$100,000 For Glenn Beck's Sex Tape  —  What's Your Reaction:  —  Rupert Murdoch and the Koch brothers are happy to throw money at the rising tide of right wing lunacy.  Breitbart offered $100,000 for JournoList, the email listserve that brought down WaPo blogger Dave Weigel this June.

BREAKING!!  Alaska Libertarian Party votes to deny Lisa Murkowski ballot line  —  From Eric Dondero:  —  The Executive Committee of the Alaska Libertarian Party held an emergency meeting yesterday to discuss the contested primary results in the Republican Senate primary.

Coburn rips the left and right alike  —  He pulls no punches during a town hall meeting in Wagoner.  —  WAGONER - U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn called out Democrats, Republicans, Newt Gingrich, the military-industrial complex, teachers unions and Medicare - to name a few - at a town hall meeting Friday.

GOP Takes Unprecedented 10-Point Lead on Generic Ballot  —  Republicans also maintain wide gap in enthusiasm about voting  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Republicans lead by 51% to 41% among registered voters in Gallup weekly tracking of 2010 congressional voting preferences.

Obama may call Bush before Iraq speech  —  President Obama will likely phone his predecessor, President George W. Bush, before delivering his speech on the Iraq war Tuesday.  —  Obama will visit troops in Fort Bliss, Texas, which is in Bush's home state, before returning to Washington …

Obama returns from vacation to blast GOP on small-business bill  —  President Obama returned from vacation on Monday to blast Senate Republicans for blocking small-business legislation.  —  Obama said the GOP opposition is “directly detrimental to our economic growth.”

Israel group targets Holt, J Street  —  The Emergency Committee for Israel's latest ad targets Rep. Rush Holt, but its real target, again, seems to be the left-leaning Jewish group J Street.  —  The ad, which started airing Saturday in a modest but real buy, an aide to the group said …

Thinner Time magazine still manages to stand out  —  Rick Stengel may have his shoulder in a sling, but when it comes to the newsmagazine wars, he's the last man standing.  —  The reason, says Time's managing editor, is that “we saw what was coming.  We wanted to fix the roof when the sun was shining.”

It's Witch-Hunt Season  —  The last time a Democrat sat in the White House, he faced a nonstop witch hunt by his political opponents.  Prominent figures on the right accused Bill and Hillary Clinton of everything from drug smuggling to murder.  And once Republicans took control of Congress …

Judge quashes Cuccinelli subpoena of U-Va. records  —  An Albemarle County Circuit Court judge has set aside a subpoena issued by Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli to the University of Virginia seeking documents related to the work of climate scientist and former university professor Michael Mann.

Crist walks back same-sex marriage remarks  —  (CNN) - Florida Gov. Charlie Crist appeared to backtrack from statements he made regarding same-sex marriage during a CNN interview Sunday, saying in a statement that he does not support a Constitutional ban on the practice.

The Folly of Subsidizing Unemployment  —  My calculations suggest the jobless rate could be as low as 6.8%, instead of 9.5%, if jobless benefits hadn't been extended to 99 weeks.  —  Congressman John Boehner recently suggested that President Obama replace his top economic advisers.

Why Do Heavy Drinkers Outlive Nondrinkers?  —  Jodi Cobb / National Geographic Creative / Getty Images  —  One of the most contentious issues in the vast literature about alcohol consumption has been the consistent finding that those who don't drink actually tend to die sooner than those who do.

Obama to appear at Labor Day rally with AFL-CIO president  —  President Obama will spend Labor Day alongside AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, the union announced Monday.  —  Obama, Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis and Trumka will all participate in a Labor Day “celebration and rally” …

Wrong Answer  —  This is not good enough: Asked if the stimulus bill was too small, [White House press secretary Robert] Gibbs says: “I think it makes sense to step back just for a second. ...  Nobody had, in January of 2009, a sufficient grasp of ... what we were facing.”

Ron Paul questions whether there's gold at Fort Knox, NY Fed  —  Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) said he plans to introduce legislation next year to force an audit of U.S. holdings of gold.  —  Paul, a longtime critic of the Federal Reserve and U.S. monetary policy, said he believes it's “a possibility” …

‘Call Me’ Campaign Ad  —  The book also deals directly with the 2006 Senate campaign, where Ford nearly became the first African-American elected to statewide office in Tennessee.  —  Some of Ford's characterizations of his opponent, now U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, are less than flattering.

Environmental groups face their future in climate-change debate  —  On Thursday, some of the country's most respected environmental groups - in the midst of their biggest political fight in two decades - sent a group of activists to Milwaukee with a message.  —  We're losing.

A Note to the President  —  When you speak to the troops tomorrow at Fort Bliss, and to the nation tomorrow night from the Oval Office, you speak, of course, as the president.  As our president.  —  You won't be speaking—not in these settings—as a once (and perhaps future) candidate for president.

Random Density Facts  —  A couple of facts about population density that I came across while my girlfriend was behind the wheel on some long drives up and down the east coast.  First if Texas (268,820 square miles) were as densely populated as New Jersey (1,134 per square mile) …

This I Believe  —  It's quickly mushroomed into the summer's hottest data point: A boatload of Americans believe Barack Obama's a Muslim.  —  Except that, maybe, they don't.  Consider this instead: They're just willing to say it.  —  This not-so-subtle difference is useful in understanding public opinion and its measurement.

Remainders: Beckfest  —  Time to catch up on some issues I would have blogged about last week had I not been on vacation.  First up—the Glenn Beck Extravaganza.  I've watched a fair amount of Beck over the past two years, and it's clear that the man is a charlatan.

Bigot starts ground zero church: Where's the outrage?  —  A bigoted pastor who has assailed gays and Muslims is launching the “9-11 Christian Center at Ground Zero” a mere two blocks from the World Trade Center site this Sunday, but so far the project hasn't drawn a peep of protest …

Biden in Iraq for Talks and Handover  —  BAGHDAD — Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. arrived in Baghdad on Monday to commemorate the official end of the United States combat mission and meet with Iraqi political leaders, who have yet to form a government more than five months after the March election.

Being broke costs state $550 million  —  SPRINGFIELD — The state's miserable bond rating has driven up borrowing costs for state government by more than $500 million since last year, a government watchdog group says.  —  The nonpartisan, Chicago-based Civic Federation analyzed …