A Clear and Present Danger To the American Left  —  Notes from the convention:  —  Drafts of John McCain's acceptance speech have been bopping around the inside of the campaign for at least a few days, and a question is whether or how much it will be changed to account for the hurricane in New Orleans and the Gulf coast.

Noonan, Murphy trash Palin on hot mic: 'It's over'  —  After a segment with NBC's Chuck Todd ended today, Republican consultant Mike Murphy and Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan were caught on a live mike ridiculing the choice of Sarah Palin.  —  “It's over,” said Noonan …

Excerpts from Palin's Speech  —  This just in...

Awful: Peggy Noonan, Mike Murphy caught on open mike about Palin  —  I wonder how this little interstitial made its way from MSNBC to TPM.  Oh well.  Fox nailed Jesse Jackson talking about Obama this way, so turnabout's fair play.  —  Simply awful, not only for Palin as a vote of no confidence …

Peggy Noonan, Mike Murphy Caught On Tape Disparaging Palin Choice: “It's Over,” “Political Bulls**t,” “Gimmicky”  —  Wall Street Journal columnist and former Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan and former John McCain adviser, Time columnist, and MSNBC contributor Mike Murphy were caught …

Angry Amateurs  —  The story of the day out here in Minneapolis is the McCain campaign's war against the press.  This has been building for some time.  Those of us who have criticized the candidate—and especially those of us who enjoyed good relations with McCain in the past …

Palin E-Mails Show Intense Interest in Trooper's Discipline  —  Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the running mate for GOP presidential candidate John McCain, wrote e-mails that harshly criticized Alaska state troopers for failing to fire her former brother-in-law and ridiculed an internal affairs investigation into his conduct.

The War Against the Press  —  I've talked to many political professionals over the years who were mad at the media, or me in particular.  —  But I've never quite had a conversation like the one Tuesday night with Steve Schmidt.  —  He was absolutely furious as he unloaded on the journalistic community …

“Another Incredible Allegation” — What The Enquirer Is Saying About Palin  —  Concerning the allegations in the new National Enquirer of an extramarital affair involving Sarah Palin, I called the tabloid this afternoon and asked for a copy of the new story.

Clinton aides: Palin treatment sexist  —  ST. PAUL, Minn. — Sarah Palin found some unlikely allies Wednesday as leading academics and even former top aides to Hillary Rodham Clinton endorsed the Republican charge that John McCain's running mate has been subject to a sexist double standard by the news media and Democrats.