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Kucinich Questions Bush's Mental Health

Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich questioned President Bush's mental health in light of comments he made about a nuclear Iran precipitating World War III.

"I seriously believe we have to start asking questions about his mental health," Kucinich, an Ohio congressman, said in an interview with The Philadelphia Inquirer's editorial board on Tuesday. "There's something wrong. He does not seem to understand his words have real impact."

Kucinich, known for his liberal views, trails far behind the leading candidates in most Democratic polls. He was in Philadelphia for a debate at Drexel University.

Bush made the remarks at a news conference earlier this month.

He said: "I've told people that if you're interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them (Iran) from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon."

Kucinich said he doesn't believe his comments about the president's mental health are irresponsible, according to a story posted on the newspaper's Web site.

"You cannot be a president of the United States who's wanton in his expression of violence," Kucinich said. "There's a lot of people who need care. He might be one of them. If there isn't something wrong with him, then there's something wrong with us. This, to me, is a very serious question."

In response, Republican National Committee spokesman Dan Ronayne said it was hard to take Kucinich seriously.

Late Nite Jokes

Jay Leno

Lot of candidates getting into the Halloween spirit. Today, John Edwards said he was going to get a $15 haircut and go as someone from the other America.

Even FEMA employees are celebrating Halloween. They’re all getting dressed up as reporters this year.

According to the latest polls, Chris Dodd is at zero percent of the vote. Zero percent! Do you know what that means? Even he isn’t voting for himself.

Ron Paul is a congressman and a doctor. He’s also a practicing gynecologist. He’s the only presidential candidate to tell women to take off their clothes more times than Bill Clinton.

David Letterman

Such a nice day here in New York City, Alex Rodriguez opted out of his pants.

We’re running a special promotion here at the Ed Sullivan Theatre. If you see a rat, you get a free taco.

Everyone excited about Halloween? Every year, they try to contact Houdini on Halloween. And I thought, “Wait a minute — isn’t that one of the good things about being dead, not having to take calls?”

The marathon is this weekend in new York City. Along the route they have those portable toilets — or as Sen. Larry Craig calls them — singles' rooms.

Late Show Top Ten

Top Ten Things Overheard During Dick Cheney's Hunting Trip

10. "Has everyone updated their will?"

9. "The crisp air is giving me goose bumps — no, wait, it's another heart attack"

8. "This can't end well"

7. "My pacemaker also makes bird calls"

6. "I want that quail taken alive — let's find out what the son of a bitch knows"

5. "Bush was supposed to come, but his father got him out of it"

4. "Condi, grab a shotgun and go get yourself a man"

3. No No.3 — writers making picket signs for upcoming strike"

2. "You shoot one guy in the face, avoid talking to authorities, delay taking a blood-alcohol test, and you're labeled a bad guy"

1. "Duck!"

Conan O'Brien

In a recent interview, Arnold Schwarzenegger said cannabis is not a drug. Cannabis is not a drug. Of course, when Arnold said it, it sounded like, “Cannibals need a hug.”

Presidential candidate Bill Richardson called on all candidates to end all negative campaigning. When they heard this, all the other candidates rolled their eyes and said, “Whatever you say, fatboy.”

Sources in Barack Obama’s campaign say that Obama has been watching old tapes of Bill Clinton to improve his style. Which explains why Obama now starts every sentence with “Honey, I can explain.”

Yesterday Vice President Dick Cheney went pheasant hunting. He’s hunting again. This time, to be on the safe side, Cheney chose as his partner, a pheasant.

Craig Ferguson

Big Democratic debate tonight. Reports say Barack Obama gets ready for the debates by studying Bill Clinton’s techniques. I guess that would explain why he wasn’t wearing any pants.

Not a good day for Hillary Clinton. She was criticized by Mitt Romney. He was saying that she has no experience; he called her an intern. It’s ridiculous! If she was an intern, Bill would be sleeping with her.

On Halloween, teenagers are known to play pranks. They throw eggs at people’s houses . . . I’ve never understood that. In Los Angeles, they don’t throw eggs. They only throw egg whites. Throwing the whole egg would cause a riot in this town. Is that the yolk!?! You saboteurs! It’ll go straight to my hips!

Jimmy Kimmel Live!

Halloween is tomorrow. Boston is on a roll — not only did the Sox win another World Series, the Patriots are undefeated; the Celtics have the strongest team in a long time; and Boston won the World’s Largest Pumpkin growing contest. It went to Ted Kennedy’s head.

Britney Spears' new album is getting great reviews despite being recorded in her car, at a Taco Bell drive through.

It’s called “Blackout” and it’s expected to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard charts. They’re expecting it to go gold, then go platinum, then go bald . . .

Anti-Clinton Video Draws Web Audience

First came the Orwellian mash up YouTube video that portrayed Hillary Rodham Clinton as Big Brother. Then came a clip of her off-key rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner." Now, a stinging 13-minute video by a bitter Clinton foe is finding its own Internet audience.

The clip, a preview of a longer film by one-time Clinton donor Peter Paul, has scored more than 1.4 million hits on Google Video and about 350,000 on YouTube during the past week. Its popularity has driven it to the top spot on Google Video over the past two weeks.

Paul is a Hollywood entrepreneur, former partner of Spider-Man creator Stan Lee and convicted felon who has sued the Clintons in connection with a celebrity-packed fundraiser he helped organize for her 2000 Senate race. A California appeals court earlier this month ruled that Sen. Clinton should be dismissed from the suit.

But Paul has devoted a Web site to the case and has been on tour in recent days showing his film, "Hillary Uncensored," at New England College campuses. On Tuesday, he is scheduled to screen it at the Metropolitan Club in New York City.

The Clintons have long argued that Paul's criminal record discredits him and in court pleadings have denied Paul's claims against them.

"Peter Paul is a professional liar who has four separate criminal convictions, two for fraud. His video repackages a series of seven- year-old false claims about Senator Clinton that have already been rejected by the California state courts, the Justice Department, the Federal Election Commission, and the Senate Ethics Committee," the Clinton campaign said in a statement.

Paul's anti-Clinton effort is getting help from two technical producers who set up the Web site for Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, the 2004 campaign that went after Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry by raising questions about his decorated military service in Vietnam.

Robert Hahn and Scott Swett operate http://www.HillCAP.org, the Web site that Paul set up in 2005 to showcase court documents, videos and news articles related to his lawsuit. The video trailer "Hillary Uncensored," and the schedule for the movie are prominently displayed on the site.

Among those featured in the video speaking in support of Paul is David Schippers, who served as chief investigative counsel for the House Judiciary Committee during President Clinton's 1998 impeachment hearings.

In his lawsuit and in the film, Paul says he spent $1.9 million for the August 2000 Hollywood fundraiser that featured such stars as Brad Pitt, Diana Ross and Cher. Paul maintains he organized the event because President Clinton falsely agreed to assist him in a new venture with Stan Lee after leaving the presidency in January 2001.

Campaign reports filed with the Federal Election Commission estimated the cost of the event at about $500,000. An ensuing criminal trial of Clinton's former national finance director, David Rosen, on charges that he lied to the FEC about the fundraiser resulted in an acquittal. At the time, Rosen's lawyer said Paul concealed the actual cost of the event from Rosen, a claim Paul denies.

The film also includes a tape recording recently obtained by Paul of Sen. Clinton thanking him in advance for staging the event, which he says is proof that she illegally coordinated the fundraiser with him. The appellate court ruling that dismissed her from the case concluded the call did not amount to new evidence.

The complexities of the case are all fodder for the video clip and the movie, spiced with clips of Hollywood performers.

"Her abuse of her power as reflected in my case should make everybody pause about entrusting her with the reins of government," Paul said in an interview.

Paul is awaiting sentencing on his 2005 guilty plea to charges of stock fraud involving Stan Lee Media, the company Paul had wanted Clinton to join. In the 1970s, he was convicted of cocaine possession and of attempting to defraud the Cuban government of Fidel Castro.

Swett, who is running Paul's HillCAP Web site, said the video has helped drive more traffic to the Web site, but that the activity is far less frequent than it was on the site he operated for Swift Boat Veterans in 2004.

"Then it was in the final months before the election and we're a year out at this point," he said. "There's a lot of complexity to the Peter Paul lawsuit. You have to read through some of the documents to get a handle on it. That was less the case with the charges that the Swift Boat Veterans and POWs were making against John Kerry."

Late Nite Jokes

Jay Leno

Congratulations to the California fire fighters. They’re doing a wonderful job. The fires are massive. Now when Paris Hilton says “that’s hot,” it’s because she’s actually on fire.

There’s been so much smoke, David Hasselhoff eats his burgers off the floor to avoid smoke inhalation.

I’m stunned at how much parents spend on costumes for their kids. You don’t need to spend a lot of money. You can use your imagination. This year? I’m just going to drop my pants around my ankles and go as Idaho Sen. Larry Craig.

Sen. Brownback has dropped out of the presidential race. He says he wants to spend more time with his family. Apparently, they’re not really sure who he is either.

David Letterman

Did you watch the World Series? The Colorado Rockies went down faster than Marie Osmond.

Aides told President Bush that he should congratulate the Red Sox. Poor guy . . . he’s so confused . . . he went to the top drawer of his dresser.

Alex Rodriguez is not returning to the New York Yankees. The announcement was made at a fake FEMA press conference.

FEMA faked a press conference and President Bush strongly condemned it — at his own fake press conference.

Late Show Top Ten

Top Ten Colorado Rockies Excuses

10. "Even we've never heard of most of our players"

9. "Didn't want game 5 to pre-empt 'House""

8. "Relax, there's still a lot of baseball to be played"

7. "The curse of the Bambino?"

6. "At that altitude, the beer really knocks you on your ass"

5. No No. 5 — writer preparing to go on strike

4. "Turns out our 'flaxseed oil' really was flaxseed oil"

3. "O.J. stole the equipment!"

2. "Manager distracted by Joe Torre walking around with his resume"

1. "Forget us — someone want to explain the Jets?"

