Reminder: Roman Polanski raped a child  —  Roman Polanski raped a child.  Let's just start right there, because that's the detail that tends to get neglected when we start discussing whether it was fair for the bail-jumping director to be arrested at age 76, after 32 years in “exile” …

FOX-TV CHICAGO ORDERED NOT TO RUN ANTI-OLYMPICS STORY  —  A local TV station that reported on Chicagoans NOT wanting the Olympics has been told NOT to run the report again, insiders tell the DRUDGE REPORT!  —  The Chicago Olympic Committee told FOX Chicago that its broadcast “would harm Chicago's chances” to be awarded the games.

Secret Service probing Facebook poll on Obama  —  WASHINGTON—The U.S. Secret Service is investigating an online survey that asked whether people thought President Barack Obama should be assassinated, officials said Monday.  —  The poll, posted Saturday on Facebook, was taken off …

U.S. commander in Afghanistan talked with Obama only once  —  The military general credited with capturing Saddam Hussein and killing the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, says he has spoken with President Obama only once since taking command in Afghanistan.

Reid the Quarterback May Call on Obama to Referee  —  WASHINGTON — As the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada, takes on the delicate task of melding two competing versions of major health care legislation, aides say he will lean heavily on President Obama to arbitrate …

The Limits of Charisma  —  Mr. President, please stay off TV.  —  If ubiquity were the measure of a presidency, Barack Obama would already be grinning at us from Mount Rushmore.  But of course it is not.  Despite his many words and television appearances, our elegant and eloquent president remains …

Jet halted at LAX; two men are removed by police [Updated]  —  A plane was stopped from taking off from Los Angeles International Airport, and two men on board were taken into custody, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.  —  LAPD Lt. John Romero said the men …

Boxer, Kerry Set to Introduce Climate Bill in Senate  —  Ending some nine months of closed-door deliberations, Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and John Kerry (D-Mass.) will release global warming legislation Wednesday that they hope will be the vehicle for broader Senate negotiations and an eventual conference with the House.

24 Blue Dogs Have Said They Support a Public Option  —  The fact that a Blue Dog has supported a public option in the past does not mean that they will support one now — their principles tend to be lobbyist-flexible.  But Nate Silver's number crunching indicates that most of those who have done …

More Americans Plugged Into Political News  —  Four in 10 Republicans, vs. 3 in 10 Democrats, follow it very closely  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Americans are paying closer attention to political news today than in any year without a presidential election since Gallup began regularly tracking this measure in 2001.

Whitman, Fiorina reject California GOP ‘straw poll’  —  (CNN) - Two Republican statewide candidates in California are touting the results of a state GOP convention straw poll that showed conservative activists overwhelmingly rejecting the gubernatorial bid of former eBay CEO Meg Whitman …

SAUDIS WILL LET ISRAEL BOMB IRAN NUCLEAR SITE  —  INTELLIGENCE chief Sir John Scarlett has been told that Saudi Arabia is ready to allow Israel to bomb Iran's new nuclear site.  —  The head of MI6 discussed the issue in London with Mossad chief Meir Dagan and Saudi officials …

Cassandras of Climate  —  Every once in a while I feel despair over the fate of the planet.  If you've been following climate science, you know what I mean: the sense that we're hurtling toward catastrophe but nobody wants to hear about it or do anything to avert it.  —  And here's the thing: I'm not engaging in hyperbole.

New Cheney Taking Stage for the G.O.P.  —  NASHVILLE — Liz Cheney looks nothing like her father, but it is clear who he is.  She was introduced as “our favorite vice president's daughter” at a recent gathering of conservative women here.  She kept invoking him in her speech …

Doesn't a Thesis Need to be Defended?  —  Kimberly A. Strassel's column in the Wall Street Journal, Obama's Swing-State Blues, focusing on the gubernatorial race in Virginia, is both thoughtful and accurate in detailing the importance and dynamics of the race between Republican Robert F. McDonnell and Democrat Creigh Deeds.

Max's Mad Mandate  —  The Baucus health bill will break 50 state budgets via Medicaid.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  The more we inspect Max Baucus's health-care bill, the worse it looks.  Today's howler: One reason it allegedly “pays for itself” over 10 years is because it would break …

Silencing Dissent  —  Something is rotten in the state of Egypt.  —  The Obama administration's Arab-Israeli peace process is in more trouble than even the White House realizes.  To be sure, the Israelis and Palestinians are both dug in, and when the president sought baby steps …

One crucial B. McCaughey update  —  I have deliberately laid off the Betsy McCaughey theme for the past month-plus.  I had my say; she continues to have hers; people can make up their minds.  —  But revelations late last week by Tim Dickinson, of Rolling Stone, are at face value so important that they deserve to be underscored.

Fred Thompson spurns GOP special election nominee  —  Former GOP presidential candidate Fred Thompson just announced he's backing the Conservative Party candidate in the special election in New York's 23rd district.  —  In the latest sign that GOP state Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava …

Palin finishes memoir, ‘Going Rogue,’ out Nov. 17  —  NEW YORK — Sarah Palin (PAY'-lin) has finished her memoir just four months after the book deal was announced.  Her publisher says the release date has been moved up from the spring to Nov. 17.  —  Harper publisher Jonathan Burnham …

Right-Wing Conference Tells Activists To Get Their Guns Ready For ‘Bloody Battle’ With Obama The Nazi  —  At the How To Take Back America Conference last weekend, conservative speaker Kitty Werthmann led a workshop called “How to recognize living under Nazis & Communists.”

3 teens charged with beating death of ‘innocent bystander’  —  Three teenagers have been charged with beating to death 16-year-old Derrion Albert, an “innocent bystander” who walked into the middle of a street fight between two groups of feuding teens last Thursday, according to prosecutors.

The Infallible Prosecutor  —  A prosecutor manufactures evidence in order to win a conviction.  After the convicted serves 25 years in prison, exculpatory evidence pointing to another perpetrator surfaces.  The convicted is released.  Should he be able to sue the prosecutor who concocted the false evidence used to convict him?