Mukasey's nomination and the sudden opposition to "waterboarding"  —  On one level, it is, I suppose, a good sign that there is some opposition to the confirmation of Michael Mukasey due to what ought to be his completely unacceptable positions on torture and more generally on executive power.

Poll Index  —  Voting for The 2007 Weblog Awards is now open.  This is the master list of voting links that you can use this to navigate to the voting booths for each of the 49 categories.  You can vote once a day in each category.  Polls close November 8, 2007.  —  General Categories  —  Best Blog

Prostates and Prejudices  —  "My chance of surviving prostate cancer — and thank God I was cured of it — in the United States?  Eighty-two percent," says Rudy Giuliani in a new radio ad attacking Democratic plans for universal health care.  "My chances of surviving prostate cancer in England?

Democrats & Torture  —  As I discussed in this article a few days ago, Judge Mukasey seems to be the only person required by Democrats to call for a categorical ban on all coercive interrogation tactics.  —  This morning, both Rich and the Wall Street Journal recount these comments by Sen. Chuck Schumer in 2004:

US Air Force struck Syrian nuclear site  —  The September 6 raid over Syria was carried out by the US Air Force, the Al-Jazeera Web site reported Friday.  The Web site quoted Israeli and Arab sources as saying that two strategic US jets armed with tactical nuclear weapons carried out an attack on a nuclear site under construction.

The most influential US conservatives: 1-20  —  As the US prepares for what is arguably the most open presidential election since 1928, the last time there was no incumbent president or vice-president on the ballot, the Daily Telegraph's Washington correspondents compile a list of the 100 …

In Iraq, a Lull or Hopeful Trend?  —  Signs of Declining Violence Leave Residents, U.S. Commanders Cautious  —  From store clerks selling cigarettes by generator power, to military commanders poring over aerial maps, Iraqis and Americans are striving to understand the sharp decrease in violence …

Even Harvard Finds The Media Biased  —  Journalism: The debate is over.  A consensus has been reached.  On global warming?  No, on how Democrats are favored on television, radio and in the newspapers.  —  Just like so many reports before it, a joint survey by the Project for Excellence …

Is (His) Biography (Our) Destiny?  —  "If I am the face of American foreign policy and American power," Barack Obama mused not long ago aboard his campaign plane, "as long as we are also making prudent strategic decisions, handling emergencies, crises and opportunities in the world in an intelligent and sober way. . . ." He stopped.

Bush vetoes water bill, Reid calls him 'out of touch'  —  President Bush, long criticized by conservatives for not blocking excessive spending, issued his first veto of a spending bill today on grounds of objection to the level of spending in it.  —  He may also be looking at his first veto override.

'This Will Make Voter Fraud Easier'  —  Why does Mrs. Clinton want driver's licenses for illegal aliens?  —  Sen. Hillary Clinton was asked during a debate this week if she supported New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer's plan to give driver's licenses to illegal immigrants.

The war in Iraq has been won  —  THERE is a reason Iraq has almost disappeared as an election issue.  —  Here it is: The battle is actually over.  Iraq has been won.  —  I know this will seem to many of you an insane claim.  Ridiculous!  —  After all, haven't you read countless stories that Iraq is a …

Hillary Reveals Her Inner Self  —  It's startling.  It's still 1993 in there, the year before her fall.  —  The story isn't that the Democrats finally took on Hillary Clinton.  Nor is it that they were gentlemanly to the point of gingerly and tentative.  There was an air of "Please …

GOP turns ethics tables  —  Senate Republicans said Thursday they would invoke new ethics rules to block Democratic efforts to send to President Bush the first appropriations package of the 110th Congress.  —  Despite Republican grumbling, House and Senate negotiators on Thursday agreed …

Secret source of phony Iraq intel outed  —  WASHINGTON - The Iraqi defector code-named "Curveball," whose false tales of biological weapons labs bolstered the U.S. case for war, wasn't the prominent chemical engineer he claimed to be and invented stories to help his case for asylum in Germany, a new report says.

NSA Sought Data Before 9/11  —  Beginning in February 2001, almost seven months before the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the government's top electronic eavesdropping organization, the National Security Agency, asked a major U.S. telecommunications carrier for information about its customers …