This week in politics for October 27

Coming elections require that all rhetoric is heated and not to be trusted and all news is "timely."

• Sometimes I think they float these things just for the fun of it: Rising star Obama weighs White House run
• As if things are good now, GOP losses could spark partisan warfare
• I wonder how much they had to pay a 69-year-old priest living in Malta to confess to “only fondling” Rep. Mark Foley: Fla. church probes priest tied to Foley
• Be prepared for the losers in these elections to claim voter fraud because of Electronic Voting Machines—some of them will be right: Electronic Voting Machines Could Skew Elections
• Because there are so few, President Bush Meets with Organizations that Support the United States Military in Iraq and Afghanistan
• After taking months of abuse for this, Bush Abandons Phrase 'Stay the Course' on Iraq
• Because the press is really to blame for everything that’s going wrong in Iraq, Lawmaker faults CNN for sniper video
• Rush, as per usual, gets to the heart of the matter by accusing Michael J. Fox of exaggerating Parkinson’s symptoms in ads supporting stem cell research: Limbaugh on the Offensive
• Some back and forth over Iraq reveals fundamental trouble. First, US Generals announced “benchmarks,” better known as timetables, for the Iraqi government to control violence (General May Call for Increase in U.S. Troop Levels in Baghdad ). Then the Iraqi prime minister said, no, no—we’re a sovereign nation and no one’s making us do anything (Iraqi Leader Disavows U.S. Timetable). Then the President had to come out in a surprise press conference to find the middle ground, but really just wound up depressing everyone (Bush Offers Sobering Assessment on Iraq ).
• The hot button issue for the week involves a ruling by the NJ Supreme Court on the issue of gay marriage: New Jersey takes step toward same-sex marriages. And the NY Times puts some perspective on it: G.O.P. Moves Fast to Reignite Issue of Gay Marriage
• Oh, and to those writers who might consider running for political office someday, what you write WILL be used against you. Just ask Jim Webb: Webb on sex passage recital: 'It's smear after smear'