The Fall Guy  —  CIA Director Leon Panetta getting sacked by his own team.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  In the game of political football that is today national security, spare a thought for CIA Director Leon Panetta.  Quarterbacking is hard enough without getting sacked by your own team.

The Great Gradualist  —  In the days since Ted Kennedy's death, the news programs have shown and re-shown the unforgettable ending of his 1980 Democratic convention speech — the passage from Tennyson and the beautiful final lines: “The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die.”

UPDATED: As boycott continues, Glenn Beck's audience swells  —  An advertising boycott against Fox News host Glenn Beck has succeeded in keeping most major sponsors from running commercials on his show even as the controversial commentator's viewership has grown.

Crist picks George LeMieux to fill Senate seat  —  Gov. Charlie Crist turned to his political shadow and former chief of staff, George LeMieux, to stand in as Florida's U.S. senator until Crist can win the seat himself in the 2010 election.  —  Crist entered the hushed Senate chambers …

Banks ‘Too Big to Fail’ Have Grown Even Bigger  —  Behemoths Born of the Bailout Reduce Consumer Choice, Tempt Corporate Moral Hazard  —  When the credit crisis struck last year, federal regulators pumped tens of billions of dollars into the nation's leading financial institutions …

Legislature must act quickly on interim Senate appointment  —  THE DEATH Tuesday of Senator Edward M. Kennedy puts Massachusetts at half strength in the US Senate at a precarious time.  Massachusetts lawmakers will only worsen the situation if they fail to take steps to assure a timely replacement.

Gutless Cowards  —  Observe the man who undoubtedly receives medicare speaking in an Iowa town hall meeting with Senator Charles Grassley earlier this week: … Observe that Grassley says NOTHING to dissuade the gentlemen from his thesis or desire.  —  This has happened again, and again, and again in the last month.

‘Post’ poll: Only 4% of Jewish Israelis think Obama is pro-Israel  —  The number of Israelis who see US President Barack Obama's policies as pro-Israel has fallen to four percent, according to a Smith Research poll taken this week on behalf of The Jerusalem Post.

OOPS!  CHARLIE FORGOT THIS $1M HOUSE  —  REALTY BITES TAX-THEM-NOT-ME RANGEL  —  WASHINGTON — Rep. Charles Rangel failed to report as much as $1.3 million in outside income — including up to $1 million for a Harlem building sale — on financial-disclosure forms he filed between 2002 and 2006, according to newly amended records.

Bush's Search Policy For Travelers Is Kept  —  Obama Officials Say Oversight Will Grow  —  The Obama administration will largely preserve Bush-era procedures allowing the government to search — without suspicion of wrongdoing — the contents of a traveler's laptop computer …

‘Reading Rainbow’ Reaches Its Final Chapter … For 26 years, Reading Rainbow host LeVar Burton (left) shepherded kids through the exciting world of books.  The show, which fostered a love of reading, was the third longest-running program in PBS history, outlasted only by Sesame Street and Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.

Till Debt Does Its Part  —  So new budget projections show a cumulative deficit of $9 trillion over the next decade.  According to many commentators, that's a terrifying number, requiring drastic action — in particular, of course, canceling efforts to boost the economy and calling off health care reform.

A Strategy to Save Obamacare, But at What Cost  —  Obamacare Version 1.0 is dead.  The 1,000-page monstrosity that emerged in various editions from Congress was done in by widespread national revulsion not just at its expense and intrusiveness but also at the mendacity with which it is being sold.

Dealing With Being the Health Care ‘Villains’  —  LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Max Shireman says that when he looks in the mirror he does not see the monster the politicians have made him out to be.  —  Sure, he could stand to lose a few pounds.  And there was that speeding ticket last year for going 40 in a 30-mile-an-hour zone.

SarahPAC taken to task by feds for illegal contributions  —  OOPS: Mistakes on political donations blamed on software.  —  ldemer@adn.com  —  Former Gov. Sarah Palin's political action committee gave excessive contributions to two well-known Republicans and also is facing demands …

MAKING THE PUBLIC OPTION OPTIONAL.... Former House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R) of Texas has been one of the leading right-wing agitators against health care reform.  It was a little odd, then, to see Armey accidentally tell The Economist that the public option may be a good idea.

Hindsight  —  Is there anything Obama could have done differently to avoid the current health care mess?  —  The pundits are busy filing their reports on how President Obama blew it on health care reform.  And while the health care fight is far from over—I remain convinced the Democrats will pass a bill …

Burton defends new vacation  —  After a mid-August trip to America's national parks and a weeklong vacation on Martha's Vineyard, President Obama plans ...  ... to take a little more time away from the office next week.  —  Obama will head to Camp David on Wednesday, Sept. 2 …

Some Roman Catholic Bishops Assail Health Plan  —  WASHINGTON — The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has been lobbying for three decades for the federal government to provide universal health insurance, especially for the poor.  Now, as President Obama tries to rally Roman Catholics …

Q&A: Palin for president in 2012?  Flip a coin, dad says  —  Chuck Heath is in Idaho campaigning for GOP congressional candidate Vaughn Ward.  —  Political newcomer Vaughn Ward basked in some star power as former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's father and father-in-law began a three-day swing …

Sunspots Do Really Affect Weather Patterns, Say Scientists  —  A new study in the journal Science by a team of international of researchers led by the National Center for Atmospheric Research have found that the sunspot cycle has a big effect on the earth's weather.