Conan O'Brien

As part of a promotion Taco Bell did during the World Series, everybody in America will receive a free taco. Experts say it’s a good move for Taco Bell, and an even better one for Charmin toilet paper.

Last night during the World Series, New York Yankees star Alex Rodriguez announced he is opting out of his contract. There’s a rumor he may go to the Mets. After hearing this, the Mets said, “We don’t need A-Rod’s help; we already know how to choke.”

Here’s an odd one: Argentina’s first lady was elected the new president of Argentina, which makes the former president the new “first spouse.” Or as President Bill Clinton calls him, “My future wing man.”

Yesterday, on “60 Minutes,” French President Nicolas Sarkozy got up and left in the middle of the interview. Citizens of France say the president acted rudely — and they’ve never been prouder.

Craig Ferguson

There was a new survey on the scariest costume for Halloween. People say the scariest costume is Hillary Clinton. She got 300 votes — most of them from Bill, probably.

Bill said, “Take off the mask, honey . . . No, put it back on. I’m scared.”

I was in Las Vegas this past weekend. I won some money! I go to the MGM, and put my $20 in, and I win $350! That’s two weeks’ salary for me.

I saw a Drew Carey game there. You know you’ve made it when there’s a game named after you. It was called “The All-You-Can-Eat Buffet.”

Bunker Buster May Be Slated for Iran

An item buried in President Bush’s latest request for $190 billion in emergency war funding offers telling evidence that the U.S. could be preparing an attack on Iran.

The Defense Department has asked for $88 million to retrofit B-2 Stealth bombers so they can carry a 30,000-pound “bunker buster” bomb called the massive ordnance penetrator (MOP), which has the capacity to destroy deep underground targets.

The Administration says the request is in response to an “urgent operational need from theater commanders.”

Some observers might conclude that the Pentagon is seeking weaponry to strike Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida in their caves in Afghanistan.

But as Gerard Baker, U.S. editor of the Times of London, points out in the New York Post, that would not require Stealth bombers.

“The Americans own the skies over Afghanistan and Iraq and could, if they wished, blanket the two countries with all manner of bombardment from a few thousand feet in broad daylight,” Baker notes.

Instead, the more likely targets are the subterranean nuclear enrichment facilities in Iran, according to Baker, who writes:

“The debate in Washington about what to do with the increasingly recalcitrant and self-confident Iranian regime has taken a significant turn in the past few weeks. And the decision to upgrade the bombing capacity of the military is perhaps the most powerful indication yet that the debate is reaching a climax.”

The Pentagon request confirms an earlier report that first ran on Newsmax.com in July, which disclosed that the Pentagon was planning to modify the B-2 Stealth bombers so they could carry the bunker buster bombs – “a move that could be a prelude to an attack on Iran and its nuclear facilities.”

The Newsmax report revealed that Northrop Grumman, the Air Force’s prime contractor on the B-2, would retrofit the bomber to carry the new 30,000-pound MOP.

“The U.S. Air Force’s B-2 Stealth bomber would be able to attack and destroy an expanded set of hardened, deeply buried military targets” using the MOP, the company said at the time.

Regarding the likelihood of an American attack on Iran, Baker observes that the U.S. now “thinks it has the intelligence and the military capacity to undermine the Iranian threat seriously…

“The only real question about the next phase in this war is whether an escalation by the U.S., in a pre-emptive strike against Iranian nuclear facilities, would further American – and Western – objectives, or impede them. The evidence is increasingly suggesting that the costs of not acting are equal to or larger than the costs of acting.”

Play of the Day: Cheney on Cousin Obama

WASHINGTON -- Vice President Dick Cheney said Friday he hasn't reached out to "Cousin Barack" Obama since reports that the two share a distant relatives.

In an interview for CNBC's "Kudlow & Company," Cheney was asked whether he and Obama, a Democratic presidential candidate, have discussed their ancestral link.

"Cousin Barack?" Cheney said. "No, we haven't _ haven't had the opportunity to talk about it."

Lynne Cheney, the vice president's wife, told MSNBC last week she uncovered the long-ago ties between the two while researching her ancestry for her latest book, "Blue Skies, No Fences."

The vice president said he was unsure about bringing it up with the Illinois senator.

"Well, I didn't know whether that would help him or hurt him, so I thought I'd probably stay away from him," he said.

Obama is a descendent of Mareen Duvall, said Ginny Justice, a spokeswoman for Lynne Cheney. The French Huguenot's son married the granddaughter of a Richard Cheney, who arrived in Maryland in the late 1650's from England.

The vice president's full name is Richard B. Cheney.

Lynne Cheney told MSNBC the relationship was eighth cousin. But last month, the Chicago Sun-Times traced it as ninth cousins once removed.

Democrats Want Congress to Work Less

Democrats are now planning a lighter schedule when the 110th Congress begins its second year in mid-January, according to a report in the New York Times.

House majority leader, Rep. Steny H. Hoyer , D-Md., annunced this week that the House would not be in session next year on Fridays -- except in June for work on appropriations bills.

Explaining the schedule to reporters, Hoyer said, “I do intend to have more time for members to work in their districts and to be close to their families.”

The dimished work schedule drew commentary from across the aisle.

“Unlike Congress, the American people do not mistake motion for progress,” said Rep. Thaddeus G. McCotter, R-Mich. “They want results. And given the approval ratings, they are certainly convinced they aren’t getting them.”

McCotter charged that abridging the schedule was an example of Democrats’ breaking promises. “They said ‘five-day weeks,’ ” he said.

He also downplayed the notion that Hoyer was also responding to Republicans who wanted more time in their home districts.

“I wish he had that much concern and was as responsive to Republicans’ calls for input on major legislation,” Mr. McCotter said.

Anderson Cooper Reports Greenland Falsehood

Planet In Peril

The vast ice sheet of Greenland -- 1,500 miles long and more than a mile deep, the world's largest island. Eighty percent of it covered by ice. It's springtime here, though nothing is green. This time of year the sun never sets -- just dips down to rest on the horizon. We're almost at the top of the world. But to really see what's happening here, you need to get on the ground. The ice is melting fast and this island is warming.

RUSH: I mention all these statistics only because of the hysteria that accompanies fires in the midst of a political crusade to establish a hoax as legitimate, that, being manmade, global warming is to the point that we're going to destroy the planet and it's a catastrophe and so forth.

Last night on CNN, there was a report by Anderson Cooper: Greenland's ice sheet, 30% of it gone in the past 30 years. Not true. It is total and outright false. It is an incorrect assertion.

Greenland has cooled since the 1940s. The melt rate from 1920 to 1930 was twice as fast as the current melt rate in Greenland. Now, this mistake was verified with a Greenland scientist this morning, the CNN mistaken.

The scientist said that if Greenland lost as much ice, 40% of its ice as CNN reported last night, there would already be a ten-foot surge in sea level.

Late Nite Jokes

Jimmy Kimmel Live!

I’ve been flying back and forth between New York and L.A. I’ve been hosting “Regis and Kelly,” because Regis is on vacation. I’ve spent so much time in the air, this morning I was made an honorary Canadian goose.

You can’t say enough about these California firefighters. They have been trying hard to put these fires out. Every time someone asks me if I’m tired, I think about them. Yeah, I’m a hero for hosting two talk shows at once, but what these men and women are doing might be even more heroic.

This has been the biggest evacuation in California history, breaking the record set in 2003 by the airlift of 700,000 children fleeing Michael Jackson from the Neverland Ranch.

President Bush arrived in San Diego this morning where he met with Gov. Schwarzenegger. Our fate is in the hands of the only two politicians who don’t speak English.

Hillary Defends Marriage to Bill

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton says it has been worth it to stand by her man, Bill Clinton, despite the marital challenges they have faced.

Their marriage was rocked in 1998 when it was revealed that President Bill Clinton had had an affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky, which set off an extended drama that led to his impeachment and a failed attempt to remove him from office.

Hillary Clinton, a senator from New York, talked about her relationship with Bill in an interview with Essence magazine for its November issue. Some people have wondered over the years why she has stood by Clinton, who also had been accused of sexual improprieties by other women.

"I know the truth of my life and of my marriage, my relationship and partnership, my deep abiding friendship with my husband," Clinton said, according to interview excerpts published on www.essence.com. "It's been enormously supportive to me through most of my life.

"Now obviously we've had challenges as everybody in the world knows. But I never doubted that it was a marriage worth investing in, even in the midst of those challenges, and I'm really happy that I made that decision."

Clinton said it was "not a decision for everybody. And I think it's so important for women to stand up for the right of women to make a decision that is best for them."

Many Republicans believe Americans will not want to return the Clintons to the White House and will take the Lewinsky scandal into account when voting for a president in November 2008.

A new Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll suggested that at least among Democrats, the issue is not that big a deal.

The poll found that 42 percent of Democrats agreed that it was the "right thing" for Clinton to stick with her husband after the Lewinsky affair, compared with 5 percent who said it was the wrong choice.

More than seven in 10 Democrats and about half of all voters said they would welcome a White House advisory role for Bill Clinton, the poll found.

The poll also said Hillary Clinton remained a polarizing figure, viewed unfavorably by 44 percent of respondents and favorably by 48 percent.

Late Nite Jokes

Jimmy Kimmel Live!

These wildfires — what a mess; 1,500 homes have been destroyed. Today, Rodney King asked Mother Nature if we could all just get along.

President Bush is in a tough spot. On one hand, he wants to be sympathetic to the people who’ve lost their homes; on the other, he doesn’t want to appear more sympathetic to the wealthy mostly white people who live in Malibu than he was to the people who lived in New Orleans. So what he’s doing tomorrow is he’s making a visit to LL Cool J’s house.

This week Britney Spears hit another photographer. If she hits one more she gets a free medium Slurpee at 7-Eleven.

Fewer U.S. Soldiers, Iraqi Civilians Are Dying

BAGHDAD -- October is on course to record the second consecutive decline in U.S. military and Iraqi civilian deaths and Americans commanders say they know why: the U.S. troop increase and an Iraqi groundswell against al-Qaida and Shiite militia extremists.

Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch points to what the military calls ''Concerned Citizens'' _ both Shiites and Sunnis who have joined the American fight. He says he's signed up 20,000 of them in the last four months.

''I've never been more optimistic than I am right now with the progress we've made in Iraq. The only people who are going to win this counterinsurgency project are the people of Iraq. We've said that all along. And now they're coming forward in masses,'' Lynch said in a recent interview at a U.S. base deep in hostile territory south of Baghdad. Outgoing artillery thundered as he spoke.

Lynch, who commands the 3rd Infantry Division and once served as the military spokesman in Baghdad, is a tireless cheerleader of the American effort in Iraq. But the death toll over the past two months appears to reinforce his optimism. The question, of course: Will it last?

As of Tuesday, the Pentagon has reported 28 U.S. military deaths. At the current pace, the monthly total will be about 37 or 38. That would be the lowest total since 31 in March 2006 and the second lowest monthly toll stretching back to February 2004, when 20 soldiers died.

In September, 65 U.S. soldiers died in Iraq.

Part of the trend can be seen in a volatile and violent band of lush agricultural land on Baghdad's southern border.

The commander of the battle zone _ Lt. Col. Val Keaveny, 3rd Battalion, 509th Infantry (Airborne) _ said his unit has lost only one soldier in the past four months despite intensified operations against both Shiite and Sunni extremists, including powerful al-Qaida in Iraq cells.

Keaveny attributes the startling decline to a decrease in attacks by militants who are being rounded up in big numbers on information provided by the citizen force _ which has literally doubled the number of eyes and ears available to the military.

The efforts to recruit local partners began taking shape earlier this year in the western province of Anbar, which had become the virtual heartland for Sunni insurgents and al-Qaida bands. The early successes in Anbar led to similar alliances in other parts of Iraq.

''People are fed up with fear, intimidation and being brutalized. Once they hit that tipping point, they're fed up, they come to realized we truly do provide them better hope for the future. What we're seeing now is the beginning of a snowball,'' said Keaveny, whose forces operate out of Forward Operating Base Kalsu, about 35 miles south of Baghdad.

While U.S. death figures appear to be in sharp decline, the number of Iraqi civilians and security forces show a less dramatic drop. And any significant attack -- by insurgents or civilians caught in the crossfire _ could quickly wipe out the downward trend.

The current pace of civilian deaths would put October at less than 900. The figure last month was 1,023 and for August, 1,956, according to figures compiled by The Associated Press from government reports, hospitals and police. Other tallies differ and some have given higher civilian death tolls.

While the decline in deaths is notable, it is only one of many measures of potential progress in Iraq, said Anthony Cordesman, a former Pentagon analyst now with the private Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

Cordesman said a more balanced picture needs to include factors such as wounded civilians and soldiers and the number of people fleeing their homes. The U.N. refugee agency said Tuesday that between 1,000 and 2,000 Iraqis still leave their homes each day for safer havens in the country or in neighboring nations. ''It's just been going up slowly,'' said U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees spokeswoman Astrid van Genderen Stort in Geneva.

''The numbers we're dealing with here are only major acts of violence, the number of times people are killed,'' said Cordesman. ''This is certainly progress ... but it has to be put in perspective.''

Bin Laden Urges Iraq Insurgents to Unite

BAGHDAD -- Osama bin Laden scolded his al-Qaida followers in Iraq and other insurgents Monday, saying they have "been lax" for failing to overcome fanatical tribal loyalties and unite in the fight against U.S. troops.

The message of his new audiotape reflected the growing disarray among Iraq's Sunni Arab insurgents and bin Laden's client group in the country, both of which are facing heavy U.S. military pressure and an uprising among Sunni tribesmen.

In the brief tape played on Al-Jazeera television, the terrorist leader urged militants to "beware of division ... The Muslim world is waiting for you to gather under one banner."

He used the word "ta'assub" _ "fanaticism" _ to chastise insurgents for putting their allegiance to tribe or radical organization above the larger fight to overcome American forces.

While the authenticity of the tape could not be verified immediately, the voice resembled that of bin Laden in previous messages. U.S. officials in Washington said analysts were still studying the tape. Al-Jazeera did not say how it got the tape, which was bin Laden's third this year.

"My mujahedeen brothers in Iraq, you are a people worthy of praise and flattery. You've done well to carry out a glorious duty by fighting the enemy. But some of you have lagged behind in carrying out another glorious duty, which is to unite as one _ as God wants," bin Laden said.

He warned followers "against hypocritical enemies who are infiltrating your ranks to create sedition among mujahedeen groups."

Anthony Cordesman, a terror analyst for the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, said bin Laden's underlying message appeared to be aimed at al-Qaida in Iraq _ "that al-Qaida needs to be less arrogant and moderate its conduct."

Cordesman pointed to al-Qaida in Iraq's attempts to impose Taliban-like Islamic laws in some areas it controlled as well as its killings of rival tribal figures, actions that alienated some Sunni Arabs and led them to join a movement opposing al-Qaida.

To showcase the success of that tribal alliance, the U.S. military planned what it called a "unification parade" in Ramadi, the Anbar provincial capital, on Tuesday.

Maj. Lee Peters, a military spokesman for the area, said security would be increased to protect the celebration. It was to include at least 200 Sunni sheiks and hundreds of other dignitaries to commemorate Sheik Abdul-Sattar Abu Risha, the founder of the anti-al-Qaida group who was assassinated by a bomb Sept. 13.

Abdul-Sattar's brother, who has taken over the movement, said it was important to maintain pressure on insurgents, recalling that about 50 al-Qaida militants marched through downtown Ramadi a year ago in a show of force.

"The people felt weak and afraid because of al-Qaida. Now there is a feeling of strength," Sheik Ahmed Abu Risha told The Associated Press at his heavily guarded compound as a band practiced for the parade in the backyard. "This year I want to have a good parade to show that we support the law."

The U.S. military, meanwhile, kept up pressure on Shiite Muslim militants as well.

Baghdad police said American helicopters strafed a building in the capital's Sadr City district, wounding a woman and her daughter, the second claim in as many days of civilian casualties from U.S. attacks in the Shiite enclave.

Iraqi officials disputed an American military claim that 49 militants were killed Sunday in a ground and air assault that targeted an Iranian-linked militia chief, insisting the number of casualties was 15 _ all civilians.

Aides to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr condemned the raid but urged followers to abide by his orders to refrain from violence despite what it called "the crimes of the Americans."

"We call upon al-Sadr's people to show self-restraint. Their reaction should be peaceful and should not violate the order ... to freeze their activities," said Falah al-Obeidi at the cleric's office in Sadr City.

The U.S. military has said repeatedly that it welcomed al-Sadr's order to his Mahdi Army fighters but pledged to continue its crackdown against what it says are breakaway factions that are being armed and trained by Iran.

One of those suspected faction leaders, who was accused of leading a kidnapping ring, was the target of Sunday's raid. The military said he was not killed or captured.

Other Shiite neighborhoods in Baghdad were rattled by bombs Monday as at least 50 people were killed or found dead nationwide, according to police, hospital and morgue officials.

The figure included 25 bullet-riddled bodies, some decapitated, in a mass grave at Nadhum village in the mainly Sunni region around Lake Tharthar northwest of the capital. Police said the victims appeared to have been killed within the past three months.

Overall, the number of deadly attacks has dropped recently, with U.S. and Iraqi military officials citing the influx of soldiers ordered in by President Bush. The full contingent of 30,000 reinforcements has been operating since mid-June.

In the latest reported U.S. strike, witnesses and police said attack helicopters opened fire before dawn Monday on a duplex in Sadr City that housed a family in one half and a store selling motor oil in the other. The U.S. military said it was looking into the report.

Abdul Ridha Jassim said his wife, 42-year-old Noriyah Jabbar, and 4-year-old daughter Hiba were seriously wounded.

"My poor wife and daughter. They didn't commit any sin or mistake to suffer such serious wounds," he said. "Who will take care and look after us. I feel a deep misery."

The military said the U.S. ground and air assault in Sadr City on Sunday left "an estimated 49 criminals" dead, which would be one of the highest tolls for a single operation since Bush declared an end to active combat in 2003.

Iraqi officials maintained 15 civilians were killed, including a woman, a 14-year-old boy and two toddlers.

An Associated Press reporter counted 11 death certificates linked to the raid Sunday in Sadr City's Imam Ali hospital, and hospital officials said one person died at the district's General Hospital and three others at the neurology hospital in central Baghdad.

"At this time, we still have no evidence to suggest there are civilian casualties," Lt. Justin Cole, a military spokesman, said Monday. He declined to comment on how the military determined 49 militants were killed, saying the information was classified.

Half Would Never Vote for Hillary for President

While she is winning wide support in nationwide samples among Democrats in the race for their party’s presidential nomination, half of likely voters nationwide said they would never vote for New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, a new Zogby Interactive poll shows.

The online survey of 9,718 likely voters nationwide showed that 50% said Clinton would never get their presidential vote. This is up from 46% who said they could never vote for Clinton in a Zogby International telephone survey conducted in early March. Older voters are most resistant to Clinton—59% of those age 65 and older said they would never vote for the New York senator, but she is much more acceptable to younger voters: 42% of those age 18-29 said they would never vote for Clinton for President.

Whom would you NEVER vote for for President of the U.S.?

Clinton (D)

50%

Kucinich (D)

49%

Gravel (D)

47%

Paul (D)

47%

Brownback (R)

47%

Tancredo (R)

46%

McCain (R)

45%

Hunter (R)

44%

Giuliani (R)

43%

Romney (R)

42%

Edwards (D)

42%

Thompson (R)

41%

Dodd (D)

41%

Biden (D)

40%

Obama (D)

37%

Huckabee (R)

35%

Richardson (D)

34%

Not sure

4%

At the other end of the scale, Republican Mike Huckabee and Democrats Bill Richardson and Barack Obama faired best, as they were least objectionable to likely voters. Richardson was forever objectionable as President to 34%, while 35% said they could never vote for Huckabee and 37% said they would never cast a presidential ballot for Obama, the survey showed.

