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Growing Number of Americans Say Obama is a Muslim — Religion, Politics and the President — OVERVIEW — A substantial and growing number of Americans say that Barack Obama is a Muslim, while the proportion saying he is a Christian has declined. More than a year and a half into his presidency …
Discussion:
Washington Wire, The Fix, Swampland, ABCNEWS, Weigel, TPMDC, Guardian, Don Surber, The Atlantic Online, The Plum Line, Colorlines, neo-neocon, The Monkey Cage, Mediaite, Left Coast Rebel, The Politico, Power Line, AMERICAN DIGEST, Political Punch, Donklephant, Front Row Washington, No More Mister Nice Blog, Taylor Marsh, A plain blog about politics, The Hill, NewsBusters.org, The Moderate Voice, Boing Boing, Salon, The Swamp, JammieWearingFool, Politics Daily, Indecision Forever, Taegan Goddard's …, Hotline On Call, Gawker, Riehl World View, Unfogged, National Review and msnbc.com
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In Defining Obama, Misperceptions Stick — WASHINGTON — Americans need only stand in line at the grocery checkout counter to glimpse the conspiracy theories percolating about President Obama. “Birthplace Cover-Up,” screams the current issue of the racy tabloid Globe. “Obama's Secret Life Exposed!”


TRENDING: White House strikes back at ‘Muslim’ tag — The White House on Thursday responded to new polls which indicate Americans do not know what religion President Obama practices. — Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts (CNN) - The White House is responding to new polls Thursday that show …
Discussion:
The Politico and Nice Deb


Poll: 1 in 5 Americans thinks Obama is a Muslim
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Crooks and Liars, Brendan Nyhan, RedState, The Huffington Post, Left Coast Rebel, The League of Ordinary …, DISSENTING JUSTICE, Achenblog, NewsBusters.org, Macsmind, Outside the Beltway, News Desk, Politics Daily, Open Left, Hullabaloo, New York Magazine, Althouse, MyDD and The Page

TIME Poll: 61% of Americans Oppose ‘Ground Zero Mosque’
Discussion:
The Caucus, The League of Ordinary …, TPMDC, JOSHUAPUNDIT, Guardian, Gateway Pundit, CBS News, Don Surber, The Page, Swampland and Fox News

Tribalism And Constitutional Rights, Ctd.
Discussion:
DISSENTING JUSTICE and Ben Smith's Blog

Mosque-building and its discontents — From this week's Economist/YouGov poll:
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway and The Awl

Muslim view spreads
Discussion:
American Prospect, Media Matters for America, Washington Wire and Gawker

AP Standards Center issues staff advisory on covering New York City mosque — Associated Press Deputy Managing Editor for Standards and Production Tom Kent sent the following note to the staff about covering the New York City mosque story: — Colleagues,
Discussion:
The Jawa Report, RedState, Gateway Pundit, NewsBusters.org, Outside the Beltway, Pajamas Media and Atlas Shrugs
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AP advises staff on location of Islamic center and mosque — The Associated Press, one of world's most powerful news organizations, issued a memo today advising staff to avoid the phrase “Ground Zero mosque.” — The Upshot reported Tuesday that the AP started using the phrase “Ground Zero mosque” in some headlines in late May.

Russell Simmons on Ground Zero mosque: We didn't blame all Christians for the first WTC bombing, did we? — Via Hengler, the GZM kerfuffle suddenly takes an ... interesting turn. The debate's raging on Twitter: Does this guy actually think the first World Trade Center bombing was the work of Christian fundamentalists?
Discussion:
Big Hollywood

Hip-Hop Mogul: If You Blame Muslims For 9-11, Blame Christians For 1st WTC Bombing!
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Knowledge is Power

Russell Simmons on CNN: Christians Bombed the WTC in 1993?
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Michelle Malkin and Pajamas Media

Music Video Sums Up Opposition to Ground Zero Mosque - “Salt in the Wound” - Video
Discussion:
The Jawa Report

Top Muslims Condemn Ground Zero Mosque as a ‘Zionist Conspiracy’
Discussion:
Hot Air, Dean's World, Cold Fury, Sister Toldjah, Israel Matzav, Tablet Magazine, Right Wing News and Washington Post


