Bush Campaign Chief and Former RNC Chair Ken Mehlman: I'm Gay  —  Ken Mehlman, President Bush's campaign manager in 2004 and a former chairman of the Republican National Committee, has told family and associates that he is gay.  —  Mehlman arrived at this conclusion about his identity fairly recently, he said in an interview.

Why Democrats Will Keep The House  —  House Republicans are measuring the drapes in preparation for big gains in the lower chamber, convinced that Minority Leader John Boehner is going to become the next Speaker of the House.  On a macro level, that wouldn't be a bad guess …

MSNBC's Ed Schultz goes bonkers  —  MSNBC talk show screamer Ed Schultz had a meltdown in the network's 30 Rock newsroom, shouting at staff, “I'm going to torch this [bleep]ing place.”  —  The hot-tempered anchor of “The Ed Show” lost it during a phone call in the packed studio and slammed down the phone before exploding.

Miller's lead slims; Murkowski awaits absentees  —  Joe Miller's lead over U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski slightly narrowed to 1,668 votes with all the election precincts counted Wednesday.  A stunned Murkowski said she is not giving up hope until absentee ballots are counted starting next week.

Eggs and Issues: Bright's Comments about Pelosi Draw Laughter  —  U.S. Congressman Bobby Bright was heard having a little fun at U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's expense during his recent participation in the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce's Eggs and Issues.

Rider Asks if Cabby Is Muslim, Then Stabs Him  —  It was the first fare of the cabdriver's shift.  A young man hailed him at the corner of Second Avenue and East 24th Street, wanting to go to 42nd and Second.  It was 6 p.m. on Tuesday; the traffic was dense.

Far From Ground Zero, Obscure Pastor Is Ignored No Longer  —  GAINESVILLE, Fla. — If building an Islamic center near ground zero amounts to the epitome of Muslim insensitivity, as critics of the project have claimed, what should the world make of Terry Jones, the evangelical pastor here who plans …

Party-less Charlie Crist faces harsh reality  —  WEST MIAMI, Fla. — First, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist was supposed to be the Republican nominee for Senate.  Then he seemed on track to be the de facto Democratic candidate.  Now, following Rep. Kendrick Meek's victory in Tuesday's Democratic primary …

Union leader will blast Sarah Palin, calling her rhetoric ‘poisonous’  —  In a speech Thursday, a prominent labor official will blast former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) for recent anti-union rhetoric.  —  AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, in a speech from Anchorage, Alaska …

FACT CHECK: Stimulus assessments overly optimistic  —  WASHINGTON - The Obama administration claimed this week that $100 billion invested in innovative technologies under the economic stimulus law is “transforming the American economy” by putting the nation on track for technological breakthroughs …

Glenn Beck rally will be a measure of the tea party's strength  —  When Fox News and talk radio host Glenn Beck comes to Washington this weekend to headline a rally intended to “restore honor” to America, he will test the strength - and potentially expose the weaknesses …

Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Weiner Speak Out On Franzen Feud: HuffPost Exclusive  —  What's Your Reaction:  —  With the publication of Jonathan Franzen's fourth novel, Freedom, which was extensively covered in the New York Times while Franzen himself appeared on the cover of TIME magazine …

New York's Bloomberg: We are all Muslims  —  Editor's Note: Stephen Prothero, a Boston University religion scholar and author of “God is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions that Run the World,” is a regular CNN Belief Blog contributor.  —  By Stephen Prothero, Special to CNN

President Obama, It's Time to Can the Catfood Commission … Pete Peterson, the hedge fund billionaire who made his money by not paying his fair share of taxes, has pursued a decades-long quest to destroy Social Security and has pledged $1 billion dollars to do so.

KABUL, Afghanistan — The aide to President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan at the center of a politically sensitive corruption investigation is being paid by the Central Intelligence Agency, according to Afghan and American officials.  —  Mohammed Zia Salehi, the chief of administration …

Embattled Democrat Joins Call for Treasury Secretary Geithner To Go  —  First it was House Minority Leader John A. Boehner, making his pitch to the electorate to be made House speaker in part by calling for Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner to be fired.  —  Now embattled Democrats are getting into the act.

Dead wrestler's father blasts McMahon, WWE  —  ‘Lance Cade’ saga underscores issue of wrestling empire  —  Harley McNaught was planning to stay silent and grieve.  Then he saw what Linda McMahon said about his dead son.  —  McMahon, the former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment …

Tuesday's tutorial: a GOP too far right  —  Republicans are in the midst of an insurrection.  Democrats are not.  This vast gulf between the situations of the two parties — not some grand revolt against “the establishment” or “incumbents” — explains the year's primary results …

LA GOPer: November A Choice Between An Atheist Society And A Christian Nation  —  Appearing before the Republican Women of Bossier with Sen. David Vitter (R-LA), Rep. John Fleming (R-LA) cast the November elections as a choice between godlessness and Christianity.  He also called bipartisanship impossible.

S&P Says US Should Act to Protect AAA-Rating: Report  —  The United States government needs to take steps to preserve its top AAA-rating, a Standard & Poor's Ratings (S&P) official told Dow Jones newswire in an interview published on Thursday.  —  The measures taken in response …

OTHER THAN TAX CUTS, PENCE WANTS TAX CUTS.... House Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence (R-Ind.) chatted with Fox News' Greta Van Susteren this week, leading to an interesting exchange.  —  Van Susteren wanted to get a sense of what Americans could expect from Pence's Republican Party …

Building a Nation of Know-Nothings  —  Having shed much of his dignity, core convictions and reputation for straight talk, Senator John McCain won his primary on Tuesday against the flat-earth wing of his party.  Now McCain can go search for his lost character, which was last on display late in his 2008 campaign for president.

Tea Party Group Hit With Death Threats  —  One of Washington's principal supporters of the Tea Party movement, former GOP Majority Leader Dick Armey's FreedomWorks, has been receiving death threats and profanity-laced phone calls as it gets involved in the fall elections.

Kim Jong-il Reportedly Absent During Carter Visit  —  SEOUL, South Korea — A special train believed to be carrying the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il, entered China around midnight on Wednesday, South Korean officials said, setting off speculation over what might have compelled him to travel …