Brother of Afghan Leader Is Said to Be on C.I.A. Payroll  —  KABUL, Afghanistan — Ahmed Wali Karzai, the brother of the Afghan president and a suspected player in the country's booming illegal opium trade, gets regular payments from the Central Intelligence Agency, and has for much of the past eight years …

EXCLUSIVE: Democratic donors rewarded with W.H. perks  —  Offered access to bowling alley, movie theater  —  During his first nine months in office, President Obama has quietly rewarded scores of top Democratic donors with VIP access to the White House, private briefings with administration advisers …

CNN Poll: 7 in 10 say Palin not qualified to be president  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) - More than seven in 10 Americans think Sarah Palin is not qualified to be president, according to a new national poll.  —  Seventy-one percent of those questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey …

Did Schwarzenegger drop 4-letter bomb in veto?  —  Phillip Matier,Andrew Ross, Chronicle Columnists  —  (10-27) 19:19 PDT SACRAMENTO — Did Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's office use a coded veto message to send the f-bomb to Tom Ammiano, soon after the San Francisco assemblyman made news by telling the governor to “kiss my gay ass”?

On Healthcare, Americans Trust Obama More Than Congress  —  By 48% to 37%, more trust the Democrats than the Republicans in Congress  —  PRINCETON, NJ — As Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid tries to advance a healthcare reform bill onto the Senate floor, just under half of Americans, 48% …

Pew Political IQ Poll: Republicans Consistently More Knowledgeable  —  You likely won't see this poll result elsewhere, so I thought I'd highlight it here.  This is a Pew Political IQ test conducted over the phone with 1,002 adults from Oct. 1-4.  They were asked 12 questions …

Cheney backs Hutchison  —  How much more fun could the Texas governor's race get?  —  The latest from AP:  —  Former Vice President Dick Cheney will throw his support behind U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison's campaign for Texas governor.  —  Hutchison's campaign confirmed Wednesday …

Obama Is Right About Fox News  —  Journalism has a special, hallowed place for stories of its practitioners' persecution.  There is no higher claim to journalistic integrity than going to jail to protect a source.  And the Newseum in Washington, D.C., establishes the profession's legitimacy …

Times Buyout Package Reveals More than Expected  —  Just over a week ago, every person in the Times newsroom was sent out a buyout package via UPS Next Day Air.  If 100 staffers don't raise their hands by Dec. 7, there will be layoffs.  —  We got our hands on one of the thickish brown envelopes that went to employees' homes.

News gets worse for the MSM  —  There have been a lot of bad days recently for what's come to be known as the mainstream media — or MSM — but Monday was one of the worst.  —  New circulation figures showed that big city papers had lost as much as a quarter of their circulation in the past six months.

To find right PR guru, Beck looked to his left  —  A few weeks after Sept. 11, 2001, Glenn Beck, a young Tampa-based disc jockey eager to break into conservative talk radio, called his new Manhattan agent, George Hiltzik, to help arrange a visit to Ground Zero.

‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’: Larry David Urinates on Picture of Jesus  —  HBO's hit series “Curb Your Enthusiasm” has pushed the comedic envelope for many years, but what happened in Sunday's episode was so disgraceful it's already received comment from the Catholic League's Bill Donohue.

Cancer Patients Sue U.S. Attorney General in Bid to Save Lives  —  Institute for Justice Seeks to Remove Federal Criminal Ban On Compensating Bone Marrow Donors  —  Arlington, Va.—Every year, 1,000 Americans die because they cannot find a matching bone marrow donor.  Minorities are hit especially hard.

Defections have Dems ISO Plan B  —  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's appeals for party unity landed with a thud Tuesday with the very group he needs for his public-option push to pay off: centrists who hold the key to health reform.  —  And not just any centrists but one who makes liberals see red …

Converting the Preachers  —  George Soros launches a $50 million effort to purge economics of its free-market zeal.  —  “Large swaths of economics are going to have to be rethought on the basis of what's happened.”  So said Larry Summers, President Obama's chief economic adviser …

Palin created company while in office  —  A small mystery in Sarah Palin's personal financial disclosure: In April, while still governor, she founded what she describes as a “marketing” business, called “Pie Spy.”  —  Palin lists herself as the owner of the limited liability corporation …

For First Time Under Obama, Majority Says U.S. Is on Wrong Track  —  While the stock market has picked up and the country appears to be pulling out of the recession, a majority of Americans - for the first time in the Obama presidency - says the U.S. is headed down the wrong track …

Election 2009: Virginia Governor Election  —  Virginia Governor: McDonnell Stretches Lead To 13  —  Republican Robert F. McDonnell has now opened a 13-point lead over Democrat R. Creigh Deeds with less than a week to go in the race for governor of Virginia.

The phony quotes keep coming — and they go viral before even very quick corrections.  —  Yesterday, Yale lawprof Jack Balkin had to backtrack: … Although Professor Balkin picked up the story and wrote about it, to his credit, from the start, he hedged with phrases like “[i]f the current report is accurate.”

Traitor Joe  —  Blogs and Stories  —  The ex-Democrat now says he'll join the GOP in a health-care filibuster.  Paul Begala on Lieberman's latest and most shameless betrayal.  —  It's journalistic shorthand to note a politician's party identification and state after his or her name.

On the C.L.: Michelle Obama's Inspiring Mission (Hail the Mentor in Chief!)  Plus Her Answers to Your Questions  —  Putting together this magazine's annual Women of the Year issue generally involves lots of nail-bitingly tricky decisions (this politician or that?  Which athlete?  Which actress?).

BAYH ENDORSES MCCONNELL LINE ON CLOTURE.... Democrats and other supporters of health care reform have a very simple message for center-right Dems who oppose fixing the system: just let the Senate vote.  —  The issue, of course, is cloture.  Reform proponents don't need 60 senators to pass a bill …