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W.H. furious over speech delay — It seemed like a trivial matter: On Wednesday, House Republicans forced the president to delay his speech to a joint session of Congress by one day. — Who cares? The White House cares. Very much. — “It is a big deal that the House said ‘no’ to the president …
Discussion:
JSOnline, msnbc.com, Pajamas Media and FrumForum
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Speaker John Boehner Should Resign For His Unprecedented Insult To The President — The mainstream media, and even some in the liberal opinion media, have completely missed the point of President Obama's dust-up with Speaker John Boehner over the date for Obama's address before a joint session of Congress.
Discussion:
Patterico's Pontifications, JammieWearingFool, Fox News, Pajamas Media and Verum Serum

James Carville: White House ‘Out of Bounds’ Over Speech Flap — Democratic strategist James Carville told me that the White House was in the wrong when it requested that the President address Congress on the same night and time as a Republican presidential debate.
Discussion:
Hot Air, Don Surber, Big Government, Weasel Zippers, Washington Post, Taylor Marsh, ABCNEWS, The Hill, The Politico, Moe Lane, CNN, Right Wing Nut House and Outside the Beltway

Is Obama Playing Rope-a-Dope? — Here was the headline on Yahoo from Wednesday night: Obama bows to Boehner on jobs speech. — I can tell you what any progressive who has been paying attention thought, “Oh boy, here we go again.” — President Obama has now changed the day of his address to Congress to accommodate the Republicans.
Discussion:
Swampland, RedState, Don Surber, National Review and The TrogloPundit


About Ezra Klein — Ezra Klein is a columnist and blogger at The Washington Post and a policy analyst for MSNBC. His work focuses on domestic and economic policy-making, as well as the political system that's constantly screwing it up. — Expect Obama Speech to Yield Lots of Talk, No Action: Ezra Klein
Discussion:
The New Republic and Washington Monthly


Obama-Boehner speech spat should worry Democrats
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Mediaite, Althouse, Outside the Beltway, The Hill, Mad Kane's Political Madness, New York Times and Scared Monkeys

White House: Send us your petitions
Discussion:
Associated Press and Economist's View


Fox News Poll: Perry Overtakes Romney as Top GOP 2012 Pick; Most Say Palin Should Stay Out of Race — Even as Texas Gov. Rick Perry moves into the lead as Republican voters' preferred presidential candidate, a Fox News poll released Thursday shows that voters are more likely to view him as …
Discussion:
Little Green Footballs, Weasel Zippers, TPMDC, Chron.com, Ben Smith's Blog and Outside the Beltway
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Romney=Kerry; Perry=Dean? — In my print column this week, hidden behind the magic wonderwall, I indulge in a little presidential campaign history: Four years ago, in September 2007, John McCain-the eventual Republican nominee-was dead in the water, having raised and wasted a ton of money and fired most of his staff.
Discussion:
No More Mister Nice Blog and Liberal Values

Perry 44% Obama 41%; President Leads Other GOP Hopefuls — For the first time this year, Texas Governor Rick Perry leads President Obama in a national Election 2012 survey. Other Republican candidates trail the president by single digits. — A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone …

Obama Approval Hits All-Time Low, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Economy Is Getting Worse, More Voters Say

Perry can't exploit key weakness for Romney
Discussion:
No More Mister Nice Blog and GOP 12


Pima County Repubs Raffle Glock As Fundraiser; Same Gun Type Used in Tucson Shooting … Talk about a killer gimmick. — An Arizona Republican fundraiser is offering as a prize the same type of gun used in the attempted assassination of Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.
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Tucson Republican Leader Slams County GOP For Giffords Gun Raffle — Eyebrows shot up all over the country Thursday following news that that the Republican Party in Pima County, AZ — home to Tucson and Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' (D) district — is raffling off a Glock similar to the one used to shoot Giffords in the head in January.
Discussion:
The Raw Story, Crooks and Liars, Arizona Daily Star, Politics and Zandar Versus The Stupid

Obama Rolls Out a Jobs Plan That Doesn't Need Congress — The president has asked federal agencies to find solutions on their own. His message to lawmakers: We can do this without you. — President Obama is either fed up with Congress or he's testing his own administration's mettle. Or both.


