As Vote Nears, Stances on War Set Off Sparks  —  For at least a few hours on Tuesday, President Bush had a chance to relive his victorious campaign of 2004, taking a break from a bleak Republican campaign season as he attacked Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts over the war in Iraq.

Heckler subdued at George Allen event  —  RICHMOND, Va. - A heckler who confronted Sen. George Allen (news, bio, voting record) at a campaign appearance Tuesday was put in a chokehold and slammed to the floor by three of the Republican's supporters in an incident captured on video.

Tomorrow's News: Sweeney's Alleged Domestic Abuse  —  Joe Mahoney and I report tomorrow off a state police report of an incident in which Rep. John Sweeney's wife apparently called the police to report domestic violence.  —  The full story follows:  —  POWERFUL UPSTATE Rep. John Sweeney got …

This Is No Fun  —  I just thought I would go on record stating that the last few weeks and months have really sucked for me.  I spent my whole life in the GOP- starting in 1984 with county meetings, going to Teenage Republican camp (my friends called it Hitler Youth Camp …

Pelosi's Unintelligent Choice  —  If Democrats win control of the House next week, Nancy Pelosi's first test as speaker will arrive long before the 110th Congress convenes.  Her choice to head the House intelligence committee — unlike other House committees, this one is left entirely …

Hezbollah: Talks over soldiers under way  —  BEIRUT, Lebanon - Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said Tuesday that "serious negotiations" were under way over the fate of two Israeli soldiers whose July 12 capture by his militant group sparked a month of brutal fighting in Lebanon.

U.S. Central Command Charts Sharp Movement of the Civil Conflict in Iraq Toward Chaos  —  A classified briefing prepared two weeks ago by the United States Central Command portrays Iraq as edging toward chaos, in a chart that the military is using as a barometer of civil conflict.

PNG tells Australia: we will stop your aid  —  PAPUA New Guinea is threatening to dramatically reduce the money it receives from Canberra, suspend all official visits by Australians or impose onerous travel restrictions, and recall its high commissioner.  —  Whether it does so …

More MacArthur, Less Marshall  —  In an earlier commentary on TCS I argued that what we did in postwar Japan has important lessons for what we do in any postwar enterprise including Iraq and Afghanistan.  This generated a considerable number of comments from TCS readers, most of which were at least somewhat critical.

Wages, benefits on upswing  —  WASHINGTON — Wages and benefits paid to American workers rose last quarter by the most since 2004, as the unemployment rate matched a five-year low.  —  The Labor Department said Tuesday that its employment cost index rose 1 percent compared with the second quarter.