What Putin Has to Say to Americans About Syria  —  MOSCOW — RECENT events surrounding Syria have prompted me to speak directly to the American people and their political leaders.  It is important to do so at a time of insufficient communication between our societies.

Exclusive: The Koch brothers' secret bank  —  An Arlington, Va.-based conservative group, whose existence until now was unknown to almost everyone in politics, raised and spent $250 million in 2012 to shape political and policy debate nationwide.  —  The group, Freedom Partners …

Reflecting on the Colorado recalls  —  We did a poll last weekend in Colorado Senate District 3 and found that voters intended to recall Angela Giron by a 12 point margin, 54/42.  In a district that Barack Obama won by almost 20 points I figured there was no way that could be right and made a rare decision not to release the poll.

U.S. weapons reaching Syrian rebels  —  The CIA has begun delivering weapons to rebels in Syria, ending months of delay in lethal aid that had been promised by the Obama administration, according to U.S. officials and Syrian figures.  The shipments began streaming into the country over the past two weeks …

CNN Poll: Who would get blamed for government shutdown?  —  Washington (CNN) - With the clock ticking towards two crucial deadlines, a new national poll indicates congressional Republicans would shoulder more blame than President Barack Obama for a possible government shutdown.

Pastor Terry Jones arrested with thousands of kerosene-soaked Qurans, deputies say  —  Controversial Gainesville Pastor Terry Jones, known for his plans to publicly burn copies of the Muslim holy book, was arrested Wednesday with thousands of kerosene-soaked Qurans, authorities said.

WATCH: College Students Chase David Petraeus and Shout at Him on First Day of Class  —  Recent video shows former CIA director David Petraeus being chased down a New York City street by student activists at the City University of New York.  —  As BusinessInsider reported …

Exclusive: U.N. Report Will Point to Assad Regime in Massive Chemical Attack  —  U.N. inspectors have collected a “wealth” of evidence on the use of nerve agents that points to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad using chemical weapons against his own people, according to a senior Western official.

WSJ op-ed writer Elizabeth O'Bagy fired for resume lie  —  The Syria researcher whose Wall Street Journal op-piece was cited by Secretary of State John Kerry and Sen. John McCain during congressional hearings about the use of force has been fired from the Institute for the Study of War for lying …

Sen. Corker: Obama ‘uncomfortable’ as Commander in Chief  —  Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) said President Obama is a “diminished” leader on Capitol Hill and “uncomfortable” being commander in chief.  —  Corker —the ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee who helped write …

War criminal architect of the other September 11 meeting with John Kerry this afternoon  —  As I pointed out Tuesday—in The other September 11 is 40 years old.  Joyce Horman thanks those who sought justice in Chile—one key person responsible for the torture, exile and death of so many Chileans …

NR v. Booker  —  Newark mayor Cory Booker has a very active imagination.  Eliana Johnson demonstrated that with her report on Booker's moving, highly detailed accounts of his involvement with “T-Bone,” a hard-luck drug dealer who Booker admitted to a friend is a fiction.

Christie releases first ad, spends $1.5 million  —  (CNN) - Gov. Chris Christie's re-election team released its first television ad of the general campaign Thursday, highlighting the New Jersey Republican's record as a bipartisan leader.  —  “They said it couldn't be done.  New Jersey was too broken, too partisan.

Companies lay off thousands, then demand immigration reform for new labor  —  BELTWAY CONFIDENTIAL CONGRESS IMMIGRATION LABOR JOHN BOEHNER NANCY PELOSI  —  On Tuesday, the chief human resources officers of more than 100 large corporations sent a letter to House Speaker John Boehner …

Lois Lerner's Own Words  —  Emails undercut the official IRS story on political targeting.  —  Congress's investigation into the IRS targeting of conservatives has been continuing out of the Syria headlines, and it's turning up news.  Emails unearthed by the House Ways …

Americans' Approval of Congress Up to 19% in September  —  Highest job approval rating in nearly a year  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Americans remain highly critical of the job Congress is doing, but the 19% who approve is up significantly from 14% last month, and the highest in any month since October 2012.

The Laurel and Hardy Presidency  —  After the Syrian slapstick, it's time to sober up U.S. foreign policy.  —  After writing in the London Telegraph that Monday was “the worst day for U.S. and wider Western diplomacy since records began,” former British ambassador Charles Crawford asked simply: “How has this happened?”