Democratic Defections Clear Path For Mukasey  —  2 Senators Say Nominee Is Best Bush Would Offer  —  The nomination fight over attorney general nominee Michael B. Mukasey effectively came to an end yesterday, as two key Senate Democrats parted from their colleagues and announced their support …

Video: Clinton takes on Russert, says letter was no cover-up  —  "Breathtakingly" misleading.  That's what former president Bill Clinton called a question Tim Russert asked his wife at this week's Democratic presidential candidates' debate.  And boy was he mad.

Kucinich Will Introduce Privileged Resolution To Force Up Or Down Vote On Cheney Impeachment  —  Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) announced today that he will be offering a privileged resolution on the House floor next week that will bring articles of impeachment against the Vice President, Richard B. Cheney.

The Petraeus Curve  —  Serious success in Iraq is not being recognised as it should be  —  Is no news good news or bad news?  In Iraq, it seems good news is deemed no news.  There has been striking success in the past few months in the attempt to improve security, defeat al-Qaeda sympathisers …

The Long Run: Loyal to Kerik, Giuliani Missed Warning Signs  —  LOYAL TO KERIK, GIULIANI MISSED WARNING SIGNS  —  New evidence suggests Rudolph W. Giuliani overlooked disturbing information as he supported Bernard B. Kerik.

Sugar Industry Expands Influence  —  When U.S. sugar farmers needed help this summer defending a $1 billion, 10-year subsidy plan in a new House farm bill, they found it in some surprising places.  —  Among the 282 lawmakers siding with Midwest and Gulf Coast growers on a key vote …

My Favorite Menace  —  The Law of the Sea Treaty has become a hot-button item in the Republican presidential race.  —  Say what?  —  "One of the defining issues of our time," declared Mike Huckabee, who is leading an anti-treaty charge.  —  People, what do you think of when you hear "defining issues of our time?"

Clinton and Obama Clash Over 'Piling On' Remarks  —  Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama tangled today over whether women should be treated equally to men in the boxing ring of presidential politics as Mrs. Clinton backed away from her "politics of pile on" strategy portraying …

The Toughest, Most Effective Web Ad I've Seen This Campaign So Far  —  It's very rare that I find myself in total agreement with Markos Moulitsas, creator of Daily Kos.  But he calls John Edwards' response to Hillary Clinton's "pile-on" video "devastating," and I have to agree.

One Hundred Routes to War, One Hundred Ways to Hell  —  Almost two years ago, in writing about the effects of any foreign intervention that is not a demonstrably necessary act of self-defense, I identified what I considered to be the most important principle regarding interventions of this kind.

It's official: Putin has just stopped pretending  —  It's safe to say that no one really expects this December's Russian elections to be a fair contest.  All the same, the Kremlin's decision to cut the number of international observers invited by two thirds is a particularly brazen demonstration …

Hollywood Writers Set Strike for Monday  —  LOS ANGELES — Film and TV writers prepared to go on strike Monday for the first time in two decades to break what has become a high-stakes stalemate with the world's largest media companies over profits from DVDs and programming on the Internet.