The Zogby Interactive poll, conducted Oct. 11-15, 2007, included 9,718 likely voters nationwide and carries a margin of error of +/- 1.0 percentage point.

In a Zogby International telephone survey conducted in March, 46% said they would never vote for Clinton. In that survey, she finished in second place, behind Republican Newt Gingrich, a divisive figure who has since announced he would not seek the presidency and was not included in this new online survey. In that earlier poll, 54% said they would never vote for Gingrich. This recent survey included only the 17 candidates who were at that time running for President in one of the major parties. Former Vice President Al Gore, who like Gingrich was also included in the earlier Zogby survey of who would never win voters’ support for the White House, was excluded from this latest survey because of his insistence that he has no interest in a run for the presidency.

Interest in a Gore candidacy has been rekindled after he recently won the Nobel Prize for peace in connection with his work on the issue of global climate change.

Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback, who announced Friday he would end his campaign, was included in the poll. He might have sensed the nationwide opposition to his campaign, as 47% said they would never vote for him for President. The survey showed he was tied as the third most objectionable candidate, behind Clinton and Congressman Dennis Kucinich (49%). Tied with Brownback was Democrat Michael Gravel, a former Alaska senator, and GOP Congressman Ron Paul.

Opposition to Clinton among Democratic and Republican women revealed mirror opposite attitudes, the Zogby Interactive survey showed. While 83% of Republican women said they would never vote for her, just 17% said they could possibly cast a ballot for her. Among Democratic women, just 17% said they would never vote for Hillary, while 83% said they could.

Democratic women appear smitten by former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina and Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois—just 11% said they could never vote for them for President. Republican women, on the other hand, find former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney most attractive—just 14% said they would never vote for him. Tied for a close second was former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who were found to be objectionable by just 15% of Republican women.

Clinton: Back to the Lion's Den?

LAS VEGAS -- Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said Sunday she's ready to "return to the lion's den" to fight for reforms she failed to implement as first lady.

"I've been down this road, I know it won't be easy," she told a crowd of about 600 people at a Las Vegas community center. "But I think the time has come."

The New York senator laid out her plans to open up the health care coverage for federal employees and members of Congress to the public, while capping premiums and making coverage plans portable across states and employers.

It was her first to Nevada since mid-August and her seventh to the state since launching her campaign. She reiterated the importance she put on the state, which holds its early caucus on Jan. 19.

Clinton remains the leading Democratic presidential candidate in Nevada, favored by 39 percent of party members who said they were likely to participate in the Nevada caucus in the most recent poll. That compared to 21 percent who favored Illinois Sen. Barack Obama.

Scathing Limbaugh Letter Nets $2.1M

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- A letter from Democratic senators blasting conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh for using the phrase "phony soldiers" on his program was sold Friday on eBay for a record $2.1 million.

A private foundation made the winning bid, which eBay spokeswoman Catherine England said set a record for the most expensive item sold for charity by the online auctioneer.

Limbaugh's comment during his radio show last month drew broad criticism from Democrats, who said he was smearing soldiers opposed to the Iraq war. Limbaugh and other conservatives responded with outrage of their own, saying Democrats were mischaracterizing comments aimed at one particular former soldier who lied about his service.

The Oct. 2 letter to Clear Channel Communications Inc. sought an apology from Limbaugh and a public repudiation from the company. It was signed by 41 senators, including Majority Leader Harry Reid and presidential candidates Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and Chris Dodd.

The letter from the senators called Limbaugh's comments against "troops who oppose the war ... an outrage."

"It is unconscionable that Mr. Limbaugh would criticize them for exercising the fundamentally American right to free speech," the letter read.

Limbaugh said in a Fox News interview Thursday that the letter symbolized "the greatest example" of Congress "singling out a private citizen for abuse and censorship."

On his show Friday, Limbaugh said proceeds from the sale, and a matching $2.1 million from his own pocket, would go to the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation, which provides scholarships to children of Marines or federal law enforcement personnel who were killed while serving their country.

The winning bid came from the Maryland-based Eugene B. Casey Foundation, according to the group. The foundation, which lists assets of $294 million in its latest IRS filing, was established by Casey, a real estate developer, and is run primarily by his widow, Betty.

The foundation's largest grants during its last fiscal year included $4.9 million to a Bethesda, Md., hospital, $3.5 million to the Washington Opera and $850,000 to the American Arts Network. It also gave $110,000 to the Salvation Army and $100,000 grants to a Washington public television and radio station and Salute America's Heroes, which helps wounded soldiers. There were no reported grants to political organizations.

"The Eugene B. Casey Foundation believes freedom of speech is a basic right of every citizen of this country," the group said in a news release Friday.

In the segment where Limbaugh made the "phony soldiers" comment, he discussed Jesse Macbeth, who was sentenced to five months in prison last month for faking his military service. The Tacoma, Wash., man was kicked out of the Army after six weeks at Fort Benning, Ga., in 2003, but he later claimed to have participated in war crimes in Iraq and tried to position himself as a leader of the anti-war movement.

Limbaugh has said he was referring only to Macbeth when he discussed "phony soldiers."

Hillary Can't Win

Firebrand writer Camille Paglia says Hillary Clinton “has no vision” and can’t win the general election against any of the leading Republican presidential candidates.

In an interview with Canada’s Globe and Mail, Paglia – who came into the public eye in the early 1990s with her denunciation of “political correctness” – declared:

“I don't know where people are getting the idea that the Democrats are a shoo-in. I don't see them gaining the White House unless there's a third-party spin-off, like Ross Perot.

“I listen to conservative talk radio, because the callers really do give one a sense of where popular sentiment is at the moment. And I just don't see how any of the Democratic candidates is going to be able to present the national-security credentials that will be crucial in this election.

“The Republicans have [Mitt] Romney, [Rudy] Giuliani, [Fred] Thompson, even [Mike] Huckabee - a series of candidates who would be way more credible than Hillary, if only because of the projection of strength they give.”

Paglia even doubts that Clinton will get the Democratic nomination.

“She has a powerful machine,” the author of “Sexual Personae” told the Globe and Mail. “But many, many other candidates will be draining off support … The Democrats around me don’t want to go backward into the Clinton years.”

Not only does Paglia – who now teaches at Philadelphia’s University of the Arts – believe that Hillary can’t win, she also asserts that Clinton shouldn’t win.

“There's an over-clever, over-conceptualized political personality there who has trouble being an ordinary person.

“For someone with so much international exposure, she's not great on the stage. She's well prepared with her sound bites. But when she has to play outside her sphere of preparation, she seems taken by surprise…

“She's essentially a policy wonk. She has no vision.

“Then there's the sense of her espousing feminist ideals on the one hand, but also tolerating gross exploitation and insult from her womanizing husband.”

Late Nite Jokes

Jay Leno

The big story: Dick Cheney and Barack Obama — related! They are eighth cousins. Dick Cheney, Darth Vader? Second cousins.

President Bush met with the Dalai Lama at the White House. One awkward moment: When the Dalai Lama walked into the Oval Office wearing the traditional robe, Bush started chanting, “Toga! Toga!”

The Dalai Lama told Bush that he has seen evil first hand. President Bush said, “Great — you got to meet Vice President Cheney.”

China, of course, was not happy with the U.S. honoring the Dalai Lama. They’re very upset about it. In fact, they are threatening to quit pirating our movies and DVDs for a whole week.

David Letterman

Mayor Bloomberger wants to plant 1 million trees in New York City. A million trees. They want to create a whole new image for Manhattan. From now on, exploding steam pipes will be called geysers.

It turns out Barack Obama and Dick Cheney are cousins. Imagine how terrible it would be to find out that you’re related to some cranky old guy.

Just ask my son.

Lynne Cheney, Dick Cheney’s wife, is saying that she would be uncomfortable with Hillary Clinton running the country. Bill said, “Join the club.”

Late Show Top Ten

Top Ten Reasons Joe Torre Quit

10. Yankees wanted to pay him in Radio Shack gift certificates

9. Got caught stealing Rosin bags

8. Joining cast of the Broadway musical "Legally Blonde"

7. Wants to manage a winning team like the Colorado Whatever-Their-Name-Is

6. Couldn't bear the grind of sitting on his ass watching baseball another second

5. Looking to focus on managing his fantasy baseball team

4. Wants to go someplace more peaceful — like Fallujah

3. 5 million dollars a year — how's the man supposed to live?

2. Doesn't want to be working when he's 90 like Letterman

1. Even Yogi Berra told him, "It's over"

Conan O'Brien

During a speech at the Capitol, the Dalai Lama admitted that his English language skills equal those of a kindergartener. When he heard this, President Bush said, “No one likes a show-off.”

This week, the U.S. Army removed several recruiting ads from a Web site because they said the Web site targets homosexual men. The ads said, “Uncle Sam Wants You — Bad.”

Vice President Dick Cheney’s wife said that Vice President Cheney is actually a distant cousin of Barack Obama. At first Obama was skeptical, then he remembered that his great-great grandmother once had a demon out of wedlock.

Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich got into some trouble this weekend because he was campaigning in Red Sox territory while wearing a Cleveland Indians hat. Finally someone walked up to his wife and said, “Tell your son to take off that hat.”

Craig Ferguson

A fisherman in Florida caught an 844-pound shark. When I heard that someone had caught an 844-pound, cold-blooded eating machine, I thought that’s it — Rush Limbaugh’s finally been taken out.

There was a very important awards show this week. High Times magazine had the annual Stony Awards. The ceremony didn’t go very well — half way through everyone forgot why they were there.

It was like the Golden Globes all over again.

Jimmy Kimmel Live!

The second annual Hip-Hop Awards were aired last night by BET. I noticed a theme in the opening announcements: “We’ve got David Banner, Busta Rhymes, Lil’ Boosie, Lil’ Mama, Lil’ Kim, Lil’ Jon, Lil’ Italy, Lil’ Debbie, Lil’ Orphan Annie, Lil’ House on the Prairie . . .”

