Report: Al-Qaeda Planning to Take Hostages in Mumbai-Style Attacks Across Europe to Force Release of KSM From U.S. Custody

Montreal Gazette  "Noman Benotman said that Osama bin Laden wants to force the Americans to release Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who is awaiting trial for his part in the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center.

"Mr Benotman, a Libyan and former Afghanistan terrorist camp trainer, said that he was present at several discussions about the plot and believes it has now been reactivated." Hat tip to Weasel Zippers . Photo from that blog.

Queensbury rules in the war on terror?  "John Sawers, head of Britain's legendary MI6, appears to be ready to trade the welfare of terror attack victims for purity when it comes to methods."

BECK VERSUS STEWART = HONESTY VERSUS SARCASM, CYNICISM AND ELITISM

Nate Beeler, Townhall

The Astute Blogger  "BECK'S RALLY WAS GREAT AND ITS VALUES GOOD. BY COUNTERING BECK, THESE LEFTIST COMEDIANS PROVE THAT THEY ARE SMALL AND BAD.
"NOTHING GOOD CAN COME FROM THEIR SARCASM, CYNICISM AND ELITISM.
"SARCASM, CYNICISM AND ELITISM CANNOT CREATE MORE BUSINESSES OR JOBS, NOR CAN IT DEFEND US FROM GLOBAL JIHAD OR CREEPING JIHAD."  Emphases in the original
The Rally today

A genuine rally of sanity and/or fear "Meanwhile, while the ralliers rallied, all the synagogue services and other usual events on Friday night and Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath, continued as planned despite an FBI warning.
"The intended victims, Jews, were not supposed to be angry because that's racism."  Ethel C. Fenig

Saturday Open Thread: Thank You Jon Stewart Edition  "Today, 10’s or 100’s of thousands of hip lefties will gather in Washington D.C. to nod approvingly-and ironically-at wry witticisms instead of, you know, walking precincts, cavassing voters or making get-out-the-vote calls. The kinds of things you usually do the weekend before the midterm elections. Yes, lefties, travel this weekend. Thank you, Jon Stewart. We hope your rally attracts millions."

Liberal groups tag along with Jon Stewart rally   "Abortion-rights supporters, marijuana fans, environmental activists, government watchdogs and the Democratic National Committee all will be cruising the Mall and spreading their messages in the hopes of winning hearts, minds and votes three days before Election Day."

The socialist brain of a liberal Democrat  "How do they fit all that angst, worry, outrage, hypocrisy, hand wringing, arrogance, strutting, condescension, ego, and moral blindness all in one head?"

With election outlook bleak, despairing young liberals look to Jon Stewart  I think that many liberals that will march in the ‘Rally to Restore Sanity’ realize that the Barack Obama era of ‘good feeling’ politics is over and as Republicans regain power, the only comforting fact is that they will fall back into the crosshairs of the Daily Show. After all, it was the cynical Jon Stewart view of politics that sustained many despairing liberals through the Bush era when their political stars failed to beat Bush in 2004 and failed to end the war in Iraq in 2006. If you are a liberal faced with these kinds of failures, what else is there to do but throw up your hands and laugh? Via Lucianne

Why is Assange still alive?

Wikipedia photo

Jonah Goldberg  "Indeed, most of the documents from WikiLeaks debunk the vast majority of conspiracy theories that fueled so much idiocy on the left for the last decade. No sinister plots involving Halliburton or Israel have been exposed — because they only existed in the fevered fantasies of some coffee-shop dissidents."

America Not Losing Its Religion

Kathryn Lopez  "...The American consensus on religion's role in the public discourse is not just a national mood, it's a fact founded in American history." We cannot afford to expunge it. We should not co-opt it. We should embrace it in the most honest and transparent of ways. In God we trust. And for political prudence, we pray."

Charles Krauthammer: The great campaign of 2010 (reprise)

Washington Post  "...Quite a uniter, urging Hispanics to go to the polls to exact political revenge on their enemies - presumably, for example, the near-60 percent of Americans who support the new Arizona immigration law.
"This from a president who won't even use "enemies" to describe an Iranian regime that is helping kill U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan. This from a man who rose to prominence thunderously declaring that we were not blue states or red states, not black America or white America or Latino America - but the United States of America.
"This is how the great post-partisan, post-racial, New Politics presidency ends - not with a bang, not with a whimper, but with a desperate election-eve plea for ethnic retribution. "  Emphasis added.

Mike Ramirez, Townhall

Karl Rove: Signs of the Democratic Apocalypse

Wall Street Journal  "In recent days, Mr. Obama screamed defiantly to Democratic rallies that Republicans have to "sit in the back," and he told a Latino radio audience that it's time to "punish our enemies and . . . reward our friends." That may be the president's idea of how to appeal to Americans' better instincts. Next Tuesday night we'll see how badly wrong he is."

