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!”

In flap over mosque near Ground Zero, conservative writers gaining influence  —  Long before President Obama waded into the vociferous debate over a proposal to build a mosque near Ground Zero, a group of conservative writers and bloggers critical of Islam had seized on the issue and helped transform …

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 …

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.

Sheryl Crow Bashes Sarah Palin: 'Someone Unplug Her Microphone!  "  —  Pop-singer Sheryl Crow has always been outspoken about her own political views, but now she's telling former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin to zip it.  —  “I saw you ranting on TV today, I heard you tell me to reload.

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 …

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 …

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.”

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.”

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.

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 …

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 …

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 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 …