And now for some shoddy war reporting...from an NRO milblogger  —  Ugh.  This is bad on many levels.  W. Thomas Smith, Jr., a former Marine and milblogger who writes at National Review Online's The Tank (and whose work in Iraq I've praised and linked to here), posts a long-winded defense of bogus …

More gay men describe sexual encounters with U.S. Sen. Craig  —  Allegations made since news of the Minneapolis case broke lend weight to rumors about Craig. … David Phillips.  Mike Jones.  Greg Ruth.  Tom Russell.  —  Four gay men, willing to put their names in print and whose allegations …

US says it has right to kidnap British citizens  —  AMERICA has told Britain that it can "kidnap" British citizens if they are wanted for crimes in the United States.  —  A senior lawyer for the American government has told the Court of Appeal in London that kidnapping foreign citizens …

Jeb'd  —  state of Florida. … Don't know if Siedle has information or if he's just making a guess, but I too suspect that the last gasp of Big S**tpile involved finding marks in state and local governments.

The GOP Race: Huge Changes In Iowa  —  The new poll from the Des Moines Register shows some dramatic changes in the Republican race in Iowa.  The headline is that Mike Huckabee, who was 17 points behind Mitt Romney in the paper's October poll, now leads Romney by five points.

More on Romney Religion Speech  —  The venue is not a surprise, since Romney has given a previous major address (on defense policy) at the Bush library, and the two families are very close.  And Texas, of course, was also the venue for John F. Kennedy's famous speech on religion in 1960 …

The election day post: the doomsday vote  —  How Miguel voted.  Visiting the Venezuelan electoral system in pictures.  —  My Mom calls me to let me know the results of her table vote in El Cafetal.  No surprise there except that abstention low (29%) and Chavez gets his lowest result ever in that center: 8.9%.

Whaddayamean "neck-and-neck"?!?  —  Quico says: For the record, that C21 poll released last night leaves the final chart of the most recent, most relevant polls looking like this:  —  The final Big Poll Chart (which includes every survey I could get my hands on) has gotten a bit unwieldy, just because it has so much data in it by now.

Huckabee, Morris keep lines open  —  Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee has been holding private conversations with Dick Morris, according to aides, a longstanding relationship that is raising new questions as Huckabee's campaign begins to take off.

Israelis hit Syrian 'nuclear bomb plant'  —  Uzi Mahnaimi in Tel Aviv and Michael Sheridan in Seoul  —  ISRAEL'S top-secret air raid on Syria in September destroyed a bomb factory assembling warheads fuelled by North Korean plutonium, a leading Israeli nuclear expert has told The Sunday Times.

Is misdeed a creation of political doctrine?  —  Is this state's education agency being driven by a political orthodoxy so fierce that it dumped its science director for passing along a harmless e-mail?  It's possible.  —  Chris Comer was director of the science curriculum …

The gentry liberals  —  They're more concerned with global warming and gay rights than with lunch-pail joes.  —  After decades on the political sidelines, liberalism is making a comeback.  Polls show plunging support for Republicans and their brand of conservatism among young, independent voters and Latinos.

NH boost: Union Leader endorses McCain  —  In a major coup for Sen. John McCain, the New Hampshire Union Leader of Manchester endorsed the Arizona Republican for president today, calling him the man to lead America.  —  The Republican presidential candidates are in a free-for-all for the GOP nomination …