POLITICO Playbook: Pelosi gives Playbook a preview of the Democratic majority  —  DRIVING THE DAY  —  BREAKING ... SECRETARY OF STATE MIKE POMPEO has arrived in Saudi Arabia to meet with King Salman, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir.  Photo, courtesy State Department

American Mercenaries Were Hired To Assassinate Politicians In The Middle East  —  “There was a targeted assassination program in Yemen.  I was running it.  We did it.”  —  Cradling an AK-47 and sucking a lollipop, the former American Green Beret bumped along in the back of an armored SUV …

Lindsey Graham: I'm taking DNA test, ‘I think I can beat’ Elizabeth Warren on amount of Cherokee heritage  —  Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.) told Fox and Friends on Tuesday that he would be taking a DNA test, and that he thinks he can “beat” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Ma.) in terms of the amount of Cherokee heritage that it will show.

Republicans Are Adopting the Proud Boys  —  Before and after the Manhattan brawl, GOP figures defended and promoted the far-right group.  It's a valuable and dangerous bridge between fascism and mainstream politics.  —  Nine members of the far-right Proud Boys group and three protesters …

Obituary: Madelyn Linsenmeir, 1988-2018  —  Our beloved Madelyn Ellen Linsenmeir died on Sunday, October 7.  While her death was unexpected, Madelyn suffered from drug addiction, and for years we feared her addiction would claim her life.  We are grateful that when she died, she was safe and she was with her family.

Trump Drops New Nickname On Stormy, And It's About Her Face  —  President Donald Trump bestowed a new nickname on porn star Stormy Daniels after her lawsuit against him was dismissed in federal court, in a Tuesday tweet.  —  “Great, now I can go after Horseface and her 3rd rate lawyer in the Great State of Texas,” Trump tweeted.

Group sues Kemp, Gwinnett elections board over ballot rejections  —  Voting advocates and civil rights groups have honed in on Gwinnett County and what they deem to be its “excessive rejection of mail ballots because of voters' innocent errors and discrepancies.”

Chats Show FIU Turning Point USA Members Sharing Racist Memes and Rape Jokes … Back in 2017, New Times obtained screenshots of gross chats among Florida International University's Campus Republicans.  They joked about the Charlottesville neo-Nazi attack last year and threatened to “call ICE” …

Top 10 Russophobes of 2018: See who made RT's prestigious list this year … It's that special time of year when RT names the top 10 Russophobes of the last 12 months.  This prestigious list is made up of those RT believes have contributed to and benefited the most from the thriving world of Russophobia.

Google really is trying to build a censored Chinese search engine, its CEO confirms  —  Google on Monday finally confirmed a secretive project that's been fueling an employee-led backlash for weeks at the company: an effort to build a version of its search engine that complies with China's online censorship regime.

Democrats Fear Obama Is Going Soft for the Midterms  —  The former president's allies say his distance has been strategic and that he will ramp up his presence as voting nears.  But some alums wonder if that plan is wise.  —  With just three weeks to go before one of most critical midterm elections …

Tucker Carlson Says He Can't Go to Restaurants Anymore  —  “Having someone scream, ‘F— you!’ at a restaurant, it just wrecks your meal,” he said on a podcast.  —  Fox News host Tucker Carlson said he's “not a restaurant guy anymore” because of the way he's treated when he dines out in Washington, D.C.

Big advertisers still shunning Ingraham's Fox News show months after boycotts  —  'They're kind of forced off, whether they want to be or not,' one Fox executive said.  —  Laura Ingraham's ratings are surging, but big advertisers are still steering clear of her show months after a series …

The Rich White Civil War  —  A smarter look at America's divide.  —  Every few years one research group or another produces a typology of the electorate.  The researchers conduct thousands of interviews and identify the different clusters American voters fall into.

John Bolton's chief of staff out at National Security Council  —  Bolton to Iran: Hell to pay if you cross us  —  Washington (CNN)A top National Security Council aide is leaving the White House after serving just a few months as national security adviser John Bolton's chief of staff.

Charlottesville's Other Jim Crow Legacy: Separate and Unequal Education  —  CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — High school seniors Zyahna Bryant and Trinity Hughes have been friends since they were 6 years old, raised by blue-collar families in this affluent college town.

Here's what should excite and depress Democrats so far in 2018  —  (CNN)For two years Democrats have raged over Donald Trump's presidency, quarreled among themselves over the best strategy for responding to it, and above all, counted the days until next month's midterm election.

We're staying silent out of fear  —  Most ordinary people found it unbearable to live under communism in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union.  The reasons varied: shortages of consumer goods, incessant propaganda, restrictions on travel.  —  Nothing was more psychologically exhausting …

Armed protesters were on Portland rooftop in August, police now say  —  Members of the right-wing group Patriot Prayer stationed themselves on a downtown Portland rooftop with a cache of guns prior to a summer protest, city officials announced for the first time Monday - the same day Mayor Ted Wheeler learned about it, his aides said.

Republicans Are Suddenly Running Ads on Pre-existing Conditions.  But How Accurate Are They?  —  It's a sign of the issue's importance that several candidates in close races are feeling pressure to respond.  —  For months, Democratic candidates have been running hard on health care, while Republicans have said little about it.

Polarization Seems to Be Helping Republicans in Run-Up to Midterms  —  Energized voters on the right dim prospects for big Democratic gains in red districts and states.  —  One big question looms over the fight for control of Congress: Will strong Democratic candidates ride a blue wave …

Why Assad and Russia Target the White Helmets  —  before most children had left for school, Syrian Air Force Su-22 fighter jets launched missiles at the northern opposition-held town of Khan Shaykhun.  Witnesses recalled a strange odor spreading after the missiles struck …

Liberal shock: Ralph Nader touts Bloomberg 2020  —  Political activist and Green Party Presidential candidate, Ralph Nader, who is known for being tough on Democrats tells Ari Melber it would be good for Mike Bloomberg to run against Trump as a Democrat in 2020, saying “Wall Street is his weakness” …

Donald Daters, a dating app for Trump supporters, leaked its users' data  —  A new dating app for Trump supporters that wants to “make America date again” has leaked its entire database of users — on the day of its launch.  —  The app, called “Donald Daters,” is aimed at …

Juncker: Italy budget deviation from EU rules unacceptable  —  ROME — Italy's budget is likely to be returned to the sender by the European Commission.  —  Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said Tuesday in an interview with the Italian news agency ANSA that there would be a …

The Origins of Progressive Agony  —  In the wake of Obama, the Democratic party was a shipwreck, to be saved only by Hillary and the Supreme Court . . .  What has transformed the Democratic party into an anguished progressive movement that incorporates the tactics of the street, embraces maenadism …