Pardon Me?  —  Hillary Clinton Takes Cash From Recipients of Husband's Controversial Pardons  —  Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., speaks about her health care policy on Sept. 18, 2007.  An examination of Clinton's fundraising donors reveals three donors …

Karl Rove's New Gig  —  Less than three months after leaving the Bush White House, Karl Rove is becoming a member of a community not all that popular with administration officials: the media.  —  Newsweek has signed the president's former deputy chief of staff as a commentator who will turn …

Saudi punishes gang rape victim with 200 lashes  —  A court in the ultra-conservative kingdom of Saudi Arabia is punishing a female victim of gang rape with 200 lashes and six months in jail, a newspaper reported on Thursday.  —  The 19-year-old woman — whose six armed attackers …

Americans Widely Disappointed With Democrats in Congress  —  Majority more displeased than content with handling of seven issues  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Amidst a swirl of public dissatisfaction about the Iraq war, the economy, government corruption, and with President Bush more generally …

Iraqis Wasting An Opportunity, U.S. Officers Say  —  With Attacks Ebbing, Government Is Urged to Reach Out to Opponents  —  CAMP LIBERTY, Iraq — Senior military commanders here now portray the intransigence of Iraq's Shiite-dominated government as the key threat facing the U.S. effort in Iraq …

The Icebergs Ahead For the Democrats  —  As the Democratic presidential race finally gets down to brass tacks, two issues are becoming paramount.  But only one of them is clearly on the table.  —  That is the issue of illegal immigration.  A very smart Democrat, a veteran of the Clinton administration …

Santas warned 'ho ho ho' offensive to women  —  SYDNEY (AFP) - Santas in Australia's largest city have been told not to use Father Christmas's traditional "ho ho ho" greeting because it may be offensive to women, it was reported Thursday.  —  Sydney's Santa Clauses have instead been instructed to say …

Dems: No More Transparency  —  For those wondering why Democrats in Congress get such terrible grades in Gallup's latest polling, it might be because of moves like this one: … It's stunning that Congressional leaders would propose a new law to block Congress and the public from simply reviewing the details of the federal budget.

1968: The Long Goodbye  —  Can America rise above the divisions of the 1960s?  Not yet.  —  It's too bad Barack Obama wasn't able to meet Abbie Hoffman.  I don't know if Hillary Clinton ever met Hoffman, who died in 1989, but like any young person up and running in America in the late 1960s, she knows him well.

Goodbye, Mr. Bush  —  The Republican will to power remains ferocious.  It will take a dauntless Democratic leader to win back the White House and restore dignity to the Constitution.  —  Editor's note: Sidney Blumenthal is joining the Hillary Clinton campaign as a senior advisor, and this is his last column for Salon.

New Attorney General opposes changes to wiretap law  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — In his second day on the job, Attorney General Michael Mukasey leaped into the political fray, telling a key Democratic senator he opposes his electronic surveillance plan and would recommend the president veto it if it is passed.

Mr. Chavez's Coup  —  TENS OF thousands of Venezuelan students marched to the Supreme Court in Caracas last week to protest the new "socialist" constitutional reform that President Hugo Chavez is preparing to impose on the country.  On their return, students from the Central University …