 (Bloomberg) — Morgan Stanley, the second-biggest shareholder in New York Times Co., sold its entire stake today, according to a person briefed on the transaction, sending the stock to its lowest in more than 10 years.

House Democrats Shut Down Debate to Preserve Terrorist Loophole  —  Not many people are familiar with the House Rules Committee, or why it has so much power to determine what legislation passes the House.  Simply put, the Committee sets the terms for debate of all significant legislation …

Packaging 9/11, Terror and the War in Iraq  —  The language used to talk about the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the language used to take the nation to war in Iraq have been so interlaced that polls show they are inextricably linked in the minds of a substantial number of voters.

Video: Bush warns of World War III if Iran gets the bomb  —  The red font is out at Drudge and the left will be wetting itself over it for the rest of the day and long into the night, but there's nothing here that isn't self-evident.  Once a state sponsor of terror, whose leading "pragmatist" …

Huckabee is the Right Wing's Last Survivor  —  Peel them away and, underneath, you have Mike Huckabee, the last survivor in the elimination tournament of the Christian right.  And they could do a whole lot worse!  —  Start with the dreams about Sen. George Allen (R-Va.) …

I take it all back  —  A conservative publication, which I will not name, just spiked a book review because I said that the Laffer Curve didn't apply at American levels of taxation, even while otherwise expressing my vast displeasure with the (liberal) economic notions of the book I was reviewing.

Africans are less intelligent than Westerners, says DNA pioneer  —  Fury at James Watson's theory: "All our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours - whereas all the testing says not really"  —  One of the world's most eminent scientists was embroiled …

Pence pushes vote against Fairness Doctrine  —  Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) filed a discharge petition Wednesday to force a vote on legislation to ban the so-called Fairness Doctrine.  —  "The time has come to do away with the Fairness Doctrine once and for all," the lawmaker said on the House floor.

Syrian officials admit site attacked by Israel nuclear  —  Israeli reps at UN Disarmament Commission meeting overhear Syrian official say facility targeted by Air Force last month nuclear  —  Syrian officials have admitted that the site attacked by the Israeli air force last month was a nuclear facility …

McConnell knew of e-mails about boy  —  WASHINGTON — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell knew last week — at a time when he was denying it — that his staff had sent e-mails encouraging reporters to look into the background of a 12-year-old boy used by Democrats to support expansion of a health-care program.

Pelosi sours on Senate  —  Frustrated by lack of legislative progress in the Senate, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is increasingly touting Democratic achievements in the House.  —  Her statements represent a significant shift from the stance she took six months ago.