$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.

59 percent think Palin lacks ability to be effective as president  —  Almost three out of five Americans believe former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) would not be an effective president, a new poll found Monday.  —  Fifty-nine percent of U.S. adults said they don't think Palin …

Secret showdown set for Islamic charity  —  One of the nation's most prominent Muslim organizations, the North American Islamic Trust, is set to face off with the U.S. government in a federal appeals court Monday.  —  The reputation of the group, known as NAIT, may well hang in the balance …

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 …

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.

John Bolton, Criticizer-in-Chief  —  Since assuming office, President Obama has garnered his fair share of high-profile critics.  But few have been as omnipresent and implacable as John Bolton.  From his near constant appearances on Fox News and HBO's “Real Time with Bill Maher” …

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.”

SMALL BUSINESSES WAIT FOR GOP TO STOP PLAYING GAMES.... A month ago yesterday, there was reason for optimism on the small-business bill pending in the Senate.  The aid package included tax breaks, new incentives, and an attempt to expand credit through a lending program that utilizes local banks …

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.

The World Trade Center Mosque and the Constitution  —  The plan to erect a mosque of major proportions in what would have been the shadow of the World Trade Center involves not just the indisputable constitutional rights that sanction it, but, providentially, others that may frustrate it.

Inadequate Easing in Japan  —  One of the oddities of the current crisis is that throughout the 1990s it was absolutely conventional wisdom in the United States of America that Japan, though suffering from some real structural issues, was making things much worse for itself than necessary …

Germany's rebound is no cause for cheer  —  One of the weirder experiences for anyone who lives in the eurozone is a visit to a German supermarket.  I had the pleasure the other day, and found the general price level there to be a little over half of what it is in Belgium, Italy or Spain.

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” …

Biden travels to Iraq to mark end of U.S. combat mission  —  Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Iraq on Monday.  —  (Updated at 11:50 a.m. with additional information)  —  (CNN) - Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Iraq on Monday to participate in a ceremony marking the end …

Obama goes out on a limb for Middle East peace talks  —  The president personally coaxed the Israeli and Palestinian leaders to agree to talks, even as some advisors questioned the wisdom of him linking so visibly to an intractable conflict.  —  Reporting from Washington —

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.

Iran calls Carla Bruni a ‘prostitute’  —  Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, the French First Lady, has been called a “prostitute” by Iran after she criticised the country's decision to stone a woman to death.  —  Mrs Bruni-Sarkozy, the wife of Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president …

Orange County Is No Longer Nixon Country  —  SANTA ANA, Calif. — Orange County has been a national symbol of conservatism for more than 50 years: birthplace of President Richard M. Nixon and home to John Wayne, a bastion for the John Birch Society, a land of orange groves and affluence …

What Can Obama Really Do?  —  A zombie argument is going around about why Obama hasn't accomplished liberal and progressive ends to the extent many would have liked him to: … This argument is misleading in one sense and incorrect in another.  It is misleading in that it misrepresents how things get done in Congress.