Andrew Breitbart Unleashes A Torrent Of Invective Against Sen. Ted Kennedy's Legacy On Twitter  —  Early this morning, news broke that Sen. Ted Kennedy had passed away after serving in the U.S. Senate for nearly 50 years.  Soon after, conservative commentator Andrew Breitbart began …

Enzi gets earful on health care plan  —  GILLETTE - Sen. Mike Enzi attracted some rare criticism from his hometown of Gillette over his participation in bipartisan health care negotiations in the U.S. Senate.  —  About 500 people packed the cavernous Campbell County High School South Campus commons area …

Romney for Senate?  Succeeding Kennedy Could Help in 2012  —  By Peter Roff, Thomas Jefferson Street blog  —  Though it may be hard to see at first, the passing of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts may have a profound impact on 2012's race for the GOP presidential nomination.

Dominick Dunne: 1925-2009  —  Dominick Dunne, a best-selling author and special correspondent for Vanity Fair, died today at his home in Manhattan.  He was 83.  —  The cause of death was bladder cancer, said his son Griffin Dunne.  —  Dunne—who joined Vanity Fair in 1984 as a contributing editor …

China admits death row organ use  —  China is trying to move away from the use of executed prisoners as the major source of organs for transplants.  —  According to the China Daily newspaper, executed prisoners currently provide two-thirds of all transplant organs.

Christie Faces Questions Over '05 Traffic Tickets  —  On a Saturday night in 2005 Chris Christie was issued tickets for speeding and driving an unregistered and uninsured vehicle.  A tow truck showed up at the scene but Christie was allowed to drive the vehicle with his wife …

The Coming Air Force Crisis  —  David Petraeus makes a joke: … As Robert Farley says, this kind of thing is a pretty typical ground forces joke but “the AFA whining reveals a certain insecurity.”  —  It's worth observing that this issue is going to become much more severe in the years to come.

Palin comes out in support of Fox's Beck over boycott  —  WASHINGTON — Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is jumping into the fray over Fox News talk show host Glenn Beck, whose assertion last month that President Barack Obama is “a racist” led to a boycott of the companies advertising on his show …

President Obama to deliver eulogy at Kennedy's funeral  —  Senator Kennedy's funeral is scheduled to be held at The Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Boston's Mission Hill section.  —  By Bryan Bender, Michael Paulson, Matt Viser, and Noah Bierman, Globe Staff

New projection: 2.3 million fewer people working in 2010  —  Yesterday the Congressional Budget Office released their “summer update” publication, in which they update their baseline budget and economic projections for changes in the economy and legislation enacted so far this year.

Tax Court Rejects Taxpayer's Attempt to Use Geithner's TurboTax Defense  —  The Tax Court yesterday rejected a taxpayer's attempt to use the TurboTax defense successfully employed by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.  Hopson v. Commissioner, T.C. Summ.  Op.  2009-130 (Aug. 25, 2009) (citations omitted):

California holds a garage sale — with cars autographed by Schwarzenegger  —  In the latest attempt to raise money, the state is selling thousands of surplus items on EBay, Craigslist and in a warehouse auction.  —  Reporting from Sacramento - Does Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger have a deal for you.

The babies born in hospital corridors: Bed shortage forces 4,000 mothers to give birth in lifts, offices and hospital toilets  —  Thousands of women are having to give birth outside maternity wards because of a lack of midwives and hospital beds.  —  The lives of mothers and babies are being put …

A Sigh of Relief From the CIA  —  “Let's get on with it.”  That was a signature line of the late CIA director Richard Helms, the savviest spymaster this country has produced.  And it's the right watchword for the agency as it tries to refocus on its core intelligence mission after a ruinous foray into the …

Hopefully I am mistaken!  —  I read with astonishment weekend news agency reports on the internal politics of the United States, where a systematic debilitation of President Barack Obama's influence is evident.  His surprising electoral victory would not have been possible without …

“We have to go into the despair and go beyond it, by working and doing for somebody else, by using it for something else."  —  The title is a quote by Elie Wiesel and I use it because I've spent the last several weeks trying to write this post but failing, especially when it came to the title.

AARP Poll: 8 in 10 Back Public Option  —  A new survey commissioned by the AARP asks respondents to what degree they support or oppose “[s]tarting a new federal health insurance plan that individuals could purchase if they can't afford private plans offered to them” — a public option, in other words.

'08 race worker held in damage to Colorado Democratic HQ  —  One of two people suspected of shattering 11 windows Tuesday morning at the state Democratic Party headquarters has an arrest record and a history of helping a Democratic political candidate, public records show.

The American Way Of Torture  —  Greg Sargent notes another document secured by the ACLU.  (Yes, Greenwald is right that it's bizarre the media in this country are second to the ACLU in demanding information from the government.)  This document gives a detailed account of the torture techniques used …

Kennedy and Chappaquiddick—in the Obits  —  It's always fascinating to see where obituaries first bring up what might be called the biggest (sometimes single) black mark on a notable person's life.  Just last week we looked at when news outlets first mentioned the Plame case in covering the death of Robert Novak.

Public Choice and Moral Imagination  —  I wrote the other day about how over time I've “come to be increasingly baffled by the high degree cynicism and immorality displayed in big-time politics.”  —  Some right-of-center bloggers, including Damon Root at Reason and Ilya Somin …

Their Own Worst Enemy  —  Democrats have no one to blame for the health care debacle but themselves.  —  With the political prognosis for health care reform turning from poor to likely terminal, many of my fellow Democrats are grieving through grievance.  They're lashing out at friends and foes alike …

Successor plan gains steam  —  Speaker Robert A. DeLeo ok with giving Gov. Patrick appoint power  —  House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo has given his behind-closed-doors blessing to an effort to hand Gov. Deval Patrick the power to appoint a temporary successor to U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, sources say.