Analysts: White House Panicking Over Elections  —  Say Dems Are Distancing Themselves From Obama, Angry Over Economy, Health Care Fallout  —  (CBS) With many polls indicating the Republicans may win back control of the House of Representatives (and possibly the Senate as well) …

Report: Iran Paying Taliban to Kill U.S. Troops  —  KABUL — At least five Iranian companies in Afghanistan's capital are using their offices covertly to finance Taliban militants in provinces near Kabul, according to an investigation by London's Sunday Times.

Who is responsible for Warmabomber's violent agenda?  —  Filthy.  Parasites.  Disgusting, overbreeding candidates for sterilization and extermination.  Possessed of false morals and a “breeding culture.”  —  Hitler talking about the Jews?  Nope.  This is Discovery Channel hostage-taker James Lee talking about ... human beings.

TRENDING: Tony Blair on Bill Clinton's ‘potentially sexual element’  —  (CNN) - Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair was hesitant in an interview broadcast on Sunday to explain a passage from his new book that referenced a “potentially sexual element” to former President Bill Clinton's “curiosity about people.”

Bumper Sticker Insurrection  —  Spotted by a reader at the Grand Canyon ...  Update: You know it is a really slow news day when a post about bumper stickers gets a Memeorandum thread.  —  Related Posts:  —  Bumper Stickers - The Series  —  Follow me on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube

America's History of Fear  —  A radio interviewer asked me the other day if I thought bigotry was the only reason why someone might oppose the Islamic center in Lower Manhattan.  No, I don't.  Most of the opponents aren't bigots but well-meaning worriers — and during earlier waves …

GOP resurgent  —  More Ohioans plan to vote for Republicans in the election, and they are excited to do so.  But a lot can happen before Nov. 2.  —  THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH  —  Republican candidates have grabbed double-digit leads in the races for governor and the U.S. Senate …

Anti-war groups battle for survival  —  As President Barack Obama formally declared an end to combat operations in Iraq this week, the anti-war movement that helped sweep him into office — and that worked for seven years to bring U.S. troops home — finds itself struggling for survival.

Flight attendant, JetBlue part ways after dramatic exit from plane  —  (CNN) — A JetBlue flight attendant whose fame took off after his dramatic exit down an emergency chute is is no longer employed by the airline.  —  JetBlue spokeswoman Jenny Dervin told CNN on Saturday that Steven Slater no longer works for the airline.

What America Has Lost  —  It's clear we overreacted to 9/11.  —  Nine years after 9/11, can anyone doubt that Al Qaeda is simply not that deadly a threat?  Since that gruesome day in 2001, once governments everywhere began serious countermeasures, Osama bin Laden's terror network has been unable …

Freedom's Just Another Word  —  AMONG the few scraps of news to emerge from Barack Obama's vacation was the anecdote of a Martha's Vineyard bookseller handing him an advance copy of Jonathan Franzen's new novel, “Freedom.”  The book has since rocketed up the Amazon best-seller list …

DNC chairman: Dems have helped the economy ‘turn a corner’  —  Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine said Democratic candidates should be proud to run on the party's economic record this fall, brushing aside concerns that both chambers of Congress could fall to Republican control.

Jerry Brown says he'd be a frugal governor  —  (09-03) 19:33 PDT SAN FRANCISCO — Jerry Brown said Friday that if elected governor he would have to “do things that labor doesn't like,” including cutting pension benefits for public employees and asking labor leaders to “put everything on the table” …

GOP gov hopefuls run against Obama  —  They're all Rick Perrys now.  —  A year and a half after the governor of Texas energized his reelection campaign by casting himself as an antagonist to President Barack Obama, Republican gubernatorial candidates across the country are following his example.

Making Social Security less generous isn't the answer  —  There are a lot of things Congress doesn't know right now.  What to do about jobs, for instance.  Who'll be running the House come January.  How to balance the budget.  But there is one thing that both parties increasingly seem to agree on: You should work longer.

Political Implications of Over-Bashfulness in The Non-Economics Social Sciences  —  Scott Eric Kaufmann says that yes indeed academics are generally discouraged from communicating about their work to popular audiences.  Neil Sinhababu notes the political implications: