Saddam Detox?

And now some fresh pickings from the grapevine:

Saddam Detox?

When the Red Cross visited Saddam Hussein (search) last weekend, he complained .. that as the former president of a large country he is entitled to better living conditions. That according to Iraqi newspaper Al-Mashreq.

Saddam, once accustomed to moving among his 11 palaces, is now living in a cell, of course. He told the Red Cross he gets his meals on time and had no other specific complaints.

The Iraqi newspaper, translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute, also says Saddam seemed to be suffering from drug and alcohol withdrawal.

Though the paper cited no evidence, two weeks ago, a former Iraqi official, Issam Rashid Walid, told European radio that  "Saddam was heavily into drugs, starting in 1959 with [marijuana]. And then when he seized power [in 1979], the former official said, he used heroin at times.... and it made him lose his mind."

Independent Mistake?

CBS has reported that President Bush (search) is in trouble with "many Republican voters [who] are furious" about the "lingering situation in Iraq and the massive job losses." But a new CBS poll -- out a week before that report -- shows 85 percent of Republicans approve of President Bush's handling of Iraq and 77 percent approve of his handling of the economy.

So where might the idea Republicans were furious have come from? Well, the New York Times this past weekend published a story in which it quoted George Meagher, a Republican, the Times said, who  threw his "heart and soul" into the 2000 Bush campaign but is now "dissatisfied" with the administration.

Turns out, though, Meagher's not a Republican -- he's an Independent -- as the Times itself had identified him in another story three weeks earlier. That has now been corrected.

Debt Details

Remember last night we told you Reverend Al Sharpton (search) paid himself $30,000 in travel expenses from his presidential campaign? This even though he still owes his staffers hundreds of thousands of dollars in pay and the campaign is more than $485,000 in debt.

Well, the Federal Election Commission is now giving Sharpton two weeks to explain problems with the way he reported his debt, large payments made to him personally, and excessive campaign donations shown in recent campaign finance reports.

Last year Sharpton received at least $4,000 from a single donor. Campaign-finance rules say an individual can give only $2,000 per election. According to the New York Post, he could face a substantial fine.

— FOX News' Michael Levine contributed to this report