THE TENSION: Open Line Friday

Heads up folks, this news rolls downhill.

When The New York Times runs a story headline, Republican Woes Lead to Feuding by Conservatives, you may think the jig is up for this year's election. However, the conservative core is hard at work countering the effects of leftstream smoke and mirrors.

David Kirkpatrick writes in The Times:

With polls showing Republican control of Congress in jeopardy, conservative leaders are pointing fingers at one other in an increasingly testy circle of blame for potential Republican losses this fall.
“It is one of those rare defeats that will have many fathers,” said David Keene, chairman of the American Conservative Union, expressing the gloomy view of many conservatives about the outcome on Election Day. “And they will all be somebody else.”
On the other hand, well known voices of conservatives communicate a tone that chides pessimistic Republicans for having a case of "premortum." Limbaugh calls out "Cut and Run Conservatives" who feel a non-vote is a punishment to Republicans who are behave in ways other than the Reagan ideal. Limbaugh says:

"Who is the most important, undecided group in this year's election? The terrorists; the Islamofascists. I'm not exaggerating. Al-Qaeda has an interest in the outcome, a life or death interest. Or death and death interest -- however you want to characterize it."
For the most part, Kirkatrick's article discuses only what voices in the Washington elite are saying; those would be the voices like those of David Frum, Bill Kristol, and Newt Gingrich. To get the real story, you have to look outside the Beltway and probe into the what the elites call the fly-over zone between the coasts. Out in the Red States, regular folks understand Mark Foley is just one man and not the party, terrorism is real, the economy is good and unemployment is low.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il expressed regret about his country's nuclear test to a Chinese delegation and said Pyongyang would return to international nuclear talks if Washington backs off a campaign to financially isolate the country, a South Korean newspaper reported Friday, according to AP.

China gave North Korea "a strong message" that it will implement a tough U.N. Security Council resolution punishing Pyongyang for its nuclear test and that it must return to disarmament talks, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Friday after meetings with top Chinese leaders, according to The Washington Post.

"Let's just watch and see what China will do," Rice said, adding that "no one wants to be on the wrong side of the resolution, letting something slip through."
Will multilateral pressure work where one-on-one diplomacy failed?

Charles Hurt, writing in The Washington Times, says Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's prospects for becoming the nation's first female House speaker depend not only on a Democratic victory in November but also on her ability to prevent any Democrats from voting against her -- primarily centrists opposed to her liberal stances.

At least one Democratic House candidate has pledged not to support Mrs. Pelosi, and others in conservative districts have refused to commit their support -- potentially leaving Mrs. Pelosi shy of the 218 votes required for the chamber's top post. At least three other Democrats refused to commit their support to Mrs. Pelosi, whose San Francisco district is far more liberal than the districts that are up for grabs in this election.

However, the other prospect is having one Jack Murtha elected as the speaker.

House Intelligence Chairman Peter Hoekstra has suspended a Democratic staff member because of concerns he may have leaked a high-level intelligence assessment to The New York Times last month, reports AP.

AP reports a CNN executive said Thursday the network's effort to present the "unvarnished truth" about the Iraq war led it to televise portions of a video that shows insurgent snipers targeting U.S. military personnel.

The tape, which came to the network unexpectedly through contact with an insurgent leader, was aired first Wednesday night on "Anderson Cooper 360" and repeated on Thursday. In one instance, the tape shows a uniformed member of the U.S. military milling in a public area with Iraqis. A shot rings out. CNN fades the screen to black before the result — described as a victim falling forward — is visible.

The graphic video of 10 sniper attacks was obtained by CNN -- through intermediaries -- from the Islamic Army of Iraq, one of the most active insurgent organizations in Iraq. From a distance, possibly hundreds of yards away, a sniper watches for his opportunity to strike as a fellow insurgent operates a camera to capture the video for propaganda purposes.