Dem campaign anxiety: Vulnerables say they lack cover from Pelosi  —  Politically vulnerable Democrats say Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other House leaders aren't offering them the protection from tough votes that they did in the last Congress.  —  Conservative Democrats fear that dozens …

Exclusive: Poll shows Deeds within 4  —  Creigh Deeds, the Democratic nominee for governor in Virginia, has pulled to within four percentage points of Republican Bob McDonnell, according to a new InsiderAdvantage/Majority Opinion Research poll out Thursday.  —  The poll, conducted Wednesday evening …

“Mmm mmm mmm:” New details about the Dear Leader song video; Update: School responds  —  Scroll for updates...  Photoshop: Leo Alberti  —  In case you were wondering which school taught kids that “Barack Hussein Obama mmm mmm mmm” rap that I posted yesterday afternoon, here are some new details.

Finance Fireworks - Cutting Benefits vs. a Govt. Takeover  —  ABC's Z. Byron Wolf reports:  —  Tempers flared this morning as the Senate Finance Committee continues to slog through its mark up of a sweeping health care reform bill.  —  Sen. Max Baucus, who chairs the Finance Committee …

Kirk named to fill Kennedy seat  —  By Matt Viser, Frank Phillips, and Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff  —  Governor Deval Patrick today named Paul G. Kirk Jr. to serve as interim US senator, making the announcement in the presence of the immediate family of the late Edward M. Kennedy.

Victory on preventive detention law: in context  —  (updated below - Update II)  —  When Barack Obama gave his “civil liberties” speech at the National Archives in May, he advocated a new scheme of preventive detention for detainees whom he claimed “cannot be prosecuted yet who pose …

Environmentalists Seek to Wipe Out Plush Toilet Paper  —  Soft Toilet Paper's Hard on the Earth, But Will We Sit for the Alternative?  —  By David A. Fahrenthold, Page A01  —  ELMWOOD PARK, N.J. — There is a battle for America's behinds.

They're torturing me, Honduras' Manuel Zelaya claims  —  Honduras' fallen leader told The Miami Herald he is being subjected to mind-altering gas and radiation — and that ‘Israeli mercenaries’ are planning to assassinate him.  —  FROBLES@MIAMIHERALD.COM  —  TEGUCIGALPA — It's been 89 days since Manuel Zelaya was booted from power.

An apology to Sarah Palin  —  The Daily News-Miner has had its agreements and disagreements with now-former Gov. Sarah Palin at various points during her time serving the state of Alaska.  We have tried to maintain respect for the office of governor and to be generally civil when discussing Mrs. Palin …

“What a Disgrace”  —  Bibi kills at the UN.

9/24: NY Voters to Obama, “Mind Your Business”  —  The White House is urging Governor David Paterson not to run for office next year, but what do New York State voters think?  62% say the Obama Administration is wrong to suggest the governor should not run while 27% think Washington is well within its rights to get involved.

Classified McChrystal Report: 500,000 Troops Will Be Required Over Five Years in Afghanistan  —  Congress Should Hold Hearings on Alternatives to Major Escalation  —  Embedded in General Stanley McChrystal's classified assessment of the war in Afghanistan is his conclusion …

Palin's Hong Kong Speech — By: Rich Lowry  —  The first thing we can say about Sarah Palin's speech is that it is exactly the kind of address she should be giving.  It's plain-spoken and not exactly ground-breaking, but it's substantive and the kind of thing that is absolutely essential to adding some heft to her political portfolio.

Obama leads 2012 foes  —  If Barack Obama had to stand for reelection today he'd win by as much as he did last year, if not more.  —  He leads Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, Jeb Bush, and Sarah Palin by anywhere from 7-15 points in hypothetical 2012 contests.  —  Huckabee comes the closest, trailing Obama 48-41.

Meg Whitman's voting record short, sparse  —  Almost 9 million Californians cast ballots in the 2003 special election that swept movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger into the Governor's Office.  —  Meg Whitman wasn't among them.  —  The billionaire businesswoman now running for governor herself …

Prez comes across as a gullible sap  —  President Obama yesterday did his best impression of a high-school soph omore participating in his first Model UN meeting, retailing pious clichés he learned from his pony-tailed social studies teacher.  —  Even Woodrow Wilson might have blanched …

Bush Officials Objected To Awarding Medal To J.K. Rowling Because Harry Potter Books Promote Witchcraft  —  The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the nation's highest civil award, and is given to individuals who have contributed to: 1) the security or national interests of the United States …

Huge Anglo-Saxon gold hoard found … The UK's largest haul of Anglo-Saxon treasure has been discovered buried beneath a field in Staffordshire.  —  Experts say the collection of 1,500 gold and silver pieces, which may date to the 7th Century, is unparalleled in size and worth “a seven figure sum”.

Police fire tear gas at G20 protesters  —  An unpermitted anti-capitalist protest march towards the G20 summit in Pittsburgh turned violent today, with police firing tear gas after protesters barricaded the street.  —  With authorities braced for trouble on the eve of the summit of industrialised nations …

New York Police Official in Terror Unit Is Removed  —  The New York Police Department has removed a senior official from one of its two sometimes competing antiterrorism units, after it played a role in disrupting a sensitive federal terrorism investigation, current and former police officials said on Wednesday.

CONRAD'S MESSAGE TO THE LEFT.... Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), the Senate Budget Committee chairman and a member of the unsuccessful Gang of Six effort, raised a few eyebrows this week with a message for his “progressive friends.”  —  Conrad, a consistent opponent of the public option …