Effort to replace Kennedy hits snag  —  The Massachusetts Legislature on Wednesday granted Gov. Deval Patrick the power to appoint a temporary replacement for the late Sen. Edward Kennedy, but with one catch: when the appointment can be made.  —  Lawmakers declined to allow the law …

“Mmm mmm mmm:” New details about the Dear Leader song video  —  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.  —  The video was originally posted in June 2009 here by YouTube user “brandnuwords.”

Sometimes it takes an outsider to show the press corps the way.  —  Among the many glorious things about American journalism is that no credentialing organization or regulatory body stands between an individual who wants to break a story and his public reporting of it.

Obama to Use Current Law to Support Detentions  —  WASHINGTON — The Obama administration has decided not to seek new legislation from Congress authorizing the indefinite detention of about 50 terrorism suspects being held without charges at at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, officials said Wednesday.

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 …

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 …

Palin breaks with McCain on F-22 cuts  —  Sarah Palin, outlying her “common sense conservative” foreign policy views in Hong Kong yesterday, denounced her former running mate's push to cut new F-22 Raptor fighter jets, an efficiency move in which Senator John McCain allied himself …

Eye Opener: Census Worker Found Hanged  —  A part-time Census Bureau field worker was found hanged in Kentucky Sept. 12 with the word “fed” scrawled across his chest, according to a law enforcement source.  Bill Sparkman, 51 was found in a remote patch of the Daniel Boone National Forest …

They're torturing me, Honduras' 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.

Barack Obama rebuffs Gordon Brown as ‘special relationship’ sinks to new low  —  Gordon Brown has been snubbed repeatedly by Barack Obama during his trip to the United States, as the fall-out from the release of the Lockerbie bomber appeared to have left “the special relationship” at its lowest ebb for nearly 20 years.

MSNBC Commentator: Republicans “Want to See You Dead...They Kinda Like It When That Woman Has Cancer”  —  Click to see Ed Schultz's unhinged meltdown.  —  On the Wednesday evening edition of “The Ed Show,” MSNBC commentator Ed Schultz stated that Republicans want Americans to die …

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.

Seniors Lean Against New Healthcare Law  —  Demographic analysis also reveals distinctions by race, income, and education  —  PRINCETON, NJ — There are significant differences in views on a new healthcare law by age.  The youngest Americans, aged 18-29, favor it by a 13-point margin …

Obama Pushes for Nuke-Free World  —  In another of his many firsts on the international stage, President Obama, who delivered an unusually blunt speech to the United Nations General Assembly Wednesday, will serve as chairman of a meeting of the U.N. Security Council today, the first time ever a U.S. president has done so.

LOOK WHO'LL BE ON THE TEEVEE (AGAIN).... ABC News announced the guest list for Sunday's episode of “This Week with George Stephanopoulos,” and you'll never guess who's going to be on.  Secretary of Defense Robert Gates will go first, followed by the guy who didn't win last year's presidential election.

King: Same-Sex Marriage Is ‘A Purely Socialist Concept’  —  In April, when the Iowa Supreme Court unanimously struck down a state law defining marriage as solely between a man and a woman, Rep. Steve King (R-IA) called it an “unconstitutional” decision and predicted that it could lead to Iowa becoming “the gay marriage Mecca.”

Critics Assail Obama's ‘Safe Schools’ Czar, Say He's Wrong Man for the Job  —  Critics say Kevin Jennings is too radical for the job of director of the Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools, citing what they say is his promotion of homosexuality in schools, his writings about his past drug abuse and his onetime contempt for religion.

Health, Race And Obama  —  America's real and imagined grievances.  —  After an exceedingly disappointing 10 months in office pursuing a hyper-partisan agenda, President Barack Obama reminded me last week of why, for a brief moment during his campaign eons ago last year, he actually won my heart.

GMAC Uses New Strength to Expand  —  GMAC Inc., the former General Motors Co. finance company that was rescued by the government, is using its new access to low-cost capital and the rising prominence of its Ally bank to compete more directly with banks such as J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Wachovia Corp.

The public knows the GOP is fibbing  —  Only Republicans really buy the anti-healthcare reform lies.  So why are some Dems settling for such an awful bill?  —  President Obama appears at a town hall meeting on healthcare reform in Raleigh, N.C., in July.  —  “I can't tell you how many …