Charlotte zings Reid from beyond the grave  —  Election 2010 has just heard from a member of the Silent Majority.  —  You know, from a deceased person.  —  Chances are good you never met Charlotte McCourt during her 84 years, but I'm willing to bet you'll be hearing about her in the coming days …

EXCLUSIVE: Bristol Palin, Levi Johnston Are Engaged!  —  Bristol Palin and Levi Johnston reveal exclusively in the new Us Weekly that they are getting married.  —  And, they tell Us Weekly, former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin has been kept in the dark about their plans ... until now.

House Dems to vent frustrations over midterm strategy to Obama  —  House Democrats will vent their frustrations with the White House's political strategy during a Wednesday meeting with President Obama.  —  The session comes amid an uproar in the House over comments made by White House press …

Tea Party billboard covered up in Mason City  —  Billboard featuring President Obama being covered up today in Mason City.  —  A billboard in Mason City that pictured President Obama flanked by Nazi leader Adolph Hitler and communist leader Vladimir Lenin has been papered over this morning.

Time for Obama to make sacrifices  —  Later this week, the White House budget office is due to produce its midyear report on the nation's fiscal health.  —  If history is any guide, the administration will try to paint a rosy picture, but the truth is already obvious: Washington under President Barack Obama …

Storm over possible plagiarism in McInnis writings escalates  —  A new example of possible plagiarism by Scott McInnis surfaced Tuesday as the Republican gubernatorial candidate faced calls to repay $300,000 he received for plagiarized essays on water that he submitted as “original works.”

Journalism Needs Government Help  —  Media budgets have been decimated as the Internet facilitates a communications revolution.  More public funding for news-gathering is the answer.  —  We have entered a momentous period in the history of the American press.

Megyn Kelly's minstrel show  —  I don't really get a chance to watch TV in Unalaska, and the one thing I miss is Megyn Kelly of Fox News.  The last week or so of her work — her one woman crusade against the New Black Panther Party — has been truly riveting television.

How Bad is the Job Situation, Really?  —  (cross-posted at ProgressiveFix.com and FrumForum.com)  —  When it comes to economic conditions, I'm generally a glass-three-quarters-full kind of guy.  Take unemployment.  Quick—what was the risk in 2008 that an American worker would experience at least one bout of unemployment?

President Obama, White House: Al Qaeda Is Racist  —  In an interview earlier today with the South African Broadcasting Corporation to air in a few hours, President Obama disparaged al Qaeda and affiliated groups' willingness to kill Africans in a manner that White House aides say was an argument that the terrorist groups are racist.

NBC, CBS refuse ground zero mosque ad  —  CBS and NBC have refused to air a provocative ad from the confrontational, well-funded National Republican Trust PAC that calls on Americans to oppose the building of a mosque two blocks from the World Trade Center site.

VP Favorable Ratings: Gore Down, Cheney Up, Biden Flat  —  Americans more negative than positive toward Gore, Cheney  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Americans' current views of former Vice President Al Gore have become significantly more negative compared with three years ago, and are among the worst for him in more than a decade.

WHEN AN ENTIRE POLITICAL PARTY MOVES TO BIZARRO WORLD.... Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) probably didn't realize the impact his remarks would have.  The right-wing Arizonan was asked on Fox News how his party would pay for $678 billion in tax cuts for the wealthy, which Republicans are currently demanding.

The Reeducation of Rand Paul  —  Soon after Rand Paul won Kentucky's GOP Senate primary in May, his campaign was rocked — not by an affair or a kamikaze YouTube clip, but by his own textbook libertarianism.  In a series of post-election interviews, Paul criticized parts of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 …

Developments in Financial Markets and the Federal Reserve's Balance Sheet  —  The Manager of the System Open Market Account (SOMA) reported on developments in domestic and foreign financial markets during the period since the Committee met on April 27-28, 2010.

CBS News Poll: 7/13/10  —  Complete Data and Questions on the CBS News Poll on Obama, The Economy, Health Care and Other Issues  —  cbs_poll_071310  —  MORE FROM OPINION: CBS NEWS POLLS

Libtalker Bill Press Blames ‘Spoiled Americans’ For Obama's Poll Collapse  —  IT'S YOUR FAULT  —  Lefty Meltdown Over WaPo Poll, Libtalker Lashes Out  —  Are you ready to accept your share of the blame for Obama's collapsing poll numbers?  If only “spoiled Americans” …

Nobody Understands The Liquidity Trap (Wonkish)  —  Sigh.  In an otherwise useful article about divisions in the Fed, Jon Hilsenrath says this: … Sorry, but that's totally wrong.  The question is whether, at the zero bound, the Fed has the ability to increase aggregate demand — full stop.

Climategate and the Big Green Lie  —  By way of preamble, let me remind you where I stand on climate change.  I think climate science points to a risk that the world needs to take seriously.  I think energy policy should be intelligently directed towards mitigating this risk.  I am for a carbon tax.

Anybody Got A Plan?  —  Democrats in Congress wield the power of the majority and the advantages of incumbency but they're also facing a potential trouncing at the polls in November.  —  So how are congressional Democrats planning to use the tools still at their disposal to hold on to their majorities?