Gore Vidal: 'We'll have a dictatorship soon in the US'  —  The grand old man of letters Gore Vidal claims America is ‘rotting away’ — and don't expect Barack Obama to save it  —  A conversation with Gore Vidal unfolds at his pace.  He answers questions imperiously, occasionally playfully, with a piercing, lethal dryness.

Roman Polanski: backlash as Whoopi Goldberg says director didn't commit ‘raperape’  —  Whoopi Goldberg is facing a fierce backlash after saying that film director Roman Polanski didn't commit “rape-rape” when he had unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl.  —  Goldberg, star of The Color Purple …

Senators turn back ID requirement for immigrant healthcare  —  Senate Finance Committee Democrats rejected a proposed a requirement that immigrants prove their identity with photo identification when signing up for federal healthcare programs.  —  Finance Committee ranking member Chuck Grassley …

Where Did ‘We’ Go?  —  I hate to write about this, but I have actually been to this play before and it is really disturbing.  —  I was in Israel interviewing Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin just before he was assassinated in 1995.  We had a beer in his office.  He needed one.

Republicans decide not to introduce Grayson resolution  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) - House Republicans changed course on Wednesday and decided not to move forward with a resolution condemning Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Florida, for saying that the GOP health care plan calls for sick people to “die quickly.”

Sarah's lectures a tough sell  —  SARAH Palinis said to have pocketed a $7 million advance for the 400-page memoir she turned in four months early, but she might not have such an easy time on the lecture circuit.  —  After quitting as governor of Alaska in July, Palin signed …

Reality Check: Trying to Turn a Point of Pride into a Moment of Shame  —  Last night Fox News continued its disregard for the facts in an attempt to smear the Administration's efforts to win the Olympics for the United States.  In the past, hosting the Olympics has been a source of pride …

National Review's John Derbyshire: Women Should Not Have The Right To Vote  —  John Derbyshire, a British-American conservative author and columnist for the National Review, has written a new book titled We Are Doomed: Reclaiming Conservative Pessimism.  The book contains a section called “The Case Against Female Suffrage.”

Olympia Snowe: The Political Problems of Stopping Health Care Reform  —  Olympia Snowe enjoys broad support in her home state, but she faces significant political problems if she opposes President Obama's health insurance reform.  A Snowe vote against health insurance reform results …

More Independents Lean GOP; Party Gap Smallest Since '05  —  Democratic advantage on leaned party ID is 48% to 42%  —  PRINCETON, NJ — In the third quarter of this year, 48% of Americans identified politically as Democrats or said they were independent but leaned to the Democratic Party.

Socialized Medicine is Good Enough for Congress  —  Attending Physician of the United States Congress, Brian Monahan  —  This sure is a nice perk congress has granted itself: … What's noteworthy here isn't just the existence of the perk, it's the specific form.  Congress could have voted itself higher salaries.

Exhibit featuring nude photo of 10-year-old Brooke Shields sparks outrage  —  An exhibition at the Tate Modern will feature a photograph of a nude ten-year-old Brooke Shields alongside sexually explicit pop art - a decision akin to rolling out a welcome mat for perverts, outraged critics charge.

Grayson: I'll apologize to the “dead”  —  Rep. Alan Grayson is not so apologetic — on the House floor:  —  And he ups the ante by comparing the lack of good health care to the Holocaust.  Oy.  —  Last night, I gave a speech and I'm not going to recount everything I said but after that speech …

Nike Resigns from Chamber Board  —  This just in:  —  Nike announces it is resigning from the US Chamber Board of Directors.  —  I guess the Chamber's desperate attempt to persuade the public and its members of an alternative reality in which the Chamber champions climate legislation didn't work.

Sex, scorn and videotape  —  When John Edwards returned to North Carolina in the course of his long quest for the presidency, Andrew Young always met him at the airport in Edwards's big black Chevy Tahoe.  Young drove, and Edwards rode shotgun, silently raising his left hand whenever he wanted a Diet Coke …