ACORN Prostitution Scandal: California Here We Come!  —  **This is a Part I of the ACORN San Bernardino exposé.  Updates to follow...  [There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed.  Visit the blog entry to see the video.]

Obama Calls Kanye a ‘Jackass’ — The Audio  —  TMZ has obtained the audiotape of President Barack Obama calling Kanye West a “jackass” for hijacking Taylor Swift's acceptance speech during the VMAs.  —  The audio was recorded just before Obama went on camera to do an interview with CNBC.

Tape shows beating on bus of Belleville West student  —  This video frame grab shows one student attacking another while on a bus ride to school at Belleville West High School on Monday.  Editor's note: The underage victim's face has been blurred to protect his identity.

Questions about Bush's conservative principles  —  How many times during the last eight years did you hear that George W. Bush was a dangerous right-wing extremist?  Probably too many to count.  —  What you heard less often were expressions of the deep reservations some conservatives felt about Bush's governing philosophy.

UPDATED: Rockefeller Says “No Way” on Baucus Framework  —  Senator Jay Rockefeller, speaking Tuesday afternoon on a conference call co-sponsored with the Campaign for America's Future:  —  I have sat besides Max Baucus for 22 years on the Finance Committee. ...  I'm probably one of his best friend among Democrats.

Congressman Suggests People Will Don ‘White Hoods’ If Wilson Not Rebuked  —  In an obvious reference to the Ku Klux Klan, Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., says that people will put on “white hoods and ride through the countryside” if emerging racist attitudes, which he says were subtly supported by Rep. Joe Wilson, are not rebuked.

Wilson's wife: “I said 'Joe, who's the nut who hollered out, “You lie”?'”  —  The latest entry in Rep. Joe Wilson's energetic online efforts to reclaim control of his narrative, and raise a bundle off his new high profile, is an unusually entertaining testimonial from his wife.

The Paranoid Center  —  On June 10, 2009, an elderly man entered the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, raised a rifle, and opened fire, killing a security guard named Stephen Tyrone Johns.  Two other guards shot back, wounding the gunman before he could end any more lives.

Election 2010: Nevada Senate Race  —  Harry Reid Trails Republican Challengers in 2010 Election  —  In what is currently a difficult political climate for Democrats, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid trails two potential Republican challengers seeking to unseat him as he faces reelection next year in Nevada.

Devices “Useful Primarily for the Stimulation of Human Genital Organs" Going to the Supreme Court?  Friday, the Alabama Supreme Court upheld (by a 7-2 vote, in 1568 Montgomery Highway, Inc. v. City of Hoover) a state statute that criminalizes, among other things, “knowingly distribut[ing] …

Conservatives score string of scoops  —  The right-wing media's single-minded focus on a handful of targets over the past months and its success in pushing those stories into the mainstream have underscored the sharp divide between traditional news organizations and the bloggers …

Post Magazine Killed ‘Depressing’ Story  —  On one point, there is no dispute: Katharine Weymouth did not like the subject of a Washington Post Magazine story that was headed toward publication and the piece wound up being killed.  —  Weymouth, publisher of The Post, told the story's author …

Glenn Beck's Saturday Ratings  —  Update: We had the wrong numbers for Beck's special in an earlier post.  New numbers below.  Beck was up triple digits from the previous week.  —  The 1pmET hour of Glenn Beck's 9/12 special drew 2.34M Total Viewers and 608K in A25-54 demo …

Pete Stark won't pee on your leg  —  Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif), was getting the tea party treatment at a meeting with seniors in Fremont when a 65-plus guy in the audience launched into a diatribe about the public option.  —  The man, to the hoots and hollers of his compatriots in the crowd …

Simple Arithmetic  —  This week we put out our annual benchmark survey of employer health coverage and costs.  Two numbers jumped off the pages.  —  The first number was the average cost of a family health insurance policy in 2009: $13,375.  To put that number in context, if you are an employer …

Media Malpractice: Tom Brokaw's World Implodes  —  Tom Brokaw.  —  With the passing of Walter Cronkite, Mr. Brokaw is considered perhaps the new “dean” of journalism.  As such the former NBC News anchor is periodically summoned forth to assess the current world, an occasion …

So far, Obama's failing miserably  —  When he ran for president, George W. Bush promised to be a modest reformer at home and a humble representative of the United States on the world stage.  The Al Qaeda-organized-and-funded terrorist attacks of eight years ago changed all that.

Obama Gets 56% Job Approval Amid Deficit Concerns, Poll Shows  —  Sept. 16 (Bloomberg) — President Barack Obama earns high marks for his performance even as Americans express anxiety about his domestic policies.  One possible reason: Republicans aren't offering an alternative.