Call a Waaahmbulance: NAACP exhaustively details how the Tea Party's connections empower racism  —  Cue the right-wing wailing and gnashing of teeth: The NAACP has now fully backed up its accusations of racism within the Tea Party movement with a meticulously documented report …

CNN/Time Poll: All tied up in Alaska Senate race  —  (CNN) - A new poll indicates a dead-even race in the Alaska battle between Republican Senate nominee Joe Miller and GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who's running for re-election as a write-in candidate.  But a CNN/Time/Opinion Research Corporation …

BREAKING: Ninth Circuit Stays DADT Injunction  —  A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has issued a temporary stay of U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips's Oct. 12 order in Log Cabin Republicans v. United States halting all enforcement of the military's “Don't Ask, Don't Tell” policy.

Bush defends bailout of financial firms  —  Former President George W. Bush said a decision to use taxpayer money to bolster the financial system in 2008 wasn't difficult and was needed to avoid an economic collapse.  —  “Depression, no depression,” Bush told about 2,000 people during …

MEMO: Health Insurance, Banking, Oil Industries Met With Koch, Chamber, Glenn Beck To Plot 2010 Election  —  In 2006, Koch Industries owner Charles Koch revealed to the Wall Street Journal's Stephen Moore that he coordinates the funding of the conservative infrastructure of front groups …

Shouts & Murmurs: Three Things to Do When Clarence Thomas's Wife Calls You  —  Like many Americans, over the past several years I have been the recipient of multiple unwelcome voicemails from the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.  These calls have come in the middle of the night …

Don't Blame Citizens United  —  Since the Supreme Court issued its Citizens United ruling in January, Democrats have consistently blamed it for allowing secretive, shady, special-interest money to flow unabated into the U.S. political system, corrupting elections at an unprecedented pace.

Soros Donates $1 Million to Media Matters  —  Media Matters, the liberal activist group that wages a rhetorical war against Fox News Channel and others in the conservative press, will announce on Wednesday the receipt of a $1 million donation from the philanthropist George Soros.

Maddow Falsely Claims Politician Had Advance Warning of Oklahoma City Bombing  —  I'm pretty sure that this was an error, not a knowing misstatement—when you're on a daily news cycle, the sad fact is that you probably won't remember everything you've ever said.  Nonetheless, this demands a retraction:

Every big Senate race just got closer  —  A new wave of polling shows virtually every close Senate race growing even more competitive, raising the pressure on both parties in the final days of the midterm campaign.  —  In several states, Democratic candidates are on the upswing.

Virginia 4th-grade textbook criticized over claims on black Confederate soldiers  —  A textbook distributed to Virginia fourth-graders says that thousands of African Americans fought for the South during the Civil War — a claim rejected by most historians but often made by groups seeking …

Glenn Beck: Evolution Is 'Ridiculous — I Haven't Seen A Half-Monkey, Half-Person Yet'  —  Have you ever seen a half-monkey, half-person?  No?  Well neither has Glenn Beck, which is how he knows evolution doesn't exist.  —  On his radio show today, Beck wondered how many people …

Spitzer's Harvard Club Application?  Rejected  —  In his emergence from political disgrace, Eliot Spitzer has played multiple roles: political commentator, financial columnist, college professor, and, most recently, CNN host.  —  One role he will not be playing: a member of the Harvard Club of New York City.

Audit: NJ Turnpike Wasted Millions On Perks  —  MYFOXNY.COM - Auditors say the New Jersey Turnpike Authority wasted $43 million on unneeded perks and bonuses.  In one case, an employee with a base salary of $73,469 earned $321,985 when all payouts and bonuses were included.

EXCLUSIVE: Al Qaeda Leader Dined at the Pentagon Just Months After 9/11  —  Oct. 2008: American-born Al Qaeda-linked cleric Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen.  —  Anwar Al-Awlaki may be the first American on the CIA's kill or capture list, but he was also a lunch guest of military brass …

Nine stories the press is underreporting — fraud, fraud and more fraud  —  From liars' loans to liars' liens, the financial and foreclosure crisis has been one big story of banks defrauding their customers — a vast criminal enterprise.  You wouldn't know it from a lot of the media coverage, though.

You Knew They'd Hit The Wrong Markey Eventually  —  UPDATE #2: Rep. Ed Markey (the Democrat from Massachusetts — the male Markey) chimes in with his own quote: … UPDATE: We've created this handy-dandy tool that allows you to quickly figure out which Markey you are trying to discuss …

A Culture of Poverty  —  In 2008, I was sent out to the Democratic convention to work on a piece for this magazine about Michelle Obama.  I had just been hired on as a contributing editor, and was ecstatic.  There was a community of young bloggers out there—Chris Bodenner, Alyssa Rosenberg, Dayo Olapade etc.

Rival Gives Frank Some Unflattering New Steps  —  REVERE, Mass. — Representative Barney Frank was dancing around the issues — first doing a version of the Running Man, then the Sprinkler, then a disco boogie.  —  The latest on President Obama, his administration and other news from Washington and around the nation.

Most Voters Oppose the Reelection of Anyone Who Voted for the Health Care Law, Auto Bailouts, Stimulus Plan  —  Incumbents, beware: The major votes you've cast in Congress over the past couple years appear likely to come back to haunt you this Election Day.  —  A new Rasmussen Reports …

White House rejects gay judicial nominee  —  The White House has rejected the recommended nomination of a New York attorney who would have become the first openly gay man to sit on the federal bench, because of comments he reportedly made about the Pledge of Allegiance and Christmas that were deemed anti-Christian.

Democrats suffer from Americans' unwillingness to accept economic reality  —  It's one of the great fallacies in politics: Candidate Jones says X, Y and Z during the campaign.  Candidate Jones wins the election.  Ergo, the public agrees with X, Y and Z.  —  Certainly there are times …

Just Knock It Off  —  Some of Israel's worst critics are fond of saying that Israel behaves like America's spoiled child.  I've always found that analogy excessive.  Say what you want about Israel's obstinacy at times, it remains the only country in the United Nations that another U.N. member …