The Always On series illustrates what we’d be talking about on any given day if we were on the air 5 days a week.

• Al Gore, the Tennessee Center for Policy Research, and the City Paper made it onto last night’s The Colbert Report. Colbert: Now, I personally think Gore is nailed here. He’s up against the Tennessee Center for Policy Research. Sure it’s a conservative think tank funded by Republicans that the Dept of Revenue says is “not a legitimate group.” But it says right on their website that they are “non-partisan.” Who are you going to believe”

• The Bush Administration still refuses to take any kind of a meaningful leadership position on environmental issues so the Governor’s of five states are taking matters into their own hands.

• Are we on the verge of another Iran-Contra scandal? Seymour Hersh writes about “The Redirection” to Iran but what about the rumblings he’s hearing about the use of covert funds? Didn’t the Republicans learn that lesson back in the 80’s?

• Education, Schmeducation. Last night the Metro Board of Education unanimously approved a final budget of $571 million with a proposed elimination of 140 custodial and teaching positions.

• Tenncare: Who, what, when, where, and how to define what is medically necessary?

• Results from a new Washington Post/ABC Poll: A narrow majority of Americans favor setting a deadline for the withdrawal of U.S. forces in Iraq (53% - up from 47 percent over the summer and 39 percent in late 2005) and a record number disapprove of the war (64%).

• In Southern cities like Nashville, Atlanta and Charlotte, N.C., racial inequalities in income are closing most rapidly, experts said.

• Moving on up: Leaders and lawmakers of both major parties in Tennessee want to move the presidential primaries up one week.

•Laura Bush lives in an ivory tower. Laura Bush: This is their opportunity to seize the moment—ahhh—to build a really good and stable country. And many parts of Iraq are stable ahh..now. But, of course, what we see on television is the one bombing a day that discourages everybody.

This post was written by Mary Mancini