Armed Man With Bomb Takes at Least One Hostage in Discovery Channel Building  —  DEVELOPING: Police in Maryland are responding to a hostage situation after reports that a man with a handgun entered the Discovery Channel headquarters building in Silver Spring and fired at least one shot.

Sarah Palin the Sound and the Fury  —  Even as Sarah Palin's public voice grows louder, she has become increasingly secretive, walling herself off from old friends and associates, and attempting to enforce silence from those around her.  Following the former Alaska governor's road show …

Obama adviser calls for tax cuts, spending ahead of resignation  —  Christina Romer, in her final speech as chairwoman of the Council of Economic Advisers, called on Wednesday for new tax cuts and government spending to boost the economy.  —  Romer defended the Obama administration's 2009 stimulus bill …

Election 2010: Alaska Senate  —  Alaska Senate: Miller (R) 50% McAdams (D) 44%  —  In Rasmussen Reports' first look at the U.S. Senate race in Alaska, Republican newcomer Joe Miller holds a six-point lead over Sitka Mayor Scott McAdams.  —  The latest statewide telephone survey …

A Note to My Fellow Hawks  —  President Obama opposed the war in Iraq.  He still thinks it was a mistake.  It's therefore unrealistic for supporters of the war to expect the president to give the speech John McCain would have given, or to expect President Obama to put the war in the context we would put it in.

Americans Give GOP Edge on Most Election Issues  —  Greatest Republican advantages on terrorism, immigration, federal spending  —  PRINCETON, NJ — A new USA Today/Gallup poll finds Americans saying the Republicans in Congress would do a better job than the Democrats in Congress of handling seven of nine key election issues.

My name is Glenn Beck, and I need help  —  Despite all the words spilled in evaluating Glenn Beck's tent-less revival last weekend, the real meaning may have been hiding in plain sight.  —  Beck's “Restoring Honor” gathering on the Mall was right out of the Alcoholics Anonymous playbook.

George Bush did not recognise Belgian prime minister  —  George W Bush did not recognise the prime minister of Belgium or understand why he was at a G8 meeting, Tony Blair has disclosed.  —  In his new book, A Journey, Mr Blair writes that the former US president was confused by the presence …

U.S. Unauthorized Immigration Flows Are Down Sharply Since Mid-Decade  —  The annual inflow of unauthorized immigrants to the United States was nearly two-thirds smaller in the March 2007 to March 2009 period than it had been from March 2000 to March 2005, according to new estimates by the Pew Hispanic Center.

Chiles to endorse Sink in Florida  —  Independent candidate Bud Chiles confirmed Wednesday he would drop out of Florida's race for governor and back Democratic nominee Alex Sink.  —  In a statement, aide Jim McClellan said Chiles would make the announcement official at a Thursday morning news conference in Tallahassee.

Wyden Pushing For Oregon Waiver From Health Care Law, Individual Mandate  —  WHAT'S YOUR REACTION?  —  One of the most innovative voices in the health care debate, Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), is accelerating the process of exempting his state from some of the national reforms passed under President Barack Obama.

The Economic Narrative  —  Why do people like me feel the need to revisit the fateful decision to go for an underpowered stimulus right at the beginning of the Obama administration?  It's not about “I told you so”, or at least not mainly.  It's about the economic narrative …

Labor and liberal groups to hold Oct. 2 rally on Mall to counter Beck, Tea Party  —  Labor leaders, liberal religious leaders and the NAACP will hold a rally on the National Mall on October 2, one month before the fall midterm elections, in an attempt to show they too have political clout …

Bloomy: Only ‘total incapacitation’ or death would end term early  —  After today's Page Six float about the possibility of Mayor Bloomberg serving as Treasury Secretary for President Obama - and a WSJ story suggesting the white House is cozying up to the mayor to keep him from running himself …

Homegrown Mujahideen  —  It's tempting to demonize conservatives with hyperbolic comparisons, but liberals have an obligation to the truth.  —  Observant readers (or bookshelf scanners) will notice that American Taliban, the new book by Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas …

Senate candidate indicted for unlawful sexual conduct with a minor  —  DAYTON — Eric W. Deaton, a Constitution Party candidate for U.S. Senate, was indicted Tuesday, Aug. 31, for unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, according to Greg Flannagan, spokesman for Montgomery County Prosecutor Mathias H. Heck Jr.

Clinton Heading Back to Arkansas for Lincoln  —  Former President Bill Clinton, who strongly supported Senator Blanche Lincoln in her primary battle this year, is heading back to Arkansas next week to stump for her.  —  Mr. Clinton, who spent a dozen years as governor of Arkansas …

Miracle!  Man plunges from W. Side building, crashes atop of Dodge Charger and lives to tell tale  —  A young man plunged 39 stories Tuesday from a West Side high-rise, crashed through the windshield of a sports car - and lived to tell about it.  —  “My leg!  My leg!”

Why the President's Partisans Talk Down Islam  —  What's Your Reaction:  —  Among the more pernicious rumors swirling about Obama are those dealing with his Muslim connections.  Or so we're told: the persons who denounce — and not coincidentally promulgate — these rumors are generally …