QUICK POST-DEBATE IMPRESSIONS  —  From NBC's Chuck Todd  —  If the last debate was the moment where Democrats realized that the Clinton coronation was, at least, postponed, this one will be known as the debate that seemed to sharpen the contrast between Clinton and Obama and create a gap between the big two and everyone else.

Panel Drops Immunity From Eavesdropping Bill  —  Reflecting the deep divisions within Congress over granting legal immunity to telephone companies for cooperating with the Bush administration's program of wiretapping without warrants, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved a new domestic surveillance law …

Come Home … The Dome Under the Cross: Local Muslim and Christian leaders had prepared the church for his arrival.  —  A Bishop came to St John's Church in Baghdad today, 15 November, where a crowd of locals welcomed him home.  They were joined at the service by soldiers from the 2-12 infantry battalion …

President Bush Delivers Remarks at Federalist Society's 25th Annual Gala  —  Washington, D.C.  —  THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all.  (Applause.)  So much for the dress code.  (Laughter.)  I'm honored to be with you.  Thanks.  I appreciate being with an organization that understands the value …

Played for a Sucker  —  Lately, Barack Obama has been saying that major action is needed to avert what he keeps calling a "crisis" in Social Security — most recently in an interview with The National Journal.  Progressives who fought hard and successfully against the Bush administration's attempt …

Gonzales Defense Fund Set Up  —  Supporters of former attorney general Alberto R. Gonzales have created a trust fund to help pay for his legal expenses, which are mounting in the face of an ongoing Justice Department investigation into whether Gonzales committed perjury or improperly tampered with a congressional witness.

Hollywood stars mum on donations to GOP  —  Republican presidential candidates have been drawing support — and cash — from Hollywood celebrities, but few of the stars in super-liberal Tinseltown want to be publicly linked with the Grand Old Party.  —  One high-profile celebrity …

Calif. Court Rejects SUV Mileage Rules  —  A federal court in California yesterday rejected the Bush administration's new fuel economy standards for light trucks including SUVs, ruling that the government failed to take into account the effects of carbon emissions and their possible link to global warming.

Alliances In Ruins?  —  When the Democratic presidential candidates pause from beating Hillary with a stick, they join in unison to pronounce the Democratic pieties, chief among which is that George Bush has left our alliances in ruins.  As Clinton puts it, we have "alienated our friends," …

SPITZ VOWS TO PUSH FOR GAY MARRIAGES  —  Gov. Spitzer said at a private fund-raiser that he wants a Democratic-controlled state Senate to legalize gay marriage - a highly divisive and controversial issue - as one of its first priorities in 2009, a witness to the remarks told The Post.

China Stand on Imports Upsets U.S.  —  Few American industries have had more success in selling goods to China than makers of medical devices like X-rays, pacemakers and patient monitors.  Which is why a recent Chinese decree was so troubling.  —  The directive, issued in June …

Getting it Wrong... Again  —  You've got to love our intrepid media covering the war in Iraq.  Even eye-to-eye with their subjects they can still drastically misunderstand the situation.  —  Such was the case last Saturday, Nov. 11, when Ghaith Abdul-Ahad wrote about a commander of former Sunni insurgents …

Immigration out-paces British exodus  —  Britain is experiencing unprecedented levels of immigration with more than half a million foreigners arriving to live here in a single year, new figures show.  —  Last year, 510,000 foreign migrants came to the UK to stay for at least 12 months, according to the Office for National Statistics.