Emanuel: Bush left U.S. adrift on Afghanistan  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — One of President Obama's top advisers said Sunday the Bush administration failed to ask critical questions about the war in Afghanistan, leaving the Obama administration starting from scratch — and leaving the war “adrift.”

White House admits: We ‘control’ news media  —  Communications chief offers shocking confession to foreign government  —  TEL AVIV - President Obama's presidential campaign focused on “making” the news media cover certain issues while rarely communicating anything to the press unless it was …

Sheriff: Balloon hoax ‘aha!’ moment on CNN  —  (CNN) — Three days after the world watched a giant balloon fly through the air as a tearful family expressed fears that their 6-year-old boy could be inside, authorities announced what millions already suspected: The whole thing was staged.

Global Warming in SuperFreakonomics: The Anatomy of a Smear  —  1. Let the wild rumpus start.  —  Yes, it's an ancient cliché: a lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.  But it's still accurate.  —  The final chapter in our forthcoming book …

How Moody's sold its ratings — and sold out investors  —  WASHINGTON — As the housing market collapsed in late 2007, Moody's Investors Service, whose investment ratings were widely trusted, responded by purging analysts and executives who warned of trouble and promoting those who helped Wall Street plunge …

Energy Firms Deeply Split on Bill to Battle Climate Change  —  WASHINGTON — As the Senate prepares to tackle global warming, the nation's energy producers, once united, are battling one another over policy decisions worth hundreds of billions of dollars in coming decades.

Specter rips GOP: ‘A Party of obstructionism.’  —  Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA), who until late April of this year was a lifelong Republican, castigated his former party this morning on Fox News.  Specter ripped the GOP for refusing to be a good-faith negotiator in the health care debate:

Mr. Deeds for Governor  —  A LEGACY of sound policies, coupled with the proximity of the federal government, has partially protected Virginia from the harsh retrenchments that the recession has forced on many states.  Yet the commonwealth faces a daunting crisis in the form of a drastic shortfall …

Iran Guard Commanders Are Killed in Bombings  —  RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — At least five commanders of Iran's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps were killed and dozens of other people were left dead and wounded on Sunday in two bombings in the restive southeast along Iran's frontier with Pakistan …

Rebranding America  —  A FEW years ago, I accepted a Golden Globe award by barking out an expletive.  —  One imagines President Obama did the same when he heard about his Nobel, and not out of excitement.  —  When Mr. Obama takes the stage at Oslo City Hall this December …