Historic Illiteracy: Idiot Sarah Palin “Party Like It's 1773” After The Election!  —  OMG, will this blithering idiot ever shut up?! … I mean, 1773?!  WOW.  Glad I wasn't the only one who caught this latest Palin gaffe:  —  And finally, channeling the Insane Clown Posse:

Clarence Thomas's Wife Asks Anita Hill for Apology  —  WASHINGTON - Virginia Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, left a message last weekend on the voicemail of Anita Hill, who accused her husband of sexual harassment during his confirmation hearings, a spokeswoman for Ms. Thomas confirmed on Tuesday.

O'Donnell questions separation of church, state  —  WILMINGTON, Del. — Republican Senate nominee Christine O'Donnell of Delaware on Tuesday questioned whether the U.S. Constitution calls for a separation of church and state, appearing to disagree or not know that the First Amendment bars the government from establishing religion.

Military recruiters told they can accept openly gay applicants  —  Editor's Note: Watch former Army Lt. Col. Dan Choi discuss “don't ask, don't tell” tonight on “Anderson Cooper 360°” beginning at 10 p.m. ET.  —  Washington (CNN) — The Pentagon has advised recruiting commands …

Afternoon Fix: Dem poll shows Conway 49, Paul 47; Republicans hit Reid for Ritz-y lifestyle; McMahon has spent more than $40 million  —  Make sure to sign up to get “Afternoon Fix” in your e-mail inbox every day by 5 (ish) p.m.!  —  EARLIER ON THE FIX  —  Fix Daily Poll: What is the nastiest race of 2010?

Meet Jimmy McMillan, Founder and ‘CEO’ of the Rent Is 2 Damn High Party  —  Did you watch the debate between candidates for Governor of New York?  Did you see the man with, uh, unique facial hair?  Who wore gloves the whole time?  That's Jimmy McMillan, candidate for the Rent Is 2 Damn High Party.

Sarah Palin's Tweet: A Typo or Something Worse?  —  Earlier this morning, Sarah Palin tweeted: … And ... within an hour, this had become a news story.  Palin confused Republican Senate candidate Pat Toomey with John Raese (or Pennsylvania with West Virginia).

Poll Watchers Claim Harassment And Intimidation At Houston, Texas Voting Places  —  Mediaite's Tommy Christopher reports voter intimidation in Harris County, Texas (Houston) by volunteer poll watchers trained by King Street Patriots, a local non-partisan group who started the True The Vote campaign.

Miller bodyguards at forum included active-duty soldiers  —  Questions surround Miller's use of security force at school  —  Was Joe Miller required to bring a security detail to his town hall meeting Sunday at Central Middle School?  —  That's what Miller, the Republican Senate candidate …

Univision shuts down 'Don't Vote' ad  —  The Spanish-language network Univision has refused to air an ad from a GOP-led Hispanic group telling Hispanic voters to sit out the race between Sharron Angle and Harry Reid.  —  “Univision will not be running any spots from Latinos for Reform related to voting …

China Is Said to Halt Exports to U.S. of Some Key Minerals  —  HONG KONG — China, which has been blocking shipments of crucial minerals to Japan for the last month, has now quietly halted shipments of some of those same materials to the United States and Europe, three industry officials said on Tuesday.

Pennsylvania Senate tied  —  You can put Pennsylvania Senate back in the toss up category.  Joe Sestak leads Pat Toomey 46-45 in our newest poll of the race, erasing the 9 point deficit he had in an August PPP survey.  —  Toomey's support has remained stagnant over the last 2 months …

Barney Frank gives $200K to his campaign  —  Longtime Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank has given his re-election campaign $200,000 as he faces his toughest race in years.  —  A campaign finance report filed Tuesday showed that Frank, the chairman of the powerful House Financial Services committee, lent himself the money Tuesday.

GOP in Lead in Final Lap  —  A vigorous post-Labor Day Democratic offensive has failed to diminish the resurgent Republicans' lead among likely voters, leaving the GOP poised for major gains in congressional elections two weeks away, according to a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll.

Virginia Beach Republican Committee Chair Forwards Racist Email  —  David Bartholomew, Chair of the Virginia Beach Republican Committee, has been forwarding around a “joke” via email.  The only problem, other than the fact that it's not particularly funny, is that it's blatantly racist.  Check it out.

They Want Him For A New Recruit  —  I just spent an hour and 45 minutes at the military-recruitment station in Times Square, where former Lt. Dan Choi attempted to enlist in the Marines.  Honorably discharged from the Army under Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Choi told me he'd always dreamed of being a Marine …

‘Hang them’: Uganda paper publishes photos of gays  —  KAMPALA, Uganda — The front-page newspaper story featured a list of Uganda's 100 “top” homosexuals, with a bright yellow banner across it that read: “Hang Them.”  Alongside their photos were the men's names and addresses.

Early vote a bad omen for Harry Reid  —  Early-voting numbers out of Nevada's two biggest counties could spell trouble for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in his tough contest against Republican Sharron Angle.  —  In Reno's Washoe County and Las Vegas's Clark County …

Democrat says he's heard Pelosi won't run again for Speaker  —  A House Democratic lawmaker said late last week that he'd heard Nancy Pelosi wouldn't seek another term as Speaker.  —  Rep. Mike McIntyre (D-N.C.) said that not only would he not back Pelosi (D-Calif.) for Speaker again …

From Obama, the Tax Cut Nobody Heard Of  —  HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. — What if a president cut Americans' income taxes by $116 billion and nobody noticed?  —  It is not a rhetorical question.  At Pig Pickin' and Politickin', a barbecue-fed rally organized here last week by a Republican women's club …