It’s a Lil’ Palooza over there.

More drama between Ellen DeGeneres and the dog adoption group Mutts and Moms. Earlier this week Ellen gave her hairdresser’s family this dog, and the group came and took the dog from the house. Ellen was so upset she canceled her show today. The group says it has received some death threats and aired some of then: “I’m calling about the love seat on Craigslist. Does it have any stains?” I guess not all were threats.

Paris Hilton is off to Rwanda next month to do charity work, and to prove what a good person she’s become, she’s taking a camera crew with her to film it for her new reality show. Isn’t that generous? As far as I know, Paris Hilton has one talent: having sex with people. If she wants to do something positive, she should go to Baghdad and have sex with the troops.

John Stossel Exposes Global Warming Myths

"20/20” co-anchor John Stossel is going on the attack against “experts” who warn about manmade global warming – along the way berating Al Gore for saying the debate over climate change is over.

In a release from ABC previewing Stossel’s report on Friday’s “20/20,” the veteran newsman and Newsmax pundit – who won 19 Emmys exposing scammers and con artists – says:

“This week on ‘20/20’ (in our new 8 p.m. Eastern time slot) I say ‘Give Me a Break!’ to our Nobel Prize-winning Vice President.

“Mr. Gore says ‘The debate is over,’ and those who disagree with his take on global warming have been ‘purchased’ in order to create ‘the illusion of a debate.’ Nonsense. It's as if the Vice President and his allies in the environmental movement plan to win the debate through intimidation. I interview some scientists who won't be intimidated, even though one has had his life threatened for speaking up.

“The Vice President's much-applauded movie, ‘An Inconvenient Truth,’ claims warming is man’s fault and a coming crisis! While the earth has certainly warmed over the last century, plenty of independent scientists say scientists cannot be sure that man caused the warming or that warming will be a crisis.

“They say the computer models that are used to predict the disasters don’t include important variables because scientists don’t fully understand them. For example, warming may cause cloud formations that reflect sun and cool the earth. The computer models cannot know. These scientists call global warming activism more of a religious movement than science.”

Gore's film is filled with “misleading messages,” says Stossel.

“It suggests polar bears are disappearing and that ‘sea levels worldwide would go up 20 feet.’ I interview children who are scared. They believe the polar bears are already going extinct and that the oceans will soon rise even higher than 20 feet, drowning them and their parents.

“But polar bear populations appear to be steady or increasing, and a 20-foot rise is a theoretical possibility that wouldn't happen for millennia. The IPCC, the group that shared last week’s Nobel Prize with the Vice President, says in 100 years the oceans might rise 7 to 24 inches, not 20 feet. Now a British judge has ruled that British schools must disclose to students nine inaccuracies in ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ if they play the movie in class.”

Stossel said it’s “nonsense” for Gore to suggest that we can stop global warming by doing things like changing light bulbs and driving less.

“The only practical thing we can do today that would make a difference in CO2 output is to launch a major shift toward nuclear energy. But the environmental movement rarely utters the word nuclear.

“I suspect that next year's government boondoggle will be massive spending on carbon-reducing technology.

“It reminds me of George Mason University Economics Department Chairman Don Boudreax's suggestion that such schemes really mean ‘government seizing enormous amounts of additional power in order to embark upon schemes of social engineering - schemes whose pursuit gratifies the abstract fantasies of the theory class and, simultaneously, lines the very real pockets of politically powerful corporations, organizations, and “experts."’

“He is so right. The abstract fantasies of the theory class will soon send huge chunks of your money to politicians, friends, activist scientists, and politically savvy corporations.

“The debate is over? That makes me say GIVE ME A BREAK!”

Late Nite Jokes

Jay Leno

This week, Vice President Dick Cheney’s wife Lynne Cheney says that Obama and Dick Cheney are related. She said they are actually eighth cousins. Lynne Cheney says that Obama-Dick Cheney connection was the result of one of Obama’s ancestors marrying one of Cheney’s ancestors in 1650. Even more interesting: Do you know who introduced them in 1650? Bob dole.

If you would like to find out if you are related to Dick Cheney, there’s a very simple test. Here’s what you do. You go out to a shooting range, and if you can’t tell the difference between a lawyer and a quail . . . you could be related.

Hillary Clinton was on “The View” the other day. She was asking Barbara Walters for advice. Like of people don’t know this, Barbara Walters was very instrumental in helping to elect William Howard Taft.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Botox hit a billion dollars in sales last year. A billion dollars! Of course, the Botox people are thrilled. You couldn’t tell by looking at their faces, but they were.

David Letterman

Mayor Bloomberger is planting 1 million trees in new York City. After that, he’s going to bring in a bird.

One million trees — $3 billion contract with Halliburton.

Did you hear this? It turns out Dick Cheney and Barack Obama are cousins. In a related story, 20 years ago, it turns out Rudy Giuliani was briefly married to himself.

Obama and Cheney are cousins, but Obama didn’t inherit the family sneer.

Late Show Top Ten

Top Ten Things Overheard At The Late Show Fire

10. "Here's the problem — Dave left his hairpiece too close to the boiler"

9. "Everybody follow the rats to safety"

8. "Does this count as the Late Show Christmas party?"

7. "Too bad the funny Top Ten list was destroyed"

6. "I should have used more gasoline"

5. "No, Mr. Walker, we don't believe the cause was dyn-o-mite"

4. "Now that we have fire, this place truly is like hell"

3. "No number 3 — writer loopy from smoke inhalation"

2. "Hey, the theater's now up to a toasty 54 degrees"

1. "Forget the interns, Dave, save yourself!"

Conan O'Brien

Big day in Washington. Today President Bush had a historic meeting with the Dalai Lama. There was an awkward moment when Bush saw what the Dalai Lama was wearing and said, “Don’t tell me they lost your luggage.”

Experts were worried about China’s reaction to President Bush’ meeting with the Dalai Lama. Bush said he doesn’t think his meeting with the Dalai Lama with damage our relationship with China. “But this might,” Bush said as he took a huge bite out of a panda bear sandwich.

Today, the world’s oldest blogger celebrated her birthday. She turned 108 years old. Unfortunately she only got two gifts — a bikini and a webcam.

The New York City subway system announced that it will hire 350 new workers to clean up the subway. So this brings the number of workers cleaning the subway to 350.

Craig Ferguson

A great day for Tiger Woods. He’s getting his own sports drink Gatorade Tiger. I’m trying to get my own Snapple flavor. Craig, Snapple — Crapple.

The New York Times reports England is fighting a war of the squirrels. Gray squirrels vs. red squirrels. This is bigger than Alien vs. Predator, Rosie vs. Trump.

Here’s what’s going on: The red squirrel is a native of England. It’s a small brained, red-headed, big-eared creature [picture of Prince Harry shown].

But now, there’s a new kid on the block: The American gray squirrel. He’s bigger, he’s obnoxious, his fur is so bushy it looks like fake fur [picture of Donald Trump shown].

Jimmy Kimmel Live!

The Dalai Lama is here in the United States. This morning he was awarded the congressional gold medal for his contribution to peace, human rights, religious understanding . . . unfortunately, a few hours after the ceremony, he was stripped of his medal after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs.

I’ve been saying for years that Buddhism needs a more comprehensive steroid policy . . .

Yesterday, the Dalai Lama had a private meeting with President Bush. The last Dalai the president greeted at the White House was Parton.

Evidence of Dire Global Warming Effects Scant

Global warming alarmists who claim that climate change will have serious effects on life are skating on thin ice, a top scientist says.

Writing in The Wall Street Journal Wednesday, professor Daniel Botkin, president of the Center for the Study of the Environment and professor emeritus in the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology at the University of California, Santa Barbara says that contrary to the latest news, the evidence that global warming will have serous effects on life is thin.

As reported by the National Center for Policy Analysis Botkin revealed that:

This year's United Nations report on climate change and other documents say that 20 percent to 30 percent of plant and animal species will be threatened with extinction in this century due to global warming — a truly terrifying thought.

Yet, during the past 2.5 million years, a period that scientists now know experienced climatic changes as rapid and as warm as modern climatological models suggest will happen to us, almost none of the millions of species on Earth went extinct.

The exceptions were about 20 species of large mammals (the famous megafauna of the last ice age — saber-tooth tigers, hairy mammoths and the like), which went extinct about 10,000 to 5,000 years ago at the end of the last ice age, and many dominant trees and shrubs of northwestern Europe.

But elsewhere, including North America, few plant species went extinct, and few mammals.

Wrote Botkin, "We're also warned that tropical diseases are going to spread, and that we can expect malaria and encephalitis epidemics, But scientific papers by professor Sarah Randolph of Oxford University show that temperature changes do not correlate well with changes in the distribution or frequency of these diseases; warming has not broadened their distribution and is highly unlikely to do so in the future, global warming or not."

Late Nite Jokes

Jay Leno

Earlier tonight, Idaho Sen. Larry Craig was interviewed by Matt Lauer. The interview was conducted in Sen. Craig’s home in Idaho. Beautiful home — four bedrooms, 29 bathrooms.

One embarrassing moment. Half way through the interview, Craig’s wife came into the room and said, “Is this another one of your boy toys?”

President Bush met with the Dalai Lama today . . . another embarrassing moment. Bush said, “Where’s the Llama?”

China is outraged that we would honor the Dalai Lama at the White House. I hope they don’t try to get back at us — you know, maybe put lead in our toys or antifreeze in our toothpaste.

David Letterman

Campaign news: Hillary Clinton, so far, has raised $35 million. Whoa. Here’s how they break that down: $5 million for advertising, $30 million for pantsuits.

She raised $35 million in three months — that’s the most money raised by any woman if you don’t count what Oprah has made since March.

Yesterday Hillary Clinton was a guest on “The View.” Just when you thought that panel couldn’t get any hotter.

Big day — the Dalai Lama visited at the White House. He rang the doorbell and Bush answered and said, “Oh, let me get some candy.”

