Thompson Adviser Has Criminal Past  —  Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson has been crisscrossing the country since early this summer on a private jet lent to him by a businessman and close adviser who has a criminal record for drug dealing.  —  Thompson selected the businessman …

Musharraf Declares Emergency Rule  —  The Pakistani leader, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, declared a state of emergency on Saturday night, suspending the country's Constitution, firing the chief justice of the Supreme Court and filling the streets of the capital with police officers.

New Detainee Rights Weighed in Plans to Close Guantánamo  —  Administration officials are considering granting Guantánamo detainees substantially greater rights as part of an effort to close the detention center and possibly move much of its population to the United States …

ALL-TIME WINGNUTTIEST BLOG POST CONTEST....While the rest of the blogosphere concerns itself with the worthy task of choosing the all-time best blog posts, I'm keeping my focus where it belongs: on the all-time worst blog posts.  And thanks to help from my commenters, plus commenters over at FDL …

Beyond Those Health Care Numbers  —  WITH the health care system at the center of the political debate, a lot of scary claims are being thrown around.  The dangerous ones are not those that are false; watchdogs in the news media are quick to debunk them.  Rather, the dangerous ones …

FRED THOMPSON VS. THE UN'S ANTI-SELF-DEFENSE CAMPAIGN Earlier this week, Sen. Fred Thompson wrote to Field & Stream magazine, criticizing the UN's campaign against the human right of self-defense.  The Thompson campaign touted the letter on its website, and the letter got a favorable reception among many pro-Second Amendment bloggers.

Noun + Verb + 9/11 + Iran = Democrats' Defeat?  —  WHEN President Bush started making noises about World War III, he only confirmed what has been a Democratic article of faith all year: Between now and Election Day he and Dick Cheney, cheered on by the mob of neocon dead-enders, are going to bomb Iran.

Devices Enforce Cellular Silence, Sweet but Illegal  —  One afternoon in early September, an architect boarded his commuter train and became a cellphone vigilante.  He sat down next to a 20-something woman who he said was "blabbing away" into her phone.  —  "She was using the word 'like' all the time.

In Bloggo Gravitas: BriWi On SNL, In His Own Words  —  Good Lord, Brian Williams is everywhere these days, pre-SNL — talking to the NYDN about how he won't be singing "Dick In A Box"; admitting butterflies to the AP; declaring to the Hollywood Reporter that the show must go on …

Reconcilable Differences  —  The Iraqi parliament behaves like a bunch of politicians.  —  How much does it matter that the Iraqi parliament has not yet passed an oil law?  According to war critics, it is the only thing that matters: Iraqis' failure to complete "reconciliation" by passing …

Dissident  —  Natan Sharansky's passion for democracy isn't always welcome in the West.  —  JERUSALEM—An eternity ago, in 2004, the former Soviet refusenik and Israeli government minister Natan Sharansky called George W. Bush "a dissident President"—"jokingly," he tells me, thinking back to that first White House meeting.

Even Cut 50 Percent, Earmarks Clog a Military Bill  —  Even though members of Congress cut back their pork barrel spending this year, House lawmakers still tacked on to the military appropriations bill $1.8 billion to pay 580 private companies for projects the Pentagon did not request.

Justice Nominee Gets 2 Key Votes From Democrats  —  The confirmation of Michael B. Mukasey as attorney general appeared to be all but certain on Friday after two key Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee announced they would support the nomination despite complaints over Mr. Mukasey's refusal …