Howard Dean: “Mosque” should move  —  (updated below - Update II - Update III)  —  Certain things are disappointing and surprising even for the most hardened cynics.  Hearing Howard Dean — the former liberal standard-bearer — join Newt Gingrich and Sarah Palin by saying the following is definitely one of them:

Final U.S. combat brigade pulls out of Iraq  —  Lt. Col. Mark Bieger huddled his infantrymen in a darkened parking lot minutes before they were to depart Baghdad for the last time.  —  “This is a historic mission!” he bellowed, struggling to be heard over the zoom of fighter jets …

NRSC: ‘The Next Time Democrats Call You Extreme, Show Them This Video.’  —  You see it here first, folks: the new web video from the NRSC about just whose views are “extreme” around here.  —  Their closing sequence, showcasing that the so-called extreme candidates are either leading or in dead heats …

Did Sarah Palin really say that? … - Bogus Trends: Kiddie Porn, Sextortion, and Chinese Hymenoplasty- The Incredible Jazz Photography of Herman Leonard- Was Hurricane Katrina Good for the Environment?  - A Wonderful, Enigmatic Poem About a Badger- Puny, Decadent …

Mosque a long shot to be built  —  When President Barack Obama turned the battle over a planned New York Islamic center into a national debate over religious freedom, he unwittingly allied himself and his party with an ill-planned, long-shot development project described by one of its most prominent allies as “amateur hour.”

Poll: 1 in 5 Americans thinks Obama is a Muslim  —  The number of Americans who believe — wrongly — that President Obama is a Muslim has increased significantly since his inauguration and now account for nearly 20 percent of the nation's population.  —  Those results, from a new Pew …

Ann Coulter to WorldNetDaily Editor: 'He's a swine' and ‘publicity whore’  —  Conservative pundit Ann Coulter responded today to the announcement that WorldNetDaily was dropping her as a speaker for one of their events, calling WorldNetDaily Editor Joseph Farah a “publicity whore” and a “swine.”

The Coup of 2011  —  It occurred to me today that there's at least some chance that in January of 2011 the US Senate will have 49 Democrats, Joe Lieberman, Charlie Crist, and 49 Republicans.  Which is to say that Lieberman & Crist could form a two-man caucus, hold the balance of power, and drive organization of the Senate.

Conservative Elites, Cont'd: Being in on the Joke  —  Apropos my earlier post about conservative elites and the Park 51 controversy, I want to address the general relationship between certain influential figures in the conservative movement — Rush Limbaugh, Mark Levin, Andrew Breitbart …

Condemning mosque, Gingrich echoed Mussolini  —  A regular correspondent wondered why Newt Gingrich's recent declaration on the planned downtown mosque sounded so familiar, and found this:  —  Gingrich:  —  There should be no mosque near Ground Zero in New York so long as there are no churches or synagogues in Saudi Arabia.

More Disapprove Than Approve of Obama Mosque Remarks  —  PRINCETON, NJ — More Americans disapprove than approve of President Barack Obama's recent comments concerning the planned construction of a mosque near where the Sept. 11 terror attacks occurred in New York City, but 4 in 10 do not have an opinion on the matter.

America, the Decent  —  My views on the mosque are pretty well aired out now.  I think it's a bad idea to build right there (though not the end of the world), and — as I argue today — if Bloomberg and Obama had more talent and statesmanship this mess never would have come to pass in the first place.

What Is It About 20-Somethings?  —  ROW 1, left to right: Annie Ling, Jen Davis, Latoya Ruby Frazier, Elizabeth Weinberg.  ROW 2: Dru Donovan (1,2,4); Marvin Orellana (3).  ROW 3: David Wright, Latoya Ruby Frazier, Jen Davis, Annie Ling.  —  Why are so many people in their 20s taking so long to grow up?

The Great American Bond Bubble  —  If 10-year interest rates, which are now 2.8%, rise to 4% as they did last spring, bondholders will suffer a capital loss more than three times the current yield.  —  Ten years ago we experienced the biggest bubble in U.S. stock market history …

Decision Not to Rebuild Church Destroyed on 9/11 Surprises Greek Orthodox Leaders  —  (Herman Krieger/Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America)  —  Greek Orthodox leaders trying to rebuild the only church destroyed in the Sept. 11 terror attacks expressed shock this week after learning …

Obvious Failure of Stimulus Becomes Obvious Even To Economists  —  Where do Keynesians go now that even public radio is talking about the failure of one of history's costliest Keynesian stimulus efforts?  —  At City Journal, Guy Sorman notes how quickly the managed-market winds have shifted.

The U.S. Department of Education's spokesperson hung up on The Daily Caller Wednesday when seeking clarification regarding the Secretary of Education Arne Duncan's planned speech at an Aug. 28 protest march that the Rev. Al Sharpton and his National Action Network (NAN) are holding …

Blagojevich Jury Holdout Remaining Silent  —  Jurors Say One Woman Kept Them From Convicting On Senate Seat Scheme  —  CHICAGO (CBS) ― Jurors who handed down a single guilty verdict against former Gov. Rod Blagojevich have said there was one hold out who kept them from convicting Blagojevich …

9/11 Families for a Safe & Strong America Respond to Nancy Pelosi  —  Speaker Nancy Pelosi yesterday said: “There is no question there is a concerted effort to make this a political issue by some.  And I join those who have called for looking into how is this opposition to the mosque being funded.”

Zakaria Jumping to Time From Newsweek  —  Time magazine will announce on Thursday that Fareed Zakaria, a columnist for The Washington Post and Newsweek and editor of Newsweek's international edition, has been named a contributing editor for Time and will write a column for the magazine every other week.

Furious Parent Blasts Senator Over Health Care  —  Sen. Kay Hagan's ‘Conversations With Kay’ Turns Into Health Care Debate  —  KERNERSVILLE, N.C. — “Conversations with Kay” quickly turned into “Confrontation With Kay” when Sen. Kay Hagan visited the Kernersville Senior Enrichment Center.

How to Win the Clash of Civilizations  —  The key advantage of Huntington's famous model is that it describes the world as it is—not as we wish it to be.  —  What do the controversies around the proposed mosque near Ground Zero, the eviction of American missionaries from Morocco earlier this year …