Late Show Top Ten

Top Ten Questions President Bush Asked The Dalai Lama

10. "What is that some kind of Halloween get-up?"

9. "Is there a peaceful way for me to bomb Iran back to the stone age?"

8. "I got one for you — why do we drive on a parkway and park on a driveway?"

7. "Where's Mrs. Lama?"

6. "Are you that Japanese guy my dad threw up on?"

5. "Is it true yoga is the new oil?"

4. "What the hell is happening on 'Lost'?"

3. "How's business in Dollywood?"

2. "Have you ever met Dr. Phil?"

1. "I know your cousin Barack O'Lama"

Conan O'Brien

Historic day at the White House. President Bush met the Dalai Lama. There was an awkward moment when Bush said, “Who’s the bald chick in the dress?”

Earlier this year, Al Gore won an Emmy and an Oscar. Now that he has won the Nobel Peace Prize, some people say he may run for president. Gore says he’s not even thinking about running for president because he’s thinking about the Heisman trophy.

Yesterday Britney Spears turned herself into police headquarters for a previous hit-and-run accident. While taking the mug shot photo, police said, “No, no Britney — we want a picture of your face.”

Today at JFK airport the FBI arrested baggage handlers who apparently took part in a cocaine smuggling ring. The FBI became suspicious when they noticed the handlers were losing the luggage twice as fast.

Craig Ferguson

It’s a great day for Madonna. She’s signed a 10-year record deal. That means she’ll be making records until she’s nearly 60. Instead of singing “express yourself,” she’ll be singing “I wet myself.”

There’s a fair going on in Vienna. A divorce fair. This is the first time the words divorce and fair are being used together in the same sentence.

It’s going to be a two-day extravaganza with lawyers, and mediators, and private detectives, fun-filled rides with signs on the rides that say, “You Must Be THIS Bitter to Go on This Ride.”

What would the rides there be? Half of the Haunted Mansion. I need some Space Mountain.

Jimmy Kimmel Live!

Happy Boss’ Day. Today is the 50th annual Boss’ Day. It was originally known as National Ass-Kissers Day.

Matt Lauer sat down with Idaho senator and bathroom aficionado Larry Craig. Craig continues to deny that he solicited for sex. It was fun to watch the senator sit there with his wife talking about how gay he isn’t.

I would have encouraged them to make love on camera to prove it.

Pelosi Lashes Out at Limbaugh

Seeking support for a vetoed children's health insurance bill, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi charged Tuesday that "hate radio has made a vicious attack" on a 12-year-old Baltimore boy who receives coverage through the program.

Pelosi said the allegations were "beneath the dignity of the debate" that surrounds the legislation.

Democrats hope to enact the measure over Bush's opposition, and a House vote scheduled for Thursday. A two-thirds vote in both houses of Congress is required to override a veto, and supporters of the measure appear well short of their goal in the House.

Speaking at a news conference attended by singer Paul Simon, Pelosi, D-Calif., did not identify the targets of her criticism by name. Numerous conservative commentators in recent days have questioned whether the 12-year-old boy, Graeme Frost should qualify for the program for lower-income children.

Democrats enlisted Frost to speak on a recent weekly radio program, where he said the children's insurance program allowed him to get medical help after suffering brain injuries in an automobile accident.

"I just hope the president will listen to my story and help other kids be as lucky as me," he said at the time.

One blog, Free Republic.com, posted a report that said Frost attended a private school where tuition was $20,000 a year, that the family lives in an area where one home recently sold for nearly $500,000, and that a photo and "shows what appears to be a recent remodeling job with granite counter tops and glass-front cabinets."

Radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh also commented. "This family owns a house in a neighborhood of homes valued in the 400,000 to 500,000 range," he said on Oct. 8.

"They send the kid out to lie," Limbaugh said of Democratic supporters of the legislation. "He's 12-years-old! They will use anybody! They'll corrupt anybody, to get where they're headed. That's who they are, folks."

The boy's parents, Halsey and Bonnie Frost say they earn between $45,000 and $50,000 a year, a level that places them within the insurance program eligibility guidelines for a family of six in Maryland.

They say their children attend private schools on scholarships and that they purchased their home for $55,000 in 1990 and it has appreciated in value since.

"Because of the intelligence and the aptitude of the son who was in the accident he goes to a private school, because he's on scholarship there ... because the house of the family appreciated, they bought it for 50,000, they make 45,000 a year or something like that ... they are calling them wealthy," Pelosi said of critics of the family.

The vetoed bill would expand an existing insurance program for lower-income children by $35 billion over five years. The Congressional Budget Office says the measure would reduce the number of uninsured children by 3.8 million.

Late Nite Jokes

Jay Leno

Now that he’s won the Nobel Prize, Al Gore has a huge, international platform to fight global warming. Kind of sad . . . today he stepped onto that platform and it collapsed.

Also winning a Nobel Prize was a scientist who won an award for chemistry. He won the award for understanding how iron rusts. There’s a cocktail party you don’t want to miss.

Barack Obama is attacking some of Hillary Clinton’s comments on torture. At one point, Hillary had said that “in some narrow cases torture could be acceptable.” Like, for example, if your husband is sneaking in at 2:30 in the morning . . .

Abigail van Buren, better known as Dear Abby, says she's for gay marriage . . . Dear Abby has come out for gay marriage. Which came as a tremendous shock to gay people — they had no idea she was still alive.

David Letterman

Mayor Bloomberger is planting 1 million trees in New York City. One million trees . . . or as Donald Trump calls them — eyesores.

The goal is to add as many trees as there are Starbuckses.

We need more trees, because currently, squirrels have to wait until another squirrel dies before they can move into a tree.

Congratulations to former Vice President Al Gore — he won the Nobel Peace Prize. This should make up for not getting “The Price Is Right” job.

Late Show Top Ten

Top Ten Messages On Al Gore's Answering Machine

10. "Hi, Mandy from The Cheesecake Factory. You left your credit card"

9. "George W. Bush here. Congratulations on your Latin Grammy"

8. "It's Larry from Toyota. This global warming paranoia is great for business"

7. "Put on Letterman. Some idiot is going to jump over interns"

6. "This is Hillary. If you run for president I'll snap your neck"

5. "It's Jets coach Eric Mangini. Can you play quarterback?"

4. "Ann Coulter here. Any way we can blame global warming on the Jews?"

3. "I'm calling from the EPA. Turns out there is no global warming; You're just sweating because you're getting fat"

2. "This is Jimmy Carter. Want to use our medals to score some babes?"

1. "It's Cheney. Watch your back, Jack"

Conan O'Brien

In a recent interview, Sen. Larry Craig said that because of his sex scandal, he’s now in “the toughest fight of his life.” Then Craig added, “Unless you count that trucker who played hard to get.”

According to an article on the fashions and styles of the presidential candidates, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are the best dressed candidates. Not only that, Dennis Kucinich was voted the most likely to shop in the children’s department.

Forbes magazine has come out with its annual list of the 400 richest Americans. This year’s list includes Oprah Winfrey and 300 members of her studio audience.

This morning, Sen. Hillary Clinton appeared on “The View.” It was an awkward moment when Hillary looked around and said, “Good Lord, I’m the hottest one here.”

Craig Ferguson

Paul McCartney is in the middle of a very ugly divorce. Does anybody ever go through a nice divorce? Does anybody ever say, “Oh I had a beautiful divorce. It was fabulous! We had a fine selection of chicken or fish.”

He said divorce is hell. I agree. I’ve been through it twice. Divorce is tough on everybody — except of course, divorce lawyers. That’s why, when divorce lawyers die, and I hope you are all watching tonight, you’re going to hell.

Drew Carey got engaged over the weekend! It’s true! There’ll be a moment of silence at strip clubs all across America.

Voter Confronts McCain on Immigration

HOPKINTON, N.H. -- Sen. John McCain, who often faces challenging questions on illegal immigration, confronted a voter Sunday who called for ending legal immigration as well.

For months, McCain has been telling New Hampshire audiences that he still believes in the immigration plan that failed in Congress earlier this year but that he now realizes that none of its components _ including allowing millions of illegal immigrants to eventually earn legal status _ can be enacted until the borders are secured first.

That wasn't enough for a man who spoke up at the Hopkinton Town Hall, telling McCain that legal immigration could result in civil war in the next five years.

"Do the people in Washington _ the politicians and the lobbyists and the rich people writing the checks _ do they understand the amount of anger the average European Christian, native-born American feels when they see their country turning into a multicultural chaos Tower of Babel?" he said.

McCain started to answer, only to be interrupted by his questioner accusing him of supporting amnesty for illegal immigrants. Finally, McCain repeated his promise _ "I think for the 15th time" _ that he would secure the borders to stop illegal immigration before attempting anything else.

He also strongly objected to the man's argument about the nation's future and the impact of legal immigration.

"I believe the greatest strength of America is the lady who holds her lamp behind the golden door that says send me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses," he said, referring to the Statue of Liberty. "And I am grateful to live in a nation that has been enriched by people coming to our nation from around the world.

"I will do everything in my power to secure the borders, but I love this nation and I love the people who have come from around the world," he said to loud applause.

Edwards Questions Clinton's Sincerity

HUDSON, N.H. -- Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards has spent two weeks questioning Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's judgment in voting to declare the Iranian Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization.

On Sunday, he questioned her sincerity.

Last month, Clinton was one of 75 senators who voted for a resolution giving the president the authority to call the guards terrorists. She has characterized the vote as a way to gain leverage for U.S. negotiations with Iran, but some of her rivals, including Edwards and Sen. Barack Obama, argue it amounted to giving Bush another blank check to go to war.

At several stops Sunday, Edwards referred to a New York Times column in which unidentified Clinton supporters say she voted for the resolution in part because she already has shifted from "primary mode," when she must appeal to liberals, to "general election" mode, when she must find broader support.

"I may have missed something _ and you can tell me _ have we already had the New Hampshire primary? Have we decided who's going to win the New Hampshire primary yet? I think we're going to actually have a campaign and an election," Edwards said at a town hall meeting in a school cafeteria.

