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 …

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.

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)

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 …

Raw Journolist emails on 'Palin's Downs child'  —  I actually hesitate to bring this up...  But is anyone following this:  —  Adam Serwer  —  Dylan Matthews  —  Obama absolutely cannot touch this.  Even if it's true.  —  I think the press would justify covering it on the issue of trust …

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.”

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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:

BP boss Hayward to get immediate £600,000 pension  —  Mr Hayward has been the public face of BP's response to the spill  —  BP chief executive Tony Hayward will get an immediate annual pension worth about £600,000 ($930,000) when he leaves in October, the BBC has learned.

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).

Tennessee Lt. Gov: Religious Freedom May Not Count For Muslims (VIDEO)  —  Tennessee Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, currently running third in the state's Republican gubernatorial primary race, says he's not sure if Constitutional guarantees of freedom of religion apply to the followers of the world's second-largest faith, Islam.

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.

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.

EFF Wins New Legal Protections for Video Artists, Cell Phone Jailbreakers, and Unlockers  —  San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) won three critical exemptions to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) anticircumvention provisions today, carving out new legal protections …

Election 2010: Arizona Republican Primary for Senate  —  Arizona Republican Primary: McCain 54%, Hayworth 34%  —  Senator John McCain has opened a 20-point lead over former Congressman J.D. Hayworth in Arizona's Republican Senate Primary race.  —  The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey …

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.

Rahm Emanuel to host fundraiser for Kendrick Meek and Meek releases first TV ad  —  White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel will hold a fundraiser for Rep. Kendrick Meek (D-Fla.), who's running for the Democratic nomination in Florida's Senate race.  —  The event will take place Monday …

Quadriplegic to preside over House  —  Rhode Island Rep. Jim Langevin, who is a quadriplegic, will be the first person in a wheelchair to preside over the House of Representatives Monday.  —  Washington (CNN) - Rhode Island Rep. Jim Langevin, who is a quadriplegic, will be the first person …

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.).