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 …

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 …

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.

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’?

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.

House Orders Up Three Elite Jets  —  Last year, lawmakers excoriated the CEOs of the Big Three automakers for traveling to Washington, D.C., by private jet to attend a hearing about a possible bailout of their companies.  —  But apparently Congress is not philosophically averse to private air travel …

Cornyn to Obama: Stop With the Enemies Lists  —  The White House call for people to inform on anyone spreading “disinformation about health insurance reform” didn't sit well with a lot of people — Obama isn't running a political campaign anymore, he's supposed to be running the country …

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 …

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 …

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 plans charge for all news websites by next summer  —  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 …

71% Say Obama's Policies Have Driven Up Deficit  —  Seventy-one percent (71%) of U.S. voters say President Obama's policies have increased the size of the federal deficit, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.  —  Only five percent (5%) say the president's policies …

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 …

CNN Refusing To Run Health Care Ad Critical Of Insurance Industry  —  What on earth is going on at CNN?  —  The network — already taking criticism for declining to run an ad criticizing Lou Dobbs — is now refusing to run an ad nationally criticizing the insurance industry, the group that tried to place the ad tells me.

Liasson: ‘Cash for Clunkers’ program ‘is like a mini-Katrina.’  —  Last night, Fox News aired a clip of a woman at a Philadelphia town hall meeting over the weekend berating Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA) about health care reform.  “What I see is a bureaucratic nightmare, senator. ...

Boxer: Protesters too well dressed to be sincere  —  Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) appeared on Hardball last night in support of the Left's attempt to discredit the people showing up to townhalls in protest of ObamaCare.  Boxer says she can tell that they're fakes, because they're too well dressed.

MSM: It Wouldn't Kill You To Give Noah Shachtman His Due  —  On Monday, when we were talking about Ian Shapira's gripe with Gawker excerpting his Post material too heavily, I noted that mainstream media outlets have a widespread and unfortunate tendency to refuse crediting any rival outlet …

Woman Who Tried to Kill Ford to Be Released Aug. 16  —  Manson Follower ‘Squeaky’ Fromme to Get Out of Prison  —  Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme, the Charles Manson cult follower who tried to kill President Ford, is scheduled to be released from prison next week.

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!

Commentary: Huge risks in Iran sanctions  —  Hamid Dabashi is the author of “Iran: A People Interrupted.”  He is Hagop Kevorkian Professor of Iranian Studies and Comparative Literature at Columbia University in New York.  His Web site is http://www.hamiddabashi.com/.

The Hunt For Russian Aggression  —  The report that two Russian attack subs appeared off the eastern seaboard in international waters has been an occasion for all kinds of speculation.  While the subs' appearance is remarkable mostly for how rare and unusual it is for the Russian navy to send …

Obama Supporters Vs. “The Mob”  —  When Vice President Joe Biden appears in Detroit today to unveil $2.4 billion in grants for electric vehicle projects, members of Organizing for America may be there to cheer him on: OFA emailed its members in Michigan last night urging them to “counter mob rule …

Joker Obama Flyers Show Up At George Washington University & Sioux Falls, South Dakota (Updated)  —  Supposedly, prior to yesterday, the Joker Obama posters had only shown up in LA and Atlanta.  Well, now a few hundred have shown up at George Washington University.  Here are a few pics I was emailed yesterday.