Debate Preview: All Eyes on Obama  —  It seems hard to believe that after SO many debates this year, that another one could provoke more than just a yawn.  But it seems fair to say that the Democratic debate taking place in Philadelphia tonight, televised on MSNBC starting at 9 p.m. Eastern …

Stephen Colbert Tops Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich in Presidential Poll  —  Fresh from a victorious interview on "Meet the Press," Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert continues to out-pun pundits and expectorate political expectations with his half-sincere, three-quarters-book-promoting campaign for the presidency.

Supreme Court Stays Execution in a Sign of a Broader Halt  —  Moments before a Mississippi prisoner was scheduled to die by lethal injection Tuesday evening, the Supreme Court granted him a stay of execution and thus gave a nearly indisputable indication that a majority intends to block …

Cross-dressing state lawmaker blackmailed following late night tryst  —  SPOKANE — State Representative Richard Curtis says he's not gay, but police reports and court records indicate the Republican lawmaker from southwestern Washington dressed up in women's lingerie and met a Medical Lake man …

Mukasey Losing Democrats' Backing  —  Nominee Unsure If Waterboarding Breaks Torture Law  —  Attorney general nominee Michael B. Mukasey told Senate Democrats yesterday that a kind of simulated drowning known as waterboarding is "repugnant to me," but he said he does not know whether …

University of Delaware Requires Students to Undergo Ideological Reeducation  —  The University of Delaware subjects students in its residence halls to a shocking program of ideological reeducation that is referred to in the university's own materials as a "treatment" for students' incorrect attitudes and beliefs.

U.S. Military Will Oversee Contractors  —  All State Department security convoys in Iraq will now fall under military control, the latest step taken by government officials to bring Blackwater Worldwide and other armed contractors under tighter supervision.  —  Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice …

CLEAR CHANNEL, REPUBLICAN PROPAGANDA NETWORK, OUT TO KILL SPRINGSTEEN'S MAGIC?  —  If you look for Springsteen in Google News, you get one rave review of his live sold out tour after another.  Last Thursday and Friday he wowed 'em at the Oakland Coliseum.  Last night he was in L.A.

Live Debate Blogging  —  Diplomacy, diplomacy and also diplomacy.  Did I mention diplomacy?  —  9:25 PM ... Hillary "I will do everything I can" to prevent from Iran from getting a nuclear weapon.  Good answer.  —  9:26 PM ... Obama: We cannot act as if we are the weakest nation in the world when we are the strongest.

River Don't You Weep  —  I've isolated out a couple of other bloggers' postings for a roundup about the voting on the Trinity River that Dallas is doing now, just to lump them together in this post.  —  North Texas Liberal seems to be trying to be fair to both sides, though referring …

Best of the Web  —  Boo!  —  This column is taking a brief leave of absence for Halloween.  (We're not sure what our costume will be yet, but we're thinking of going as a blog.)  We'll be back Monday, after we've finished our candy.  —  From Here to Eternity

A Real Fishing Expedition  —  The FBI has shifted its investigation into Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK), looking at legislative activity sponsored by the Alaskan that may have benefitted his son.  They have focused on a number of earmarks that Stevens requested that served Alaska's fishing industry …

U.S. and Pakistan: A Frayed Alliance  —  As Military Efforts Falter, Trust Suffers  —  Five years ago, elite Pakistani troops stationed near the border with Afghanistan began receiving hundreds of pairs of U.S.-made night-vision goggles that would enable them to see and fight al-Qaeda and Taliban insurgents in the dark.