LMV official: Pledge of Allegiance demand ‘phony patriotism’  —  The crowd breaks into the Pledge of Allegiance at the beginning of Wednesday night's candidates forum with 8th Congressional District candidates Joe Walsh, Melissa Bean and Bill Scheurer at Grayslake Central High School.  —  BOB CHWEDYK

‘Airplane!’ director cuts ad poking fun at Boxer for 'ma'am' exchange  —  David Zucker directed the “Call Me Senator” spot for Right Change, a 527 and 501(c)4 organization.  —  A well-known Hollywood producer and director has cut an ad against Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) …

They Hate Our Guts  —  And they're drunk on power.  —  Perhaps you're having a tiny last minute qualm about voting Republican.  Take heart.  And take the House and the Senate.  Yes, there are a few flakes of dander in the fair tresses of the GOP's crowning glory—an isolated isolationist or two …

The second investigation  —  During a March 10 interview with investigators, Detective Russ initially denied being the source of the second leak to Matt Conway.  But roughly 30 minutes after the questioning ended, Russ returned and acknowledged that he warned Conway when he encountered him in the courthouse in January:

NEWSWEEK Poll: Obama Approval Rating Jumps, Democrats Close ‘Enthusiasm Gap’  —  As the president's numbers climb sharply, results suggest that Democrats may be succeeding in firing up their base.  —  Obama feels the love at a Seattle rally for Sen. Patty Murray.

WikiLeaks Founder on the Run, Trailed by Notoriety  —  LONDON — Julian Assange moves like a hunted man.  In a noisy Ethiopian restaurant in London's rundown Paddington district, he pitches his voice barely above a whisper to foil the Western intelligence agencies he fears.

CBO Confirms: ObamaCare Discourages Work  —  Congressional Budget Office director Doug Elmendorf said Friday that ObamaCare includes work disincentives likely to shrink the amount of labor used in the economy.  —  In a speech on ObamaCare's economic impact outside the health care sector …

Barack Obama puts Harry Reid in the spotlight  —  LAS VEGAS - Of all the races in the country this year, none is as important to President Barack Obama as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's re-election campaign.  —  The race carries unrivaled symbolism for Obama, who would emerge …

Barack and Michelle's Mumbai darshan plans  —  US President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle will be extremely busy in Mumbai, upon landing on November 6 for a two day India visit.  As the world's most powerful man and his wife zip around the city visiting the 26/11 memorial on Marine Drive …

Adam Gadahn, Al Qaeda's American mouthpiece, urges wannabe terrorists to go it alone  —  WASHINGTON - Al Qaeda's American mouthpiece Saturday urged wannabe terrorists in a new video to act alone instead of trying to join cells attempting 9/11-type spectacular strikes.

Use of Contractors Added to War's Chaos in Iraq  —  The first shots sailed past Iraqi police officers at a checkpoint.  They took off in three squad cars, their lights flashing.  —  and it turned out that the shots came not from insurgents or criminals.  They were fired by an American …

WikiLeaks Show WMD Hunt Continued in Iraq - With Surprising Results  —  By late 2003, even the Bush White House's staunchest defenders were starting to give up on the idea that there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.  —  But for years afterward, WikiLeaks' newly-released Iraq war documents reveal …

Professional Petitioners Aid Ballot Initiatives  —  CASTLE ROCK, Colo. — At 5-foot-4, with a pot belly and graying beard, Charlie Chavez does not look particularly scary.  —  But on a recent autumn day, striding toward a woman in a supermarket parking lot, clipboard in hand, he might as well have been a zombie.

Big Problem for Banks: Due Process  —  Earlier this week, Bank of America, the nation's largest consumer bank, reported its third-quarter earnings.  It was a very good quarter; putting aside an accounting charge — a very large, $10.4 billion accounting charge, admittedly — the bank reported $3.1 billion in profits.

Rep. Peter DeFazio Investigating Impeachment For Chief Justice John Roberts  —  What's Your Reaction: … With Democrats increasingly outraged over the Supreme Court's Citizen United decision that allowed unlimited corporate spending in elections — a change conservatives have been more successful …

GAO report: Border Patrol's hands tied by Interior, Agriculture rules  —  Several White House agencies charged with enforcing environmental laws are preventing thousands of Border Patrol agents along the U.S.-Mexico border from disrupting illicit trafficking operations, according to a study by the investigative arm of Congress.

Governor Forecast Update: Chafee's Chances Wax; Whitman's Wane  —  Here are the candidates for governor who find themselves in a materially stronger position from earlier this week.  — We yet again have a new leader in Florida, and it's the Republican Rick Scott, although …

For First Time, Model Has G.O.P. Favored to Win 50-Plus House Seats  —  Republican chances of taking over the House are now up to 80 percent, according to the FiveThirtyEight forecast model; they had been 75 percent two days ago.  —  In an average simulation, the model projected …

Pawlenty needles Obama upon campaign stop in Minnesota  —  Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) needled President Obama upon his planned campaign stop in the state on Saturday.  —  Pawlenty, a potential Republican candidate to challenge Obama in 2012, leveled criticisms against the president …

Bill's Frustration  —  A report surfaced today that Bill Clinton is frustrated as heck that the Dems can't manage to get a coherent or persuasive message together for the midterms.  And he's even doing what he can to get together good talking points for candidates and stump in all the right places …

Broadband Matters  —  Jay Ackroyd convinced me I should make explicit something that's only implicit in yesterday's post on the vast consumer surplus associated with digital media, namely that the case for some form of subsidization of fast internet access is very strong.

Man Fired for Wearing Bush Sweatshirt at Obama Rally ***UPDATED  —  (USC) — Don't try wearing a Bush hat or sweatshirt at an Obama rally.  —  Duane Hammond says it's what got him fired.  Hammond is a union stagehand who was part of the crew that built the platform for the Obama event on campus.