Evidence of a Teleprompter Addiction, People’s Exhibit C

'The Powers That Be' "The photo is a few months old, but I always like to kick off the weekend with a laugh, and what better to do that with than by showing a “gifted orator” who uses a teleprompter in a cabinet meeting:"

"We’ll get a photo of People’s Exhibit D as soon as Obama speaks to India’s Parliament."

Gawker's nonstory about Christine O'Donnell reveals the public's role in making a "sex scandal."

Slate   "If you're in your twenties or thirties and have never suffered through an evening such as Mr. Anonymous describes, I invite you to leave the convent or seminary now and report back to me in a couple of weeks. What adult among us has not been Mr. Anonymous or Christine O'Donnell (or both!?) in their lifetimes? Fumbling sexual encounters, even those of unmarried senatorial candidates, are as noteworthy as bucket of sand. If the Gawker piece engaged or enraged you, you're a sucker, and Denton is laughing at you."

Do we have a theme here?

Townhall cartoons

The Elections

David Limbaugh" Liberals at War With Liberty  "America, its founding principles, its Constitution, its robust liberty tradition and its strength are being stolen out from under us by a man who has no appreciation for America's greatness and who has contempt for ordinary Americans (we're "enemies"), whom he considers beneath him and unworthy of their sovereign prerogative to preserve this nation."

Republicans: Hold the Hubris by Mona Charen: "Republicans are overwhelmingly likely to regain control of the House and thus ring in the end of the Pelosi regime. They will then be situated to prevent President Obama from doing a whole lot more damage to the nation. But a Republican Congress, even with control of both houses, cannot repeal Obamacare, or FinReg, or even the Lilly Ledbetter "fair pay" act, over Obama's veto. To repeal these damaging laws, and to pass new ones, a new president will be required."

 What Did Mr. Meek Stand to Inherit? "Bill Clinton's involvement in the three-way Florida Senate race suggests that the Democrats want Rubio defeated so badly that they're willing to cheat -- again."

The Real Choice This Election  "On October 20, 2010 the President gave a speech in Portland, Oregon where he stated the real issue in the upcoming election: "But we also believe in a country where we look after one another; where we say, I am my brother's keeper, I am my sister's keeper. That's the America I know. That's the choice in this election."
"And he is right. The choice in the upcoming election boils down to whether you think you are your brother's keeper or whether you have a right to live your own life as you see fit."

Charles Krauthammer :  The Great Campaign of 2010  "This from a president who won’t even use “enemies” to describe an Iranian regime that is helping kill U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan. This from a man who rose to prominence thunderously declaring that we were not blue states or red states, not black America or white America or Latino America — but the United States of America.
"This is how the great post-partisan, post-racial, New Politics presidency ends — not with a bang, not with a whimper, but with a desperate election-eve plea for ethnic retribution. Nice."

Update: Meek Almost Dropped Out of Senate Race, as Urged by Clinton 

Clinton Meddles in Florida Senate Race for Charlie Crist  "The high-level efforts, involving a former president and several White House officials, suggest that the leaders of the Democratic Party were willing to go to extraordinary lengths to make sure that Rubio, a rising star in the conservative movement of Hispanic descent, is not elected to the Senate on November 2."  STEPHEN F. HAYES

Voter Fraud Watch: A Primer on What to Watch For  "But what does voter fraud look like? What can citizens be on the lookout for when they participate in their election? Let me share some examples:"

The Clown-In-Chief

Pajamas Media  "This law professor, who we found out after the election wasn’t … this senator, with the thinnest of resumes … this radical leftist that sought, in his own words, to “fundamentally change America” and “cause energy rates to necessarily skyrocket,” and encouraged Hispanics to target his “enemies” has done more damage to our nation than any other president in our history. I’m including Carter here. So why am I surprised to see the so-called leader of the free world hitting the comedy shows before an election that is expected to wipe out Democrat majorities in Congress?"

Obama to Jon Stewart: Obamacare ‘As Significant’ As Any U.S. Law Ever Passed, But Only First Step in Government Transformation of Health Care  "Obama countered by underscoring what he perceived to be the historical magnitude of his health-care legislation, and by pointing to what he believes is the path forward for an even more expansive government-driven transformation of the health-care industry."

Red tape rising: 2010's record flood of regulation

The Heritage Foundation "Unlike on-budget spending, there is no transparent accounting of regulatory costs. Instead, they are largely hidden in the form of lost jobs, higher prices, and slowed investment. If anything, the actual costs of the FY 2010 rules are likely higher than $26 billion, since regulators tend to minimize the costs of their rules."

Glenn McCoy, Townhall