$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.

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 …

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 …

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 …

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.

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.

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.

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 …

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.

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.

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.

Charlie Crist: A puzzle wrapped in an enigma shrouded in mystery  —  In a bid to pick up Democratic votes without losing every last Republican vote, Charlie Crist is refusing to say who he'll caucus with if he's elected to the Senate in November.  The fact that that's smart politics suggests …

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) …

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.

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 …

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.

Lawsuit challenges Obama's power to kill citizens without due process  —  (update below)  —  Three weeks ago, I wrote about a lawsuit filed by the ACLU and the Center for Constitutional Rights, based on the Treasury Department's failure to grant a “license” to those groups …

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.”

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” …

The Folly of Needless Alcohol Laws  —  In Orange County, California, as in many American communities, the approach planners take to bars is as follows: they're generally located in close proximity to one another, so that on a weekend night, bar goers congregate around Main Street in Huntington Beach …