The Christian Science Monitor -"Is my money safe?" That's question No. 1 for many Americans today. And it goes to the moral heart of the global financial crisis: lack of trust.

The Christian Science Monitor - The McCain campaign may want to be careful with its charge that Barack Obama was once"pals" with a 1960s American terrorist. Whoever is the next president faces a difficult choice in the Afghanistan war: Should the US support possible talks with the Taliban, pals of Al Qaeda?

The Christian Science Monitor - At the height of the bloody suppression by the Burma (Myanmar) regime of protesting monks last year, the heated question was whether the international community should intervene. In response, a well-known Chinese professor told an American newspaper"China has used tanks to kill people on Tiananmen Square. It is Myanmar's sovereign right to kill their own people, too."

HuffingtonPost.com - Who is Todd Palin?

The Nation - The Nation -- After a week of sowing the seeds of hatred and division -- so successfully that even he was embarrassed by the excesses of his supporters -- Republican presidential candidate John McCain got called on the carpet by Georgia Congressman John Lewis.

The Nation - The Nation -- Poor John McCain.

RealClearPolitics.com - Over the last few days, the national tracking polls, for the first time in a month (or since the Lehman Brothers collapse triggered the current stage in the financial crisis), have shown a small movement away from Barack Obama and toward John McCain.

RealClearPolitics.com - Pennsylvania yesterday. Wisconsin today. Iowa tomorrow. What in the heck are Steve Schmidt& Co. doing? Do they know something the rest of us don't? Or are they simply flailing about, searching for a toe-hold in a Kerry state that they might be possibly be able to flip to offset losses and still make 270?

The Christian Science Monitor - Stabilizing Bolivia requires goodwill and cooperationRegarding the Oct. 7 Opinion piece,"Boiling point in Bolivia": Author Seth Kaplan recommends a heavy-handed course of action that would further destabilize the Andean nation.

The Christian Science Monitor - At the time, it was perhaps the biggest bailout in US history. Today, one month later, the federal takeover of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac has been all but forgotten in the drama of the global credit crunch.

James Kilpatrick - The Court of Peeves, Crotchets& Irks resumes its autumn assizes with a motion from Rebecca Bouldin of Columbus, Ohio. She seeks an injunction against"looking to," as in,"Our agency is looking to expand our network." She also asks the court to ban"waiting on," as in,"We are waiting on him for his answer."

Cynthia Tucker -"The Puritan ethos (save first and enjoy later) was not abandoned. It was merely overwhelmed by the massive power of modern merchandising." --"The Affluent Society," John Kenneth Galbraith

David Shribman - It is one of the great American stories, involving three great Americans and perhaps the most valuable piece of real estate in the United States. The principals were Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt along with Henry Adams, the fabled historian and intellectual. The setting was Adams' home right across the park from the White House.

Michelle Malkin - Republicans don't need to dress up for Halloween this year. They're scaring the pants off Barack Obama's followers by their mere presence. Anything they say, wear or do provokes instant cries of"RAAAAACISM!" Wink, blink or think critical thoughts about Obama? You're a bigot!

Linda Chavez - Was John McCain playing the race card when he referred to Barack Obama as"that one" in Tuesday's presidential debate? Obama's campaign and its echo chamber in the media surely want us to think so. Within seconds, the campaign was sending out e-mails to reporters drawing attention to the phrase, and the media were quick to take up the charge.

Brent Bozell III - Just like Bill Maher,"Family Guy" creator Seth MacFarlane is discovering that atheist ridicule of Jesus Christ and Christianity draws nothing but yawns from today's media elite. If you want an angry media mob, you need merely spit out"Barack Hussein Obama" at a McCain rally and watch the Guardians of Social Taste bring out the torches and pitchforks. But mocking Jesus? Ho hum.

Pat Buchanan - Two weeks after the Republican convention in St. Paul, Minn., John McCain and Sarah Palin were striding forward toward victory.

Georgie Anne Geyer - WASHINGTON -- The real"man of the hour" at the latest presidential debate was the man who wasn't there. Oh, he was lurking about, hiding behind the stage curtains and troubling people's minds, as we used to say in the Midwest. Sarah Palin, also not seen, was nevertheless devilishly busy researching every moment of the man's checkered past so she could continue to herald his"friendship" with Barack Obama.

Ann Coulter - If Sarah Palin had made just one of the wildly inaccurate statements smugly uttered by Sen. Joe Biden in last week's vice presidential debate, there would have been 3-inch headlines in newspapers across America. (I can almost hear Katie Couric asking me,"Which newspapers?")

Mona Charen - In honor of the Jewish New Year, which reaches its culmination on Yom Kippur, a solemn day of fasting and repentance that falls this year on Oct. 9, I'd like to take a moment to recognize the open Jew-baiting that is enthusiastically enjoyed by our nation's leading newspaper.