Durbin: Progressives Forced Our Hand On Public Option  —  WHAT'S YOUR REACTION?  —  Democratic leaders were forced to include a national public health insurance option as part of health care reform by progressive Democratic senators who refused to support anything less, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said on Monday.

CNN Drops to Last Place Among Cable News Networks  —  CNN, which invented the cable news network more than two decades ago, will hit a new competitive low with its prime-time programs in October, finishing fourth - and last - among the cable news networks with the audience that all the networks rely on for their advertising.

The future of the GOP is outside the Beltway  —  Bien-pensant conservative elites and establishment-friendly Republican big shots yearn for a more moderate, temperate and sophisticated Republican Party.  It's not likely to happen.  And probably just as well.

Biden's popularity plunges; lower than Cheney's  —  Vice President Joe Biden's favorable rating has fallen to 42 percent in a new Gallup poll, down from a high of 59 percent just after last year's election.  Biden's unfavorable rating in the new poll is 40 percent, up from 29 percent last November.

Grayson goes too far for colleagues  —  Republicans and Democrats slammed Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) for calling Linda Robertson, an adviser to Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, a “K Street whore” in a month-old radio interview that circulated on Capitol Hill Monday night.  —  “There's no call for that language.

Ex-A.I.G. Chief Is Back, Luring Talent From Rescued Firm  —  Maurice R. Greenberg, who built the American International Group into an insurance behemoth with an impenetrable maze of on- and offshore companies, is at it again.  —  Even as he has been lambasting the government for its handling …

Climate chief Lord Stern: give up meat to save the planet  —  People will need to consider turning vegetarian if the world is to conquer climate change, according to a leading authority on global warming.  —  In an interview with The Times, Lord Stern of Brentford said …

McDonnell has double-digit lead in Va. governor's race, Post poll says  —  Republican Robert F. McDonnell carries a double-digit lead over Democrat R. Creigh Deeds into the final week of the campaign for Virginia governor, according to a new Washington Post poll.

After 6 Days, RNC Finally Removes Photo Calling Mixing Of Races A “Crime Against American Values” … RNC FACEBOOK PAGE HOSTED BLATANTLY RACIST PHOTO  —  Earlier today, the Republican National Committee finally removed a racist photo of President Obama that had been featured on its Facebook page since October 20th.

U.S. official resigns over Afghan war  —  When Matthew Hoh joined the Foreign Service early this year, he was exactly the kind of smart civil-military hybrid the administration was looking for to help expand its development efforts in Afghanistan.  —  A former Marine Corps captain …

More on the Minneapolis “overflight”  —  According to numerous accounts in the last hour — AP here, Reuters here, WSJ here — the current story from the Northwest flight crew that forgot to land in Minneapolis is that they were so absorbed in using laptops in the cockpit that they neglected …

MacFarlane special loses Microsoft  —  Company yanks sponsorship of Fox show  —  Microsoft has yanked its sponsorship from Fox's upcoming Seth MacFarlane comedy/variety special over content concerns.  —  Fox still plans to air “Family Guy Presents: Seth and Alex's Almost Live Comedy Show” …