"Instead of moving from primary mode to general election mode, why don't we have tell-the-truth mode, all the time, and not say something different one time than we say another time?" he said.

"We need to be able to trust both a presidential candidate and a president of the United States," Edwards said.

Democratic presidential hopefuls Sens. Joe Biden and Chris Dodd voted against the resolution. Obama missed the vote to campaign in New Hampshire, prompting Clinton's campaign to argue that if he felt so strongly that the resolution would lay the groundwork for war he should have been there to vote against it.

Obama, Edwards Criticize Clinton on Iran

DES MOINES, Iowa -- Democrats Barack Obama and John Edwards are criticizing presidential rival Hillary Rodham Clinton for her latest comments on meeting with leaders of Iran and other countries that are on poor terms with the U.S.

Obama noted on Friday that when he said in July he would meet with such leaders without setting any conditions, Clinton called his stance "irresponsible and frankly naive."

Questioned Thursday by a voter in New Hampshire, Clinton said twice that she, too, would negotiate with Iran "with no conditions."

"I would engage in negotiations with Iran, with no conditions, because we don't really understand how Iran works. We think we do, from the outside, but I think that is misleading," she said.

Obama said Friday, "So I'm not sure if any of us knows exactly where she is standing on this issue. But I can tell you this _ when I am president of the United States, the American people and the world will always know where I stand."

Edwards' campaign chimed in from North Carolina, also noting the earlier Clinton comment and her new statement.

"You can't have it both ways _ on this or any other issue," said a statement released by Edwards communications director Chris Kofinis. "Senator Clinton needs to be honest with the American people about her plans."

The Clinton campaign said she had not changed her position.

While she believes in diplomatic engagement with Iran, "she does not agree with Senator Obama ... that the United States president should precommit to meeting directly with Mr. Ahmadinejad," said spokesman Howard Wolfson. That was a reference to Iran's president.

Obama, speaking Friday at Drake University in Des Moines, gave a harsh assessment of Clinton's foreign policy views.

He criticized the New York senator for her recent vote designating Iran's Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization, saying she was repeating a mistake she made in voting to authorize the Iraq war.

"Senator Clinton is the only Democratic candidate for president who supports this amendment," Obama said, calling it a "blank check" for President Bush to attack Iran.

"I don't want to give this president any excuse, any opening for war," said Obama who missed that vote because he was campaigning in New Hampshire.

The Clinton campaign responded with a statement distributed by spokesman Mark Daley: "Once again Senator Obama has abandoned the politics of hope to engage in the same old attack politics. If Senator Obama really believed that this measure gave the president a blank check for war he should have been there, speaking out and fighting against it."

"Senator Clinton opposes both President Bush's saber rattling and Senator Obama's inaction on Iran," her campaign said.

Obama, noting that the vote to authorize the Iraq war came five years ago this week, said Democrats in Congress _ including Clinton and Edwards, who was then a North Carolina senator _ bear some responsibility for what's happened since.

"Senator Edwards voted for the war in 2002," Obama said. "He has renounced that vote instead of pretending that it was a vote for anything but war."

He said Clinton's arguments that she was voting for more inspections or diplomacy are misleading. "All of us know what was being debated in the Congress in the fall of 2002," he said, again stressing his early opposition to the war while he was a state senator in Illinois.

Obama said Democrats must stop believing they "can't win elections unless they talk, act and vote like Republicans when it comes to foreign policy and national security."

Late Nite Jokes

Jay Leno

Congratulations to former Vice President Al Gore. He won the Nobel Peace Prize. How about that? And he did it without a single vote from Florida.

A White House spokesman says President Bush was very happy Al Gore won. Not Dick Cheney. Dick Cheney said now he wants to bomb Norway.

A lot of people are wondering now if Al Gore will run for president. Which would make it a Gore vs. Hillary Democratic primary. Kind of a global warming vs. global cooling.

The Taco Bell restaurant chain is about to open in Mexico City. Today, the government of Mexico called it a hate crime.

David Letterman

You can always tell it’s autumn in New York City, because the shadow of the guy following you is longer.

Big surprise in Stockholm. The Nobel Prize in chemistry went to Jamba Juice.

The Cat Show opened in Madison Square Garden. One thousand cats arrived, and when that happened, that thing on Donald Trump’s head arched its back and hissed.

It’s the Clintons 32nd wedding anniversary. Even after 32 years, Bill planned a very romantic evening . . . candlelight dinner . . . dancing . . . and then home to Hillary.

Late Show Top Ten

Top Ten Signs You're Not Going To Win a Nobel Prize

10. You put all your money on the Mets

9. Only thing you ever won was a rib eating contest

8. You spent three years trying to prove the formula: macaroni + cheese = delicious!

7. The only "A" on your report card was when your teacher called you "A moron"

6. You graduated from Harvard, but it's the Harvard in Mexico

5. When watching "Jeopardy!" you answer every questions with, "Who is Larry Hagman?"

4. Every time you see an airplane you scream, "Run for your lives — giant metal bird"

3. Devoted your life to studying global cooling

2. You're known for invading Iraq without an exit strategy

1. You're on Letterman playing with a bunch of spring snakes

Craig Ferguson

There’s a big controversy on the Internet. There’s a nude scene with Natalie Portman . . . you can download it for free. Call me old fashioned; I still prefer to pay to see naked women.

There’s a new movie opening today. “Elizabeth: The Golden Age.” It’s going to be fantastic. Queen Elizabeth ruled England from 1558 to 1603. Approximately. That’s about the same time Larry King went from his third wife to his fourth wife.

Of course, England has a new ruling queen [picture of Elton John].

This movie is actually a sequel. They should have called it, “Queen vs. Predator.”

Clinton Says She'd Negotiate With Iran

CANTERBURY, N.H. -- Hillary Rodham Clinton called Barack Obama naive when he said he'd meet with the leaders of Iran without precondition. Now she says she'd do the same thing, too.

During a Democratic presidential debate in July, Obama said he would be willing to meet without precondition in the first year of his presidency with the leaders of Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba and North Korea.

Standing with him on stage, Clinton said she would first send envoys to test the waters and called Obama's position irresponsible and naive.

But asked about it Thursday by a voter, the New York senator said twice that she, too, would negotiate with Iran "with no conditions."

"I would engage in negotiations with Iran, with no conditions, because we don't really understand how Iran works. We think we do, from the outside, but I think that is misleading," she said at an apple orchard.

She characterized her recent vote to label Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organization as a way to gain leverage for those negotiations.

Obama and other rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination have been criticizing Clinton's vote late last month in favor of the resolution, comparing it to her 2002 vote authorizing the war in Iraq.

They have suggested that the Iran vote was the first step toward a military invasion there.

Late Nite Jokes

Jay Leno

We are learning more and more information about the Republican debate the other night. Apparently, the Republicans are really paranoid about security. To make sure there were no embarrassing incidents, I understand they had three security guards posted at every bathroom stall.

Hillary Clinton’s name was mention 12 times the other night at the Republican debate. Twelve times! Of course, Hillary was stunned. She’s not used to guys yelling out her name.

Today is the Clintons’ 32nd wedding anniversary. Happy anniversary to them. Actually Hillary’s been married for 32, Bill for about three years.

This was kind of scary. Out on the campaign trail in Iowa, a van carrying Barack Obama’s wife was hit by a guy on a motorcycle. Guy plowed right into the van. You know, we have to teach George Clooney how to ride a bike. This is going to keep happening.

David Letterman

Here’s a sign of fall: Today, Marion Jones tested positive for cider.

Great news for New York City and mankind generally: Mayor Bloomberg is planting a million trees in New York City. It’s all part of the city’s plan to revitalize the city’s logging industry.

The world’s first pornographic photo, believed to be taken sometime in the 1800s, is being auctioned off. I got a look at it, and I just want to say, “Wow!” That Joan Rivers was hot!

Late Show Top Ten

Top Ten Signs There's A Ghost In The White House

10. White House staffers have sensed a cold presence that's not Condoleezza

9. Rattling chains and agonized screams make the place sound like Gitmo

7. Mysterious force keeps pulling Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne's pants down

6. Bush looks scared even when he's not looking at poll numbers

3. Actually, with Bush on vacation every two weeks, it's like having a ghost in the White House — am I right, America?

1. Mysterious banging and moaning noises in Oval Office, but Bubba ain't there

Conan O'Brien

Bad news for Paris Hilton. According to a recent survey, 67 percent of Americans said they hate Paris Hilton. Which is surprising, because the survey said, “Are you happy with your homeowners insurance?”

Scientists have discovered an organism that has managed to survive despite the fact that it hasn’t had sex in millions of years. Scientists discovered the organism at a “Star Wars” convention.

The world’s oldest bowler turned 106. When asked how he feels, the bowler said, “At 106, I’m just trying to keep my balls out of the gutter.”

Craig Ferguson

Today is National Coming Out Day. It only comes once a year. Don’t make us wait another year, Ryan Seacrest.

Not a good day for Bobby Brown. Yesterday he had a mild heart attack. Doctors say he’s doing well, except for the fact that he’s still Bobby Brown.

He’s doing fine. He’s breathing though a pipe. No change there.

Jimmy Kimmel Live!

Today is National Coming Out Day. A day when people who are gay are encouraged to tell their families and friends that they are gay. It leads to next month’s National Uncomfortable Thanksgiving With Your Ultra-Conservative Relatives Day.

I’ve already come out twice today.

Kiefer Sutherland, star of “24,” is going to jail for 48 days for a DUI last month. Unlike Nicole Richie, he won’t be getting out 20 minutes into it. They sentenced him to that brutal Chinese prison he was in at the start of season five.

British Judge Bashes Gore Film

Al Gore's Oscar-winning documentary on global warming, "An Inconvenient Truth," was critiqued, Wed., by a high court judge in the United Kingdom who pointed to what he perceived as "nine scientific errors" in the film.

