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This Is Not a Recovery — What will Ben Bernanke, the Fed chairman, say in his big speech Friday in Jackson Hole, Wyo.? Will he hint at new steps to boost the economy? Stay tuned. — But we can safely predict what he and other officials will say about where we are right now …
Discussion:
Daily Kos, FT Alphaville, The Page, Prairie Weather and HotAirPundit
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Weak GDP raises stakes for Obama, Fed — Growth figures are expected to show the economy is almost at a standstill, but the government is running out of options to rebuild momentum. — Reporting from Washington — The widening consensus that the U.S. economy has slowed to a crawl …
Discussion:
The Page


U.S. Economy Slowed to 1.6% Pace in 2nd Quarter — Economic statistics released Friday offered the clearest sign yet that the recovery, already acknowledged to be sauntering, had slowed to a crawl. — The government lowered its estimate of economic growth in the second quarter to an annual rate …
Discussion:
Hot Air, Outside the Beltway, Calculated Risk, The Page and FT Alphaville

Tea Party Spells KKK, Rights Leader Says — Black Leaders Outraged Over ‘Restoring Honor’ Rally — A civil rights activist and former congressman equated the Tea Party with the Ku Klux Klan today as he blasted a conservative rally planned in Washington, D.C., this weekend.
Discussion:
Political Byline, Questions and Observations, Weasel Zippers, American Power and JammieWearingFool
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Tea Party Rocks Primaries — Some shocking electoral results this week are providing new proof that the loony Tea Party movement has surged to levels of influence far beyond anything most of us could ever have imagined possible, with the key results coming in Arizona and Alaska.
Discussion:
AMERICAblog News and Brilliant at Breakfast

An Irksome Arrangement: Glenn Beck Uses Charitable Donations …
Discussion:
Swampland, The Moderate Voice, Salon and The Political Carnival


Levi Johnston takes back his apology to Palin … ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Levi Johnston, the father of Sarah Palin's grandson, says he wishes he hadn't apologized for telling lies about the former Alaska governor because he's “never lied about anything.” — Johnston said in an interview on CBS' …
Discussion:
Reuters, Weasel Zippers, The Political Carnival, Outside the Beltway, The Daily Caller and American Glob
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Exclusive: Bristol Palin Is Coming to Dancing With the Stars
Discussion:
Political Byline, Politics Daily, TalkLeft, PopEater, Mediaite, Joe. My. God., Hot Air, Gawker and GOP 12

The last refuge of a liberal — Liberalism under siege is an ugly sight indeed. Just yesterday it was all hope and change and returning power to the people. But the people have proved so disappointing. Their recalcitrance has, in only 19 months, turned the predicted 40-year liberal ascendancy (James Carville) into a full retreat.
Discussion:
Commentary, Political Byline, Betsy's Page and JammieWearingFool


Opponents of same-sex marriage target Iowa judges — DES MOINES - Politics is as much a mainstay of the Iowa State Fair as the deep-fried food and the cows sculpted out of butter. But the crowds searching for a remote corner under the grandstand this week were not headed for one of the presidential hopefuls who routinely drop by.
Discussion:
Latest Open Salon Blog, Erick's blog and Law Blog
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Gay Bush Aide? No Bombshell in Age of Fiscal Cares
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Power Line and GayPatriot

No big media splash as Republican leader Ken Mehlman reveals he's gay
Discussion:
The Daily Dish, Wonk Room and Pam's House Blend


Union Brothers and Sisters, Join Our Commonsense Cause! — Two years ago almost to the day, I was thrilled to meet with union members at the Alaska AFL-CIO Convention in Anchorage to sign important job-creation legislation related to the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act.
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Trumka: Palin will ‘go down in history like McCarthy’
Discussion:
CNN, Hot Air, Beltway Confidential, Gateway Pundit, Conservatives4Palin.com and The Hill

Who Is Michael Enright? — The suspect in an anti-Muslim hate crime worked for an outfit that backs the Ground Zero mosque. — “It's not even Islamophobia, it's beyond Islamophobia,” Daisy Khan, wife of Ground Zero mosque planner Feisal Abdul Rauf, told ABC's Christiane Amanpour Sunday.
Discussion:
Right Wing News, NewsBusters.org, Metropolis, Political Byline, Sadly, No!, Patterico's Pontifications, Wonkette, Jihad Watch and Gothamist
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Another Failed Eliminationist Narrative
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, Right Wing News and Pajamas Media

Lawyer Says Alleged Cab Driver Stabber Was Not Motivated By Anti-Muslim Hate
Discussion:
newsfeed.time.com, The Moderate Voice, NewsBusters.org and TalkLeft

Drunk shouts ‘terrorists,’ urinates on mosque rugs
Discussion:
Think Progress, Guardian, Jihad Watch, Latest Open Salon Blog, The Reaction, Little Green Footballs, Hatewatch and New York Post

NY official: Stabbing suspect had war journals
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, Atlas Shrugs, The L Magazine, Little Green Footballs, TPMMuckraker and New York Post

Miller says he is concerned Murkowski will ‘pull an Al Franken’ — Joe Miller, the Republican candidate who is poised to knock off Sen. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) in a primary contest, said Thursday he is concerned she will launch a protracted legal battle to save her seat.
Discussion:
The Politico and Associated Press
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Miller: NRSC ‘meddling’ in Alaska race
Discussion:
Riehl World View, Los Angeles Times, Erick's blog, RushLimbaugh.com, sisu, The Other McCain and TPMDC

Among Democrats, economic pressures are changing tax-cut dynamics — With the economy rapidly weakening, some senior Democrats are having second thoughts about raising taxes on the nation's wealthiest families and are pressing party leaders to consider extending the full array …
Discussion:
Commentary and Balloon Juice

Who's Stupid? — Lately there has been a rash of news stories and columns decrying the stupidity of Americans, mostly based on a finding by the Pew Research Center that 18 percent of Americans think that Barack Obama is a Muslim. Predictably, the New York Times joined the pile-on with this column …

Cramer: ‘Mass Panic’ in Markets Tomorrow After ‘Shocker’ GDP Released — It is a curious phenomenon - the way the media have handled the economy since President Barack Obama has taken office. Generally the coverage has been on the optimistic side over the last 18 months.

SPIN METER: What Biden didn't mention on stimulus — FRESNO, Calif. — Vice President Joe Biden said this week that the Obama administration “hit the accelerator” toward spending $5 billion under the economic stimulus law to weatherize people's homes, create thousands of jobs …
Discussion:
Betsy's Page and Scared Monkeys

Administration halts prosecution of alleged USS Cole bomber — The Obama administration has shelved the planned prosecution of Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, the alleged coordinator of the Oct. 2000 suicide attack on the USS Cole in Yemen, according to a court filing.
Discussion:
Firedoglake and Commentary


How Vindictive Is This Administration? — I'm not usually the conspiratorial type, but watch Gov. Chris Christie explain how the Obama administration disqualified the state of New Jersey from hundreds of millions in education funds because some clerk in Trenton turned in the wrong excel spreadsheet:
Discussion:
Pajamas Media, American Glob, Left Coast Rebel, Power Line and Beltway Confidential
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Maddow Mocks Gov. Christie's Math Skills Before Making Same Subtraction Error
Discussion:
theblogprof