Weekly Jobless Claims Post Surprise Jump, Hit 500,000 — New U.S. claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly climbed to a nine-month high last week, yet another setback to the frail economic recovery. — Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 12,000 to a seasonally adjusted 500,000 …
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If only Obama had ... See if this structure seems familiar to you: Over the past two years, Barack Obama has done X. Now, his poll numbers have slipped to 44 percent. His party is slated to lose a lot of seats in the 2010 midterms. Obama's decision to do X is to blame. — “X” can be a lot of things.
Discussion:
Matthew Yglesias, National Review, Don Surber, The New Republic, Right Wing News, Washington Monthly, New York Times and MyDD

Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis
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Free exchange, Politics Daily, The Washington Independent and Ezra Klein

Worries About Jobs Send Shares Lower
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, PostPartisan, Prairie Weather, FT Alphaville, Truthdig and AMERICAblog News


Shot fired at Al Franken's condo — Minneapolis and Capitol Hill police are investigating a shot that was fired at the condo of Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.). — Nobody was home at the time of the incident, which was not reported until after the senator and his wife returned home to Minneapolis …
Discussion:
Politics Daily and TPMDC
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Sink Inching Up In Close Florida Gov Race, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Crist Leads Three-Way Senate Race — Apparently bolstered by the civil war for the Republican nomination for Governor in Florida, State Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, the Democrat, is on the plus side …
Discussion:
Washington Wire, Ballot Box, MyDD, Swing State Project, RedState, The Hill, TPMDC, Post on Politics, HotAirPundit, Riehl World View and The Eye
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‘Ground Zero’ Imam: ‘I Am a Jew, I Have Always Been One’ — The right-wing campaign against the so-called “Ground Zero mosque” includes vicious personal attacks on the Muslim cleric who leads the Cordoba Initiative, the organization behind the plan. I know Imam Faisal Abdul Rauf …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Little Green Footballs and Harry's Place


Clemens to Be Indicted for Perjury in Doping Testimony — Federal authorities have decided to indict Roger Clemens on charges of making false statements to Congress about his use of performance-enhancing drugs, according to two people briefed on the matter. — An announcement is expected later today.

How To Lose A Guy In 75 Days — Two years after his coattails helped sweep two dozen Democrats into office, President Obama is proving more a boon to Republicans than to Democrats during the midterm elections. His poll numbers are so morose that Democrats are planning ways to avoid his shadow …
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers, Pundit & Pundette, Biased BBC, Hot Air, Weigel and Beltway Confidential

You'll Get Served — The West Wing is on notice. — If Republicans win the House this fall, Rep. Darrell Issa will wield the majority's sharpest investigative tool: the subpoena pen. — “Cabinet officers, assistant secretaries, directors — I will be able to take on everybody …
Discussion:
Federal Eye and Weigel
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NOAA official: Roughly three-quarters of spilled oil still in Gulf
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The Washington Independent and HotAirPundit


GOP Senate candidate yanks video showing smoldering 9/11 site — This one is ugly. — GOP Senate candidate Roy Blunt's campaign has pulled down a Web video displaying the smoldering remains of the 9/11 attacks alongside audio of his Democratic opponent saying the location of the Islamic center should be up to New Yorkers to decide.
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Politics Daily, Washington Monthly, Show Me Progress …, Wonkette, Weigel and Gawker
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Breaking: Blago Holdout Retired State Employee Who Once Handed Out Campaign Literature For Relative Seeking Office; NPR and Liberal Talk Radio Listener — Here's what Fox local news in Chicago reports: … Note that that is not yet confirmed. It is now confirmed by CBS local news Chicago.

Obama on the Trail — Illinois voters say they would be negatively influenced if a candidate was endorsed by Barack Obama. And if his support isn't an asset in his home state it's hard to imagine where it is. — 40% of voters in the state say they'd be less likely to support …
Discussion:
Hot Air, National Review and Beltway Confidential


The Decline of Private Health Insurance — I'm not very interested in the underlying dispute between Scott Winship and Mike Konczal, but I did think this Winship chart about health insurance was interesting: — I emailed Winship to ask him what this data looks like if we examine the under-65 crowd.
Discussion:
ScottWinshipWeb and TalkLeft

Skip the lecture on Israel's ‘risks for peace’ — In the intifada that began in 2000, Palestinian terrorism killed more than 1,000 Israelis. As a portion of U.S. population, that would be 42,000, approaching the toll of America's eight years in Vietnam. During the onslaught …
Discussion:
Commentary, Israel Matzav, Betsy's Page and Yourish.com

Please forgive me for the actions of extremists I have never met who commit acts of violence that I have never advocated — As a white male Baptist, it is my duty today to denounce the violence perpetrated by Patrick Gray Sharp, 29, who yesterday attacked the police headquarters in McKinney …