Sherrod: “We Must Stop The White Man And His Uncle Toms ...”  —  First, a note of heartfelt appreciation for Joan Walsh of Salon.  Her moving post on Charles Sherrod - in defense of his wife, Shirley - provided the inspiration required to dust off my Google skills.

Defining Lynching Down.  —  My apologies for being in Shirley Sherrod overdrive recently, but this piece from Jeffrey Lord nearly made my eyes pop out of my head.  After reviewing the Screws case, Lord concludes that Sherrod lied about Sheriff Claude Screws lynching Bobby Hall …

Afghan War Diary, 2004-2010  —  25th July 2010 5:00 PM EST WikiLeaks has released a document set called the Afghan War Diary (AWD), an extraordinary compendium of over 91,000 reports covering the war in Afghanistan from 2004 to 2010.  —  The reports, while written by soldiers …

Tancredo will run for governor as American Constitution Party candidate  —  Republican Tom Tancredo, right, supported Scott McInnis' gubernatorial bid last November.  Now, Tancredo is saying he will run for governor.  (Matt McClain, Special to the Denver Post)

Senate hopeful Buck regrets criticism of Tea Party birthers  —  Republican U.S. Senate hopeful Ken Buck called Tea Partyers questioning the authenticity of President Barack Obama's birth certificate “dumba—s” to a Democratic operative recording his comments without his permission.

Exclusive: Senator Harry Reid Interview on The Brody File  —  In a wide-ranging exclusive interview with The Brody File, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says Sharron Angle is not “mainstream for Nevada”, takes on his critics and offers a new reason for his low approval numbers.

Oliver Stone: ‘Jewish-Dominated Media’ Prevents Hitler from Being Portrayed ‘in Context’  —  Director Oliver Stone belittled the Holocaust during a shocking interview with the Sunday Times today, claiming that America's focus on the Jewish massacre was a product of the “Jewish domination of the media.”

More States “Competitive” in Terms of Party Identification  —  Democrats lose ground, while Republicans gain  —  PRINCETON, NJ — More states are politically competitive this year than was the case in 2009, as fewer Americans nationwide identify with the Democratic Party.

Deportation of illegal immigrants increases under Obama administration  —  In a bid to remake the enforcement of federal immigration laws, the Obama administration is deporting record numbers of illegal immigrants and auditing hundreds of businesses that blithely hire undocumented workers.

GOP lawmakers optimistic about ‘no’ votes  —  In February, when unpredictable Sen. Jim Bunning single-handedly stalled extensions of unemployment benefits for several days, his Republican colleagues quickly abandoned him, worried that the GOP would be cast as the party against helping people who are out of work.

Fact Checking Bob Schieffer's Call For Better Fact Checking  —  Bob Schieffer of CBS News ‘Face The Nation’ is irrationally exuberant over the Shirley Sherrod debacle; he calls on the New Media to adopt the rigorous fact checking of our diligent Old Media but delivers this baffler:

The Care and Feeding of the Liberal Psyche  —  I have a Netroots Nation wrap piece up at The Daily Beast saying that progressive activists are depressed and the White House hasn't done very much to offer the kind of psychic goodies that keep people's spirits up: … My prescription to cure the malaise is Elizabeth Warren:

Journolist debates making its coordination with Obama explicit  —  Sarah Palin's speech to the 2008 Republican convention impressed more than a few doubters, including even some members of Journolist, an online community for liberal journalists.  —  “This speech is gangbusters,” wrote Ari Melber of the Nation.

The Unpresidential President  —  Barack Obama has managed a rare feat: The longer he holds office, the more he diminishes in stature.  —  From charisma to populism—this is the slippery slope down which Barack Obama has been sliding over the past two years.

What went wrong with stimulus  —  The original stimulus package should've been bigger.  Rep. David Obey, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, says the Treasury Department originally asked for $1.4 trillion.  Sen. Kent Conrad, chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, wanted $1.2 trillion.

Senate Judiciary GOP wants hearing on alleged DOJ bias  —  Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee have requested a hearing to investigate alleged racial bias within the Department of Justice, according to a letter sent Friday to committee chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.).

The Democratic Fisc  —  The White House budget office offers a scorecard on Obamanomics.  —  Democrats have been running Congress for nearly four years, and President Obama has been at the White House for 18 months, so it's not too soon to ask: How's that working out?

Lutherans Offer Warm Welcome to Gay Pastors  —  With a laying on of hands, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America on Sunday welcomed into its fold seven openly gay pastors who had until recently been barred from the church's ministry.  —  The ceremony at St. Mark's Lutheran Church …

President Obama to Appear on ABC's ‘The View’  —  Will Become First Sitting U.S. President to Visit Daytime TV Talk Show  —  President Obama will become the first sitting U.S. president to visit a daytime TV talk show when he tapes an interview Wednesday with ABC's “The View.”

McCain On The Iraq War: ‘We Already Won That One’  —  Earlier this month, law professor Marjorie Cohn and Iraq Veterans Against the War board chairman Geoff Millard attended a reception to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the normalization of relations between the U.S. and Vietnam and spoke with Sen. John McCain (R-AZ).

Who Cooked the Planet?  —  Never say that the gods lack a sense of humor.  I bet they're still chuckling on Olympus over the decision to make the first half of 2010 — the year in which all hope of action to limit climate change died — the hottest such stretch on record.