Mystery Missile Launch Seen off Calif. Coast  —  Military Mum on Nature of “Big Missile” Rising Out of Pacific - a Possible Show of U.S. Military Might  —  (CBS) A mysterious missile launch off the southern California coast was caught by CBS affiliate KCBS's cameras Monday night …

Bush: “I probably won't even vote for McCain”  —  George W. Bush's bombastic return to the world stage has reminded me of my favourite Bush anecdote, which for various reasons we couldn't publish at the time.  Some of the witnesses still dine out on it.  —  The venue was the Oval Office.

Absentee ballot count gets under way  —  From Sean Cockerham at the Alaska Division of Elections office in Anchorage-  —  We've got our first numbers, showing Joe Miller making small gains on Lisa Murkowski.  But they are from only three Anchorage districts, including ones where the military vote is heavy.

Democrats want leadership elections delayed  —  (CNN) - Two House Democrats are circulating a letter asking Democratic leaders to push their party's leadership elections for the next Congress until December.  —  Reps. Marcy Kaptur (D- Ohio) and Peter Defazio (D-Oregon) say in the letter that the …

Obama in Indonesia: America will never be at war with Islam  —  Jakarta, Indonesia (CNN) — Indonesia and the United States share principles of unity and tolerance and both can benefit from strengthened ties that will bolster trade and combat terrorism, President Obama said in a highly anticipated speech Wednesday.

Republicans Maneuver to Oust Their Leader  —  WASHINGTON — Turning their attention to the 2012 presidential election, Republican leaders are digging in for a battle over control of the Republican National Committee, judging that its role in fund-raising, get-out-the-vote operations and other tasks …

Alvin Greene mulls presidential bid  —  'Maybe.  I'll have to see,' Alvin Greene said about running for president.  —  Alvin Greene might run for president.  —  Greene, the unlikely Democratic Senate nominee in South Carolina who lost overwhelmingly to Republican Sen. Jim DeMint last week …

LIFESTYLES OF THE RICH, THE FAMOUS, AND THE NEW JERSEY GOVERNORS.... New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), a media darling and favorite of many Republican activists, has a penchant for complaining about wasteful government spending and public employees who abuse the system and fail to respect the taxpayers footing the bills.

Presidential Power Rankings  —  The Hotline assesses which potential White House contenders are most likely to win the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.  —  Welcome to The Hotline's inaugural edition of Presidential Power Rankings.  —  Who is best positioned to win the 2012 Republican presidential nomination?

House Republicans Name Program That Already Expired As First Spending Item They Would Cut  —  ThinkProgress has been documenting the struggles that House Republicans have been having as they attempt to claim the mantle of fiscal responsibility without laying out any real spending cuts to which anyone might object.

The Myth of Record-High Gold  —  2:14 p.m. |  Updated with more detail  —  “Gold sets record high amid economic fears,” The Associated Press recently wrote.  “Gold surges to record high,” CNN said.  Gold closed Monday “at a record $1,402.80 per troy ounce,” the front page of The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.

Ted Rall Book Excerpt: Let's Kill Some Christians and Tea Partiers  —  Ted Rall has a new book out titled The Anti-American Manifesto.  In it he makes an explicit call for a violent socialist revolution from within.  In case you think this is all a big joke, here's an excerpt from the book:

Bush revisited  —  Let's posit right now that George W. Bush loves his parents, his wife, his kids, his siblings, his Maker and America, and all of that love is a good thing, and helps to make him a good person.  —  You may think that the Bush administration was the greatest eight years …

No Criminal Charges Sought Over C.I.A. Tapes  —  WASHINGTON — Central Intelligence Agency officials will not face criminal charges for the destruction of dozens of videotapes depicting the brutal interrogation of terrorism suspects, the Justice Department said Tuesday.

Report: White House edited to favor drilling ban  —  The White House rewrote crucial sections of an Interior Department report to suggest an independent group of scientists and engineers supported a six-month ban on offshore oil drilling, the Interior inspector general says in a new report.

Wiggins takes lead in WA Supreme Court race  —  Charlie Wiggins took a slim lead Tuesday over incumbent Justice Richard Sanders after trailing him for nearly a week of vote counting in the race for state Supreme Court.  —  Wiggins had a 3,517-vote lead following the vote count update from King County …

Progressives don't really get progress, but the American people do  —  Progressives claim to have a monopoly on progress - designed by intellectuals who ‘know better’ and brought about by a big, beneficent government.  But Americans voted in last week's elections that this brand …

It doesn't take much to get deleted from the world of Sarah Palin.  —  Sarah Palin is fighting elites: the GOP establishment, know-it-alls like Karl Rove, the mainstream media, the Federal Reserve.  What unites all fronts in this battle is her conviction that people who claim to know the truth, or what's best for you, do not.

Cigna CEO: Don't repeal U.S. health law  —  (Reuters) - Repealing the new U.S. healthcare law would be a waste of time, but there is room to improve it, the chief executive of health insurer Cigna Corp (CI.N) said on Tuesday.  —  “I don't think it's in our society's best interest to expend energy …

Jeff Rubin: Oil and the End of Globalization - ASPO-USA  —  One of the keynote speakers at the recent ASPO-USA conference was Jeff Rubin, former Chief Economist with CIBC World Market.  Rubin talked about why he believes high oil prices caused the recent recession.

Schools Chancellor Klein to Join News Corp.  —  New York City schools chancellor Joel Klein is resigning to join News Corp., ending an eight-year reign at the helm of the nation's largest school system.  —  In his place, Mayor Michael Bloomberg is expected to announce Cathie Black, chairwoman of Hearst Magazines.

Court: No campaign finance limits for small groups  —  DENVER—A federal appellate court on Tuesday deemed unconstitutional Colorado's voter-approved campaign reporting requirement for small groups promoting ballot initiatives, raising hopes that the ruling could be used to overturn similar requirements …