RNC loses communications director, Castellanos signs on  —  Update 6:03 p.m.: Alex Castellanos, a Republican media consultant, will take over as a senior communications adviser to RNC Chairman Michael Steele, according to a source familiar with the move.  The announcement of Castellanos' role comes hours …

Dean: Dems ‘In Deep Trouble’ On Health Care, The Only Options Are A Bad Bill Or 2010 Losses  —  WHAT'S YOUR REACTION?  —  One of the leading progressive champions of health care reform is pessimistic about the state of the debate in the Senate, saying he sees virtually no path …

Even Monbiot says the science now needs “reanalyising”  —  Even George Monbiot, one of the fiercest media propagandists of the warming faith, admits he should have been more sceptical and says the science now needs to be rechecked: … Sure, Monbiot claims the fudging of what he extremely optimistically puts …

Fox's Fuzzy Math: 193 Percent Of The Public Support Palin, Huckabee, And Romney  —  Reporting on the latest Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll last night on Fox News' local Chicago affiliate, anchor Byron Harlan employed some funny math in asserting that Sarah Palin is leading the pack for the GOP nomination in 2012:

Viscount Monckton on Climategate: ‘They Are Criminals’ (PJM Exclusive)  —  The man who challenged Al Gore to a debate is furious about the content of the leaked CRU emails — and says why you should be, too.  —  This is what they did — these climate “scientists” on whose unsupported word …

BREAKING: San Diego ACORN Document Dump Scandal  —  On October 1st, 2009 California Attorney General Jerry Brown announced that an investigation had been opened into ACORN's activities in California, resulting from undercover videos showing employees seemingly offering to assist …

Ex-CNN anchor Lou Dobbs is considering running for president in 2012  —  Former CNN anchor Lou Dobbs has never been elected to any government office, but he said Monday he's considering a run for the White House in 2012.  —  During an interview on WTOP radio in Washington …

Katie Couric's Forbidden Dance of Gin  —  When CBS News anchor Katie Couric isn't asking Sarah Palin gotcha questions, she's doin' Da Butt, or the Lambada, or whatever white ladies do when the Black Eyed Peas are on the sound system.  More unbelievable images after the jump.

Why I Remain Bullish On Obama  —  He's taking the usual slew of tactical hits as his opponents try every single line of attack and pound every day, squeezing every ounce of agitprop from the news cycle.  His numbers are gliding downward (although not by much), his foreign policy gains …

Blackwater's Secret War in Pakistan  —  At a covert forward operating base run by the US Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) in the Pakistani port city of Karachi, members of an elite division of Blackwater are at the center of a secret program in which they plan targeted assassinations …

Obama plans to send 34,000 more troops to Afghanistan  —  WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama met Monday evening with his national security team to finalize a plan to dispatch some 34,000 additional U.S. troops over the next year to what he's called “a war of necessity” in Afghanistan, U.S. officials told McClatchy.

Fox News Management Fed Up by Mistakes  —  After a few footage mishaps at Fox News like their recent slip-up: “Fox News Uses Old Palin Footage,” the higher ups at the network have had enough.  —  In an email obtained by FishbowlDC, FNC management alerted the Newsroom that they were going to a …

The Republican Elites Versus The Grassroots  —  Some interesting battles breaking out on Twitter this AM, even if I say so myself - having played a big role in fueling them!  No need to link all the back and forth, but it amounts to a discussion about what works.

Low Tea Party moment symbolic of muddy week  —  As a journalist covering Chicago politics, verifying information is like climbing a mountain of sand.  With each step you take, the deeper you sink.  —  Last week while researching claims from a local Tea Party activist …

Right and Left Join to Take On U.S. Over Criminal Justice  —  WASHINGTON — In the next several months, the Supreme Court will decide at least a half-dozen cases about the rights of people accused of crimes involving drugs, sex and corruption.  Civil liberties groups and associations …

Panel charges Sanford with 37 ethics violations  —  The S.C. Ethics Commission has charged S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford with 37 counts of breaking state ethics laws.  The commission filed its charges last week but only released them Monday.  —  Those charges allege that, in 18 instances …

Manufactured failure #5: views from China  —  I won't go on in this vein forever (previously #1, #2, #3, #4), but the topic is important enough to bear a little more elaboration, IMHO.  Part of the importance: there is no country with whom America's interactions are more consequential, or perpetually more complicated, than China.