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

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 …

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.

‘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.) …

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 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 …

Growing 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 …

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.

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 …

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.

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 …

Number of the Week: Big Boost From Dollar Decline  —  0.5 percentage point: The potential boost in annual U.S. economic growth from the dollar's decline since August 27.  —  As finance ministers from the Group of 20 developed and developing nations meet in Seoul in an effort to avert a currency war …

NPR's firing of Juan Williams wrong, but not excuse to take away funding from public radio  —  Juan Williams is right; NPR was way off base firing him for having expressed himself on a TV show.  But some are going too far in Williams' name; they vindictively want to totally de-fund …

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 …

Harry Reid mans up for Lilly Ledbetter  —  Most readers know that Lilly Ledbetter is the woman whose courageous battle has led to progress, though not enough progress, for women receiving equal pay for equal work.  Recently, Ledbetter stood side by side with one of her greatest supporters …

What's the Big Idea?  —  I started this blog shortly after George Bush was reelected, and though many people assume that it was the presence of Republicans in power that was the primary motivation, that isn't the whole story.  That was part of the motivation, no doubt, but there were two other factors that were more important.

Support For Veterans Shows Sharp Partisan Divide  —  According to an analysis by the nonpartisan Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans of America Action Fund, Republicans in Congress have dramatically failed to support our troops after they come home.  IAVA's 2010 Veteran Report Card …