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 …

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.

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 …

Grayson: GOP wants ‘you to die’  —  Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Fla., warned Americans that “Republicans want you to die quickly” during an after-hours House floor speech Tuesday night.  —  His remarks, which drew angry and immediate calls for an apology from Republicans, were highlighted by a sign reading …

Reconciliation Myths.  —  “A Primer on Reconciliation,” put together by Ken Strickland of NBC at First Read does a nice job of explaining the arcane process and some of the limits that will make it both difficult and risky to push health reform through that process, despite the appealing feature …

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 …

What Obama won't say about the Afghan war today, at least publicly  —  This is a messy time for the nation's politics.  And this seemingly serene autumn day is quietly crucial.  —  Despite all the excitement and promise of a fresh Barack Obama administration cleaning house from eight years …

High Court to Examine Local Handgun Laws  —  The Supreme Court on Wednesday said it will decide whether the right to own guns for self-defense, announced by the court last year when it struck down the District of Columbia's ban on handguns, also covers states and other cities with gun-control laws.

Corzine Creeps Up On Christie In New Jersey Gov Race, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Voters Favor Property Tax Cap 8-1  —  Democratic incumbent Gov. Jon Corzine has cut Republican challenger Christopher Christie's lead in half and now trails the former federal prosecutor 43 …

U.S. to Seek Rare Meeting With Iran on Nuclear Program  —  U.S. officials signaled Wednesday that they would seek a rare one-on-one meeting with Iranian diplomats during talks here on Thursday between Iran and other major powers on Tehran's nuclear program.  —  The talks, expected to last through …

Bette Midler Warns Glenn Beck Could Set Off a Rwanda-Like Civil War in U.S.  —  Update at bottom (2:03 p.m.): Beck fires back  —  It's just what the primetime cable news lineup needed - another hour-long program tilted toward left-of-center politics with character assassination on conservatives.

Goldberg Calls Out Fox News Hosts ‘Pretending To Be Journalists’...On Fox News  —  Something happened on Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor last night that rarely occurs in cable news - criticism of a network, on that network.  FNC Contributor and weekly Factor guest Bernie Goldberg was on with Bill O'Reilly …

Why Obama Bombed on Health Care  —  The public wasn't dumb enough to believe the public option would save money.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  Someday this country will have a health-care debate that's not abject in its idiocy.  —  It will involve a term used by Congressional Budge …

Report on Georgia War Faults Both Sides  —  MOSCOW — A much-anticipated European Union inquiry into the August 2008 war in Georgia concludes that Georgia ignited the conflict by attacking separatists in South Ossetia, but that Russia had provoked violence in the enclave for years and exploited its consequences.

Special Health Care for Congress: Lawmakers' Health Care Perks  —  Little Known Office on Capitol Hill Provides Quality Medical Care for Low Price  —  This fall while members of Congress toil in the U.S. Capitol, working to decide how or even whether to reform the country's health care system …

Sarkozy Sees Obama As Incredibly Naive & Grossly Egotistical  —  Jack Kelly from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette told Greta Van Susteren that Sarkozy is furious with President Obama over his Iran speech and his misguided global disarmament obsession.  —  French President Sarkozy thinks President Obama …