The latest from the Political Grapevine:
Cheney 'Asserted' Iraq Behind 9/11?
NBC News anchor and former Jimmy Carter (search) speech writer Chris Matthews (search) says he has "establish[ed] the fact in no uncertain terms that the Vice President asserted... Saddam Hussein was responsible for 9/11." Matthews cites Dick Cheney (search) from "Meet the Press" last September, when he said:
"If we're successful in Iraq ... we will have struck a major blow right at the heart of the base, if you will, the geographic base of the terrorists who have had us under assault now for many years, but most especially on 9/11."
Right after that, however, Cheney was asked if he meant that Iraq was responsible for 9/11. Cheney replied, "I was careful not to say that. ... The relevance for 9/11 is that what 9/11 marked was the beginning of a struggle in which the terrorists come at us and strike us here on our home territory. And it's a global operation."
Matthews never mentioned the followup question or the answer.
Trouble at Bush-Cheney Headquarters
Violence has erupted at Bush-Cheney headquarters across the country. Protesters from the AFL-CIO in Orlando, Fla., face possible assault charges after storming and ransacking the Bush-Cheney headquarters there.
According to WKMG-TV, they also defaced posters of President Bush and poured piles of letters onto the floor.
Protesters similarly stormed and took over the Republican Party headquarters in West Allis, Wis.
Meanwhile, in Gainesville, Fla., a college professor has been charged with misdemeanor battery and criminal mischief after punching the chairman of the local Republican Party in the face outside a campaign headquarters. The professor has been suspended while his school looks into the matter.
And in Knoxville, Tenn., shots have been fired into the local headquarters there. No one was inside, and police are still investigating.
E-mails Praise Edwards
News organizations have been flooded with e-mails claiming John Edwards (search) the winner of this week's vice presidential debate — much as they were flooded with similar e-mails praising John Kerry's performance last week.
The Los Angeles Times, for example, got an e-mail saying, "Edwards beat Cheney in the greatest super-duper debate rout EVER!"
Another said, "Dick Cheney had nothing to share but attacks and excuses."
Those two e-mails — along with many others — were sent before the debate even started.
Abbas: Uprising 'In Its Entirety a Mistake'
Former Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas (search), who resigned his post more than a year ago, now says the Palestinian uprising — known as the intifada — was "in its entirety a mistake and should not have continued."
Abbas, quoted by the Jerusalem Post, says that "after four years of the intifada, ... [Israeli Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon did not fall. On the contrary, he has become the most popular [leader] in the history of Israel..."
"On the same note, all the Palestinian lands are now occupied and vulnerable ... [and] We damaged our relations with the Americans and with Israeli public opinion."
— FOX News' Michael Levine contributed to this report
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