Economist Christina Romer serves up dismal news at her farewell luncheon  —  Lunch at the National Press Club on Wednesday caused some serious indigestion.  —  It wasn't the food; it was the entertainment.  Christina Romer, chairman of President Obama's Council of Economic Advisers …

Will the media call the Silver Spring/Discovery Channel gunman an environmental terrorist?  —  In Silver Spring, Maryland a gunman has entered the headquarters of the popular cable network the Discovery Channel and taken at least one hostage.  The gunman appears to have been protesting …

Sixty Days to Go  —  The Crystal Ball's Labor Day Predictions  —  Larry J. Sabato, Director, U.Va. Center for Politics  —  For decades I've advised students to let the facts speak for themselves, while avoiding the indulgence of shouting at the facts.  In other words, we should take in …

Deval Patrick on Beck rally: “It's a free country.  I wish it weren't.”  —  And you thought that a libtalker declaring a public space too sacred for God would be the dumbest quote from the Left on the Restoring Honor rally hosted by Glenn Beck.  Michael Graham from Boston's WTKK posts a clip …

Lazio Up 12 Pts.  In New York GOP Primary For Governor, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Dems Still Don't Know Who's Running For Attorney General  —  Former Congressman Rick Lazio leads businessman Carl Paladino 47 - 35 percent among New York State Republican likely primary voters in the race for Governor …

Illegal Immigration to U.S. Slows Sharply  —  Illegal immigration to the U.S. has slowed sharply since 2007, with the bleak U.S. job market apparently discouraging people from heading north.  —  The influx of illegal immigrants plunged to an estimated 300,000 annually between March 2007 and 2009 …

Netanyahu and Abbas to Begin Direct Mideast Peace Talks  —  WASHINGTON — The Israeli and Palestinian leaders were to open direct peace negotiations Thursday after committing to work to end the conflict that has endured for six decades.  —  The talks are to be held at the State Department …

Warren fuels speculation by dropping class  —  When fall classes began Wednesday at Harvard Law School, Elizabeth Warren was scheduled to be teaching contract law to first-year students.  But something happened on the way to the chalkboard.  —  “I'm writing to let you know that Professor Jerry Frug …

Obama is Not a Muslim  —  The nonsense about President Obama being a Muslim has got to stop.  I rise to defend him from this absurd accusation by pointing out that he is obviously an atheist.  —  Leave aside Obama's fanatical opposition to allowing Illinois hospitals to save the lives …

Glenn Beck's George Washington Whopper  —  The Fox host says he held the inaugural address of the famously truthful founding father.  Yeah right, says the National Archives.  —  Post Comment  —  During his much-ballyhooed “Restoring Honor” rally on Saturday, Glenn Beck told a whopper involving …

Scientist's Firing After 36 Years Fuels ‘PC’ Debate at UCLA  —  A longtime professor at UCLA, told that he would not be rehired because his “research is not aligned with the academic mission” of his department, says he's being fired after 36 years at the prestigious school because his scientific beliefs are “politically incorrect.”

Obama Should Feel ‘Uncomfortable’ That Conservatives Are Co-opting Gay Rights Issues: Top Dem  —  WHAT'S YOUR REACTION?  —  The notion that the gay rights community would abandon the Obama White House over its unwillingness to fully embrace their legislative priorities may seem absurd to the casual political observer.

Charles Rangel foe Adam Clayton Powell took campaign cash from ex-con who owns strip club Sin City  —  The leading contender to dethrone Rep. Charles Rangel took thousands in campaign cash from an ex-con Wall Streeter who owns a notorious Bronx strip club.  —  Asked about the donations on Wednesday …

Yes, BBC was biased: Director General Mark Thompson admits a ‘massive’ lean to Left  —  BBC Director General Mark Thompson has admitted the corporation was guilty of a ‘massive’ Left-wing bias in the past.  —  The TV chief also admitted there had been a ‘struggle’ to achieve impartiality …

Democrats unlikely to repeal tax cuts for the rich  —  WASHINGTON — Democrats in Congress are poised to play a leading role this month in thwarting their party's effort to raise income tax rates on the wealthy.  —  Tax cuts enacted in 2001 and 2003 expire at the end of this year.

A Dream House After All  —  IF you read the coverage of the latest figures on the sales of existing homes from the National Association of Realtors, you may well have come to the conclusion that the American dream is dead.  It is indeed worrisome that sales in July were down 25 percent from a year ago.

This is so the worst thing you're going to read all day.  —  Michael Joseph Gross for Vanity Fair: “Sarah Palin the Sound and the Fury.”  —  It's terrible for a couple of reasons.  One, because Sarah Palin is the worst.  Except, and two, she's the worst for reasons that aren't even in this article.

Tabloid Hack Attack on Royals, and Beyond  —  IN NOVEMBER 2005, three senior aides to Britain's royal family noticed odd things happening on their mobile phones.  Messages they had never listened to were somehow appearing in their mailboxes as if heard and saved.

ADL'S Abe Foxman denounces anti-mosque rally as ‘un-American’  —  Adam Serwer of the American Prospect is guest blogging on The Plum Line this week.  —  Earlier this week, the Sept. 11 victims' families group “Where to Turn” sent out a letter expressing opposition to a planned Sept. 11 …

Barbour tests message: Next President will have to be lobbyist-in-chief  —  At the end of a long interview, the Hoover Institute's Peter Robinson asks Haley Barbour how someone who fits his profile — white, southern male — could become President.  —  Barbour emphasizes he's focused only on 2010 …