Beck: "[A] handful of people who hate America ... are losing their homes in a forest fire today"  —  On the October 22 edition of his nationally syndicated radio program, host Glenn Beck stated, "I think there is a handful of people who hate America.  Unfortunately for them, a lot of them are losing their homes in a forest fire today."

Defending Islamofascism  —  IT'S A VALID TERM.  HERE'S WHY.  —  The attempt by David Horowitz and his allies to launch "Islamofascism Awareness Week" on American campuses has been met with a variety of responses.  One of these is a challenge to the validity of the term itself.

BREAKING: Obama says won't pull anti-gay bigot from big campaign event  —  Funny how Obama is a big supporter of civil rights when blacks are being maligned, but not so much when gays are the victims.  Kind of puts his screw up over General Pace's homophobia in a whole new light.  I really like Obama.

A GOP Race That Refuses to Narrow  —  Rudy Giuliani and John McCain long ago traded places in the Republican presidential campaign, but after Sunday's Florida debate, the former mayor should not make the mistake of misjudging the Arizona senator the way McCain once underestimated him.

Thompson's Daughter's Death Informs Right-to-Die Stance  —  Thompson Says End-of-Life Decisions Should Not Become 'Political Football'  —  In a moving, pointed and rare response to a question about the Terri Schiavo controversy, former Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee Monday afternoon described details …

Mostest  —  I've sort of gotten tired of explaining that, no, the Founding Fathers actually weren't all born-agains and bible thumpers.  Not hardly.  (Probably better to say that the great majority ranged from believers in an entirely impersonal God — Deists — to believing Christians …

U.S. Prosecution of Muslim Group Ends in Mistrial  —  A federal judge declared a mistrial on Monday in what was widely seen as the government's flagship terrorism-financing case after prosecutors failed to persuade a jury to convict five leaders of a Muslim charity on any charges, or even to reach a verdict on many of the 197 counts.

Lessing Says Sept. 11 Attacks Not So Bad  —  MADRID, Spain (AP) - Nobel laureate Doris Lessing said the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States were "not that terrible" when compared to attacks by the IRA in Britain.  —  "September 11 was terrible, but if one goes back over the history of the IRA …

Bush Asks Congress For $46 Billion More In War Funding  —  President Bush challenged Congress to another clash over the direction of the Iraq war yesterday as he asked lawmakers for $46 billion more to pay for overseas military operations and insisted that they approve it by the end of the year.

Va. Senate: Davis Expected to Opt Out of Race  —  Several informed Republicans with ties to Virginia politics told The Fix earlier today that Rep. Tom Davis could announce as soon as this week that he will not run for the Senate seat being vacated by John Warner (R) in 2008.

Little taste of Russia: Little Green Footballs removes Ron Paul from their GOP Poll for "gaming" reasons then "games" C&L's Poll  —  You can't make this stuff up.  The righties were all in a huff over my Pete Stark post and yes-Charles Johnson, who attacked Jill Carroll after she was released …

Bolton lobbies on N.K. deal  —  Former United Nations Ambassador John Bolton is urging GOP lawmakers to oppose the Bush administration's recent agreement with North Korea to end its nuclear programs, according to House Republican sources.  —  While Bolton's skepticism of North Korea is well-known …

Worried Bin Laden Urges Iraq Insurgents to 'Unite'  —  Brian Ross and Rehab El-Buri Report:  —  Showing apparent signs of concern over events in Iraq, al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden urged insurgents to "unite your lines into one" in an audiotape played on al Jazeera Monday.

Violence in Iraq drops sharply: Ministry  —  BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Violence in Iraq has dropped by 70 percent since the end of June, when U.S. forces completed their build-up of 30,000 extra troops to stabilize the war-torn country, the Interior Ministry said on Monday.

Witch Creek Fire  —  We have been linked to by several other weblogs, and I welcome all new readers to this site.  I know most of you folks love my maps.  The base for them is this Google Map site that is full of interesting and useful information.  —  View Larger Map