The judge, identified only as Mr. Justice Barton by the Guardian, noted his opinion when mulling a case brought by Stewart Dimmock, a Kent school governor, who is opposed to a government plan to show the film in secondary schools.

The judge ruled that the film can still be shown in schools -- with the proviso that it might be necessary for the Department of Children, Schools and Families to make clear to teachers some of Gore's views were not supported or promoted by the government, and there was "a view to the contrary."

Justice Barton, although conceding that many of the claims made by the film were supported by the weight of scientific evidence, identified the following nine points as troubling:

The film claimed that low-lying inhabited Pacific atolls "are being inundated because of anthropogenic global warming," but there was no evidence of any evacuation occurring.

It spoke of global warming "shutting down the ocean conveyor" - the process by which the gulf stream is carried over the north Atlantic to western Europe. The judge said that, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, it was "very unlikely" that the conveyor would shut down in the future, though it might slow down.

Gore had also claimed - by ridiculing the opposite view - that two graphs, one plotting a rise in C02 and the other the rise in temperature over a period of 650,000 years, showed "an exact fit." The judge said although scientists agreed there was a connection, "the two graphs do not establish what Mr. Gore asserts."

Gore said the disappearance of snow on Mt Kilimanjaro was expressly attributable to human-induced climate change. The judge said the consensus was that that could not be established.

The drying up of Lake Chad was used as an example of global warming. The judge said: "It is apparently considered to be more likely to result from ... population increase, over-grazing and regional climate variability."

Gore ascribed Hurricane Katrina to global warming, but there was "insufficient evidence to show that."

Gore also referred to a study showing that polar bears were being found that had drowned "swimming long distances to find the ice". The judge said: "The only scientific study that either side before me can find is one which indicates that four polar bears have recently been found drowned because of a storm."

The film said that coral reefs all over the world were bleaching because of global warming and other factors. The judge said separating the impacts of stresses due to climate change from other stresses, such as over-fishing, and pollution, was difficult.

Late Nite Jokes

Jay Leno

Yesterday, there was another Republican debate. This was the first one that Fred Thompson took part in. I don’t’ think Fred understands how these debates work. He went backstage and told the producers, “I need more lines.”

According to the latest polls, New Hampshire voters are warming unexpectedly to Hillary Clinton. This could be the best proof we have of global warming. Hillary thawing.

Hillary Clinton now saying she’s having second thoughts about the NAFTA agreement. You know, the North American Free Trade Agreement. Which her husband supported and signed into law when he was president. See this is why it’s controversial — the last time Bill and Hillary had completely different interpretations of a legal document, I guess it was their marriage license.

Kiefer Sutherland has pleaded no contest to his drunk driving charge and will serve 48 days in jail starting in December — 48 days. Or as Paris Hilton calls that, 15 consecutive life sentences.

Late Show Top Ten

Top Ten Surprises In Yesterday's Republican Debate

10. McCain answered all questions with his sock puppet friend "Carl"

9. Debate was held at Chi-Chi's in Dearborn

8. The part where Giuliani slugged an audience member was odd

7. Mitt Romney proposed a big tax cut for guys named "Mitt" — that's crazy — who's ever heard of such a thing?

6. Candidates greeted each other with long, passionate kiss

5. No No. 5 — writer seeing hilarious remake of "The Heartbreak Kid" in theatres now

4. Tom Tancredo admitted even he doesn't know who the hell he is

3. Eddie Brill claimed the audience was one-third foreigners

2. Wayne Newton was voted off

1. Time limit enforced by Cheney with a shotgun

Conan O'Brien

One of President Bush’s closest advisers said Republican presidential candidate Michael Huckabee will have trouble getting elected because his last name is Huckabee. He said the only way it could be worse is if his name was George W. Huckabee.

Former “Law & Order” star Fred Thompson appeared in his first presidential debate last night. Political experts called him “uneven, flat, and dull.” In other words, Thompson was the highlight of the debate.

Dennis Kucinich has asked that his name be taken off the ballot in the Michigan Democratic primary. Michigan voting officials told Kucinich, “How about we just put it up high where you can’t see it?”

Radar magazine is causing a big controversy because the cover of their November issue features a doctored photo of a partially dressed Rudy Giuliani and a totally nude Hillary Clinton. Radar says it’s all part of their plan to sell zero magazines.

Craig Ferguson

Esquire magazine named the sexiest woman alive: Charlize Theron. She had some tough competition: Scarlett Johansson, Jessica Alba, Orlando Bloom . . .

The big news is, Radiohead has a new album out. The kids are excited. I’ve got my ear to the street . . . I know what kids like. They like Radiohead; they dance the Robot; they dance the jitterbug . . .

Radiohead is my favorite band. They’re named after an appliance and a body part. They’re much better than Toasterfoot.

Jimmy Kimmel Live!

Elmo was the guest on “The View” this morning. I don’t know what he was promoting . . . the alphabet, I think. I think there’s a new letter coming out.

Bobby Brown had a heart attack yesterday. For all his arrests, this is his first heart attack.

Another celebrity from the 80s and 90s went to the hospital. David Hasselhoff had a relapse. I guess he checked himself into a hospital. I’m surprised they took him . . . he wears a medical alert bracelet that says, “Don’t Hasspitalize the Hoff.”

Hillary and Gore in Bitter Feud

A new book reveals the deep division that developed between Vice President Al Gore and first lady Hillary Clinton during Bill Clinton’s years in the White House.

“For Love of Politics — Bill and Hillary Clinton: The White House Years” by Sally Bedell Smith claims that Hillary not only tried to usurp Al Gore’s role as vice president, she cost him the presidency in the 2000 election by draining funds and resources away from his campaign in favor of her Senate bid. [Editor’s Note: Get Sally Bedell’s book “For Love of Politics — Bill and Hillary Clinton: The White House Years” — Go here now. ]

The bitter feelings between Gore and 2008 presidential candidate Hillary are said to persist to this day, leading some observers to speculate that Gore could enter the 2008 race after all — a move that might prove a final payback to Hillary.

The rift between the then-new first lady and the vice president began to develop just days after Bill Clinton’s inauguration, when he appointed Hillary to head his healthcare task force, according to an excerpt, published in the November issue of Vanity Fair, from Smith’s book.

“The move took nearly all his top officials by surprise, including Al Gore,” she writes. “Bill had invested Gore with considerable responsibility, but his failure to confide in his vice president was a telling sign of the real pecking order.”

Before long, administration officials came to realize that Hillary would play a part in all of Bill’s decisions. “He would say, ‘Hillary thinks this. What do you think?’ White House counsel Bernard Nussbaum told Smith.

Staff members began calling Hillary “the Supreme Court,” the final arbiter on many issues.

Gore, meanwhile, was being increasingly marginalized. White House insiders recalled meetings where Hillary urged Bill to discount Gore’s advice, telling him: “Bill, you are the president.”

Smith observed: “The Clintons resented the Gores because they were products of Washington’s prestigious private schools and its social network . . .

“Hillary always had an undercurrent of competition with Al Gore that burst into the open from time to time.”

On Nov. 6, 1998, New York Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan announced that he would not run for a fifth term.

“The Moynihan seat had in fact been on the Clintons’ radar for months,” Smith discloses, and Hillary would eventually campaign for the seat while Gore campaigned to succeed Bill in the White House.

Even before the campaigns began, the “center of gravity” in the Clintons’ relationship had been shifting from Bill to Hillary.

Bill was a lame duck, crippled by the Monica Lewinsky scandal, and she was “the rising political star,” according to Smith’s book, which will officially be published on Oct. 23.

“Hillary’s ascendancy had a significant impact on the presidential prospects of Al Gore, diverting attention and resources from his candidacy and adding to the growing tensions between the Gores and the Clintons over Bill’s involvement with Lewinsky,” Smith writes.

On the day he announced his candidacy for president, Gore said in a televised interview that he thought Bill Clinton’s behavior was “terribly wrong.” When Bill heard about the comment, he “erupted” in anger.

Bill was still a sitting president, in a position to give Gore’s campaign major boosts, but according to Smith, “in 1999 those resources were diverted from Gore to Hillary ‘in a big way,’ said one member of the Gore team. ‘The Clintons come first.’”

That year, Hillary’s office had 86 major speeches listed on the White House Web site — four times as many as those listed for her husband and Gore combined.

One dramatic example of the “contest” between Hillary and Gore came in September 1999 when the Federal Trade Commission was set to release a report on violence in the media.

“Under ordinary circumstances, a vice president running for the presidency would have first call on publicizing the report,” Smith notes. “But Hillary insisted she should handle the rollout.”

When the decision was made to have Gore and the Clintons make more or less simultaneous announcements, “this did not sit well” with Gore and his vice presidential running mate Joe Lieberman, and they decided to break the news on their own.

Perhaps more significantly, Hillary was also competing with Gore for campaign contributions.

Bill and Hillary “raised millions for themselves, distracting attention from the presidential race, siphoning off Democratic money, and further angering the vice president and his team,” discloses Smith, a former New York Times reporter whose other works include books about the Kennedy White House and Princess Diana.

She tells that when a friend of Tipper Gore planned a fundraiser in Los Angeles, Hillary insisted on being invited — “then shocked the vice president’s supporters by soliciting donations for herself in front of Tipper.”

The result of the Gore-Hillary clash, according to Smith: “The colliding agendas of the president, first lady, and vice president were gifts to the Republicans.”

When Hillary easily won her Senate seat, rumors “almost immediately” started about a Hillary run for the White House in 2004 or 2008, Smith writes.

Gore, meanwhile, went down to a bitter defeat to George Bush after a legal wrangle over Florida votes that lasted 36 days.

After the outcome was determined, Gore and Bill Clinton met in the Oval Office on Dec. 21. “It was an unpleasant encounter, as Gore forthrightly blamed Bill’s scandals, while Bill rebuked Gore for failing to make the most of their successful record,” Smith reveals.

“Afterward, Bill told [presidential adviser] Sidney Blumenthal they had parted after ‘patching everything up,’ but in fact the mutual resentments among the Clintons and Gore persisted.”