Press Conference of the President  —  THE PRESIDENT: It's always a pleasure to be introduced into the Rose Garden.  Thank you, Wendell.  Thank you for coming.  I'm looking forward to answering some of your questions.  —  This week our nation paused to mark the 5th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

Islam row raises pope safety fears  —  VATICAN CITY (Reuters) — The Muslim world's scathing reaction to Pope Benedict's comments on Islam is the biggest challenge to face the pontiff yet and raises concerns over his security, diplomatic and Church sources said on Friday.

Zogby: Battle for Congress Tightens  —  Republican Candidates Trail Democrats by Just 3%; Bush Job Approval Climbs to 39%  —  Following an aggressive media blitz, the latest Zogby America poll finds the standing of President Bush and congressional Republicans climbing as the November elections rapidly approach.

The Tehran Calculus  —  In his televised Sept. 11 address, President Bush said that we must not "leave our children to face a Middle East overrun by terrorist states and radical dictators armed with nuclear weapons."  There's only one such current candidate: Iran.

Rep. Ney Agrees to Plead Guilty  —  Rep. Robert Ney (R-Ohio) agreed today to plead guilty to conspiring to commit multiple official acts for lobbyists in exchange for campaign contributions, meals and luxury travel, sports tickets and gambling chips.  He became the first elected official …

Ace of Spades Reader Spotted Wanted Terrorist?  (Updated: Limited Confirmation From FBI)  —  TKS alerts me of an interesting comment posted here: … Name withheld (and I hope she used a pseudonym).  —  Later, after Purple Avenger provided the contact information for the Texas FBI,  —  she reported:

Oriana Fallaci  —  I had the privilege of listening to a lecture by Oriana Fallaci at Harvard sometime in 1983.  I realize now that she was 53 and it must have been at around that time that the picture below was taken because that is precisely how I remember her.

Let's take a closer look at those breasts.  —  I wanted to elevate a discussion from the comments section of a post from Wednesday, you know the one with the photo of the Daou-wrangled bloggers posing in from of Bill Clinton?  The first commenter, Goesh, picks up on my prompt …

In a Volatile Region of Iraq, U.S. Military Takes Two Paths  —  AL-FURAT, Iraq — With a biker's bandanna tied under his helmet, the Special Forces team sergeant gunned a Humvee down a desert road in Iraq's volatile Anbar province.  Skirting the restive town of Hit, the team of a dozen soldiers crossed …

Pakistan Releases over 2,500 Taliban, al-Qaeda  —  Pakistan follows the truce to the letter and releases thousands of Taliban and al-Qaeda members captured since 2001  —  The Pakistani government is living up to its commitments on the "Waziristan Accord," and has emptied the prisons of Taliban …

A Thousand Words  —  Sen. Lieberman's car parked at Fairfield University this morning:  —  Did anyone call the police about this?  That's illegal parking unless the car has a handicap sticker.  —  Wow - That really does just say everything you need to know about Lieberman, doesn't it?

Ritter tops in poll  —  Democrat holds 17-point lead over Beauprez for guv  —  Democrat Bill Ritter has a remarkable 17-point lead over Republican Congressman Bob Beauprez in the race for Colorado governor, according to a Rocky Mountain News/ CBS 4 poll of likely voters.

Numbers crunching in Maryland  —  Let me do a little number crunching on the Maryland Democratic Senate primary.  Rep. Ben Cardin beat former Rep. and NAACP President Kweisi Mfume by just a 44-to-40 percent margin.  —  Turnout was 535,604, about the same as the last time Maryland …

Citizen Lanny  —  Lanny Davis is currently flogging a new book about how "Gotcha" politics are destroying America.  This is mildly paradoxical because Davis is famous for exactly nothing else except his willingness in 1998 to be the publicity point man for Bill Clinton in the whole Lewinsky mess.

A DEADLY KINDNESS  —  AT GITMO, PC RULES LET QAEDAS PLOT ON  —  RICHARD MINITER  —  ON the military plane back from America's most fa mous terrorist holding pen, the in-flight film was "V for Vendetta," a screed that tries to justify terrorism.  It was a fitting end to a surreal, military-sponsored trip.

Dems 'confused,' Obama writes in latest book  —  WASHINGTON — In his new book, dedicated to his mother and maternal grandmother — the women "who raised me" — Sen. Barack Obama accuses fellow Democrats of being "confused" as the Democratic Party "has become the party of reaction."