William Jefferson verdict: Guilty on 11 of 16 counts  —  ALEXANDRIA, VA. - Former Democratic Congressman William Jefferson was found guilty of 11 of 16 corruption charges today by a federal jury.  —  The jury of eight women and four men returned a guilty verdict following five days of deliberation.

Let the Big Dog Run  —  When I look at the incorrigible Kim Jong-il, an insult hurled by the incomparable Billy Wilder comes to mind.  —  Leon Wieseltier, the literary editor of The New Republic, was having dinner with Wilder years ago when the subject of Swifty Lazar, the very famous and very short agent, came up.

Washington Post Kills ‘Mouthpiece’ Video Series  —  The Washington Post has brought down the curtain on “Mouthpiece Theater.”  —  Executive Editor Marcus Brauchli killed the satirical video series Wednesday after harsh criticism of a joke about Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton …

Think Progress, MSNBC ‘Manufacture’ a Story With Putative Smoking Gun ‘Mob’ Memo  —  When the “manufactured” outrage the Left is trying to demonize lines up so inconveniently with public polling, it's sometimes necessary to create evidence for the “manufactured” storyline.

GOP turns tables on Democrats  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — National Republicans turned the tables on their political counterparts Wednesday by redirecting angry telephone calls coming into their switchboard to the Democratic National Committee.  —  The DNC released a Web video early …

Furor Over an Obama Puff Piece  —  Student Barack Obama in a 1980 photo shoot at Occidental College.  (Lisa Jack/Getty Images)  —  It was only a matter of time before someone combined a certain memorable image of a young future president with a jokey twist on his campaign slogan …

Lynette ‘Squeaky’ Fromme to be released  —  (CNN) — The president she once pointed a gun at has been dead for nearly three years, and her longtime idol and leader, Charles Manson, remains in prison.  —  However, Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme is about to get her first taste of real freedom in more than three decades.

Conservativism's Next Generation: Young, Dumb, and Full of...?  —  Remember these guys?  —  Well... I ran into them at the Young America's Foundation convention right after Gingrich's speech.  Of course, Gingrich lionized Reagan.  He's their legend.  And they named an airport after him!

Dem Congressman's Office: His Life Has Been Threatened Over Health Care Bill  —  Rep. Brad Miller (D-NC) will not be hosting any town hall events this August — instead, he's making himself available to constituents for one-on-one meetings about health care reform — and at least part of the reason is this …

Surprise: Mary Robinson wasn't vetted  —  In The Corner, Tevi Troy reports that Mary Robinson, whose selection as a Medal of Freedom recipient has caused quite a controversy, was not properly vetted. … Who recommended her?  Chas Freeman?  —  And why would backing down ‘make things worse’?

A First Hand View of a Raucous Town Hall Meeting  —  ABC's Steven Portnoy reports:  —  There were no lobbyist-funded buses in the parking lot of Mardela Middle and High School on Tuesday evening, and the hundreds of Eastern Maryland residents who packed the school's auditorium loudly refuted …

Parties cry foul over spate of homestate showdowns  —  Congress's normally lax August recess is shaping up to be a tumultuous time this year as a deluge of protesters, fueled by political parties and interest groups, greet lawmakers in their home states.  —  The showdowns between lawmakers …

Lessons learned from: A) cash for clunkers B) the town halls C) the Clinton rescue mission  —  The “shout downs” organized by the Republican right meet one of the classic definition of “fascist” tactics—defined as using shouting and disruption to deprive the civil and respectful debate of ideas.

About half of U.S. mortgages seen underwater by 2011  —  NEW YORK (Reuters) - The percentage of U.S. homeowners who owe more than their house is worth will nearly double to 48 percent in 2011 from 26 percent at the end of March, portending another blow to the housing market, Deutsche Bank said on Wednesday.

Freshman Democratic lawmaker ‘physically assaulted at a local event’ by activists.  —  As lobbyist-run groups encourage conservative activists to “rattle” members of Congress at local town hall events, Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA), the president of the freshman Democratic class has revealed that …

St. Martin's to Publish Mitt Romney Book  —  Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts and an early likely contender for the 2012 Republican nomination for President, has signed a deal with St. Martin's Press to publish his book next March.  —  Titled “No Apology: The Case for American Greatness …

Obama Plans to Use More Than Bombs and Bullets to Fight Terrorism  —  The U.S. government must fundamentally redefine the struggle against terrorism, replacing the “war on terror” with a campaign combining all facets of national power to defeat the enemy, John O. Brennan …

Birthers of a Nation & The Paranoid Style of American Liberalism  —  I think Jamie Kirchik has the politics pretty much exactly right.  Eugene Robinson, Joe Conason and E.J. Dionne, in addition to all the politicians and bloggers Jamie mentions, have been pumping the birther story in order …

Murdoch to charge for all news sites  —  Times and Sun readers to pay as loss-making Murdoch declares end to free-for-all  —  The billionaire media mogul Rupert Murdoch suffered the indignity of seeing his global empire make a huge financial loss yesterday and promptly pledged to shake …

U.S. to Reform Policy on Detention for Immigrants  —  The Obama administration intends to announce an ambitious plan on Thursday to overhaul the much-criticized way the nation detains immigration violators, trying to transform it from a patchwork of jail and prison cells to what its new chief called a “truly civil detention system.”

Ron Paul son Rand joins Ky. GOP race for Senate  —  FRANKFORT, Ky. — Rand Paul, the son of 2008 presidential candidate Ron Paul, ended months of speculation Wednesday by saying he will run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated next year by fellow Republican Jim Bunning.