Congressional Leaders Stunned by Warnings  —  WASHINGTON — It was a room full of people who rarely hold their tongues.  But as the Fed chairman, Ben S. Bernanke, laid out the potentially devastating ramifications of the financial crisis before congressional leaders on Thursday night, there was a stunned silence at first.

McCain on banking and health  —  OK, a correspondent directs me to John McCain's article, Better Health Care at Lower Cost for Every American, in the Sept./Oct. issue of Contingencies, the magazine of the American Academy of Actuaries.  You might want to be seated before reading this.

ASTONISHING: Rep. Rangel Calls Palin ‘Disabled’  —  Embattled Politician: It's Laughable That GOP VP Nominee Bases Foreign Policy On Being Able To See Russia  —  Republicans Infuriated; Rep. King Blasts Rangel  —  NEW YORK (CBS) ― Already under fire for his tax troubles …

OBAMA'S FANNIE MAE ‘CONNECTION’ … AN ALREADY NASTY PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN IS GETTING NASTIER.  THE MELTDOWN ON WALL STREET HAS TOUCHED OFF FRANTIC ATTEMPTS BY BOTH THE MCCAIN AND OBAMA CAMPS TO SECURE POLITICAL ADVANTAGE AND INDULGE IN GUILT BY ASSOCIATION.

One thought pushes fence-sitters to the left: Palin  —  ST. PETERSBURG — Five weeks ago, the St. Petersburg Times convened a group of Tampa Bay voters who were undecided about the presidential election.  Their strong distrust of Barack Obama suggested it was a group ripe for John McCain to win over.

Army Alters Photographs, Issues Them To AP  —  The Associated Press retracted two government-issued photographs last night after a photographer in Texas alerted the agency that the photos in question appeared to be doctored.  —  Bob Owen, chief photographer of the San Antonio Express-News …

Gallup Daily: Obama Now Leads McCain by 5 Points  —  At 49%, support for Obama is near his record high for the year  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Gallup Poll Daily tracking from Tuesday through Thursday finds Barack Obama with a five percentage point lead over John McCain in the presidential preferences of registered voters, 49% to 44%.

Undermining McCain Campaign Attack, Republicans Back Obama's Version of Meeting With Iraqi Leaders  —  Earlier this week, the campaign of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., seized upon a column in the New York Post that described Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., as having urged Iraqi leaders in a private meeting …

Palin's favorability trajectory  —  Al Rodgers whipped this up:  —  Worth more than 1,000 words, huh?

Palin Warns Against ‘Second Holocaust’ by Ahmadinejad  —  ABC News' Imtiyaz Delawala Reports: Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin warned against Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's pursuit of nuclear weapons for a “second holocaust,” while blaming “Democrat partisans” for forcing rally organizers …

Sandra Bernhard: Palin Would Be Gang-Raped By Blacks in Manhattan  —  The Washington Post isn't the only daily D.C. newspaper to rave about Sandra Bernhard's anti-Palin ranting.  Wednesday's Washington Examiner joined in, with the headline “Comedienne delivers enraged optimism.”

PRAYING FOR THE TROOPS, AND THE WORLD.  Are we fighting a Holy War?  —  Devastating.

An Open Letter to All Republicans From a Former Religious Right Activist  —  Dear Republicans: This election all Republicans who love America must vote for Obama.  A vote for business-as-usual and a continuation of the Neoconservative/Religious Right/ party of corporate American alienation is a vote against America.

Welcome to History  —  It's helpful to think of how to address the current financial crisis (and I don't use that word casually) in terms of the end-state we want to achieve, and the transition plan to get there.  —  The problem we face is often described as mind-bendingly complex, but in its essentials, it is simple.

Fox demands McCain camp remove Garrett from ad  —  Fox News sent a cease and desist letter to the McCain campaign today over a new ad that includes the voice of correspondent Major Garrett, according to a letter obtained by Politico.  —  From the letter sent to Trevor Potter, general counsel for the McCain campaign.

Bush's Legacy: Small Ball After All?  —  BOTH SUPPORTERS AND CRITICS TEND TO VIEW BUSH AS A GAME-CHANGING PRESIDENT.  BUT HE MAY BE REMEMBERED AS A COMPARATIVELY MINOR FIGURE. … That succinct judgment, received not long ago via e-mail from a political scientist, sums up a good deal …

Satellite images show ethnic cleanout in Iraq  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Satellite images taken at night show heavily Sunni Arab neighborhoods of Baghdad began emptying before a U.S. troop surge in 2007, graphic evidence of ethnic cleansing that preceded a drop in violence, according to a report published on Friday.

McCain: Playing the patriotism card  —  At last night's rally in Wisconsin, McCain said this: “And that's how we see this election, country first or Obama first and I have a feeling [chant of “Country First, Country First"]... So when it comes to cutting taxes for seniors, for working families …

HIS STANDARD MO  —  Did John McCain just make his first edge toward that (hollow) apology that Joe Klein says he'll never accept?  —  (To be clear: Joe was referring to McCain's established pattern of engaging in sleazy or dishonest behavior knowing he can latter come back to the Washington bigs, moral hat in hand, for absolution.)

Oh, That Joe!  (No. 13 in a Series) — Kicking Ohio State's A**  —  Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., spent the past two days trying to win over Ohio voters, but he may have undermined that work in one quick dis of the Ohio State Buckeyes football team Friday morning.

The program  —  Every time I post a link to an article about how the Republicans are always worse for the economy than Democrats, people seem surprised to learn this fact.  I've been pushing this since I started blogging, which is why I was so pleased back in 2002 when Dwight Meredith started doing …