Florida Republicans Fight To Keep ‘Cohabitation’ Of Unmarried Couples Illegal — Thousands of unmarried couples who are living together in Florida may be surprised to learn that they are actually breaking the law. Under outdated and rarely enforced state laws that have been on the books since …
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Sun-Sentinel and Wonkette

Dude! Free weed lying on San Jose street snatched up by bystanders — It was a pot head's dream: Free marijuana lying on the street for the taking, without a cop in sight. — San Jose police say a truck illegally carrying marijuana crashed and ended up on its side near Oakridge Mall early Wednesday …
Discussion:
Associated Press, Pajamas Media and L.A. NOW

Is The Great Recession Forcing Graduates Of Elite Colleges Into A Desperate Life Of Rockstardom? — As we saw yesterday, the recession's bite has been broad, including on the earnings of recent college graduates. But this seems to be going a bit far:
Discussion:
New York Times and epi.org

New Hampshire GOP chair resigns — Concord, New Hampshire (CNN) - Embattled New Hampshire GOP Chair Jack Kimball resigned his post Thursday, forestalling a planned vote by the party's executive committee that could have ended in his removal. — In an emotional speech …
Discussion:
Associated Press

White House downgrades 2012 jobs, economic forecasts; cites ‘turbulence’ — The Obama administration downgraded its forecast for economic growth Thursday, predicting turmoil in the economy will likely keep unemployment above 9 percent through next year's election.
Discussion:
RealClearPolitics Video Log, Hot Air, The Lonely Conservative, The Hill and Pajamas Media

Sarah Palin's Saturday Speech Will Be a ‘Full Throated Defense of the Tea Party’ — ABC's Shushannah Walshe and Sheila Marikar report: — Two days before Sarah Palin's much anticipated, on, off, and on again Iowa speech, details are emerging about what the former Alaska governor will say.
Discussion:
Iowa Caucuses, Hot Air, Conservatives4Palin, ABCNEWS and National Review


TURNER VS. WEPRIN - IN THEIR OWN WORDS — By: … The Jewish Press: You're running in a heavily Democratic district, yet a recent poll showed you ahead by just 6 points. — Weprin: Turner ran [last] November and got 40 percent [against Anthony Weiner] and this latest poll has him at 42 percent - just a two-point increase.
Discussion:
Hotline On Call
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Grassley, Issa Expand ‘Fast and Furious’ Investigation — That didn't take long. — Sen. Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa) and Rep. Darrell Issa (R., Calif.) said they were expanding their probe into a troubled anti-gun-trafficking program, two days after the Justice Department announced a shake-up of officials who oversaw the program.
Discussion:
Examiner, Hot Air, Doug Ross, Sipsey Street Irregulars and The Daily Caller


Top Ten Right-Wing Responses To CAP's Islamophobia Report: ‘Cowards,’ ‘Straight Out of Mein Kampf,’ ‘A Pile Of Dung’ — The Center for American Progress's new report, “Fear, Inc.: The Roots of the Islamophobia Network in America” is receiving a positive welcome from neutral observers …
Discussion:
Family Security Matters, Jihad Watch, Atlas Shrugs and Townhall.com

Indignation — I don't want to make this blog a narcissistic exercise (what the world world needs now is another law professor's self-absorbed musings like I need a hole in my head), but I want to preface this post with a couple of personal observations. Writing this blog has been very gratifying …
Discussion:
Lawyers, Guns & Money, ThinkProgress and The Other McCain


Five GOP Presidential Candidates Have Proposed Eliminating Capital Gains Tax, A $1 Trillion Giveaway To The Rich — Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) and former Gov. Jon Huntsman (R-UT) — Yesterday, 2012 GOP presidential long-shot Jon Huntsman unveiled an economic plan that …
Discussion:
Concord Monitor, Bloomberg, The Political Carnival and Outside the Beltway

Obama and the Burden of Exceptionalism — Post-'60s liberals, with the president as their standard bearer, seek to make a virtue of decline. — If I've heard it once, I've heard it a hundred times: President Obama is destroying the country. Some say this destructiveness is intended …
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars and The New Republic

Berlusconi vows to leave ‘s**tty’ Italy in conversation recorded by police — Transcripts from blackmail investigation reveal the Italian prime minister's frustration with his country — In a sign of his frustration at the investigations into his alleged crimes and misdemeanours …
Discussion:
AmSpecBlog, Mish's Global Economic … and TPMDC


Justice Department Tougher On Abortion Protesters … The Obama Justice Department has been taking a more aggressive approach against people who block access to abortion clinics, using a 1994 law to bring cases in greater numbers than its predecessor. — The numbers are most stark when it comes …
Discussion:
The American Independent, Shakesville and ThinkProgress


Democrats Distancing Themselves From Obama — Rep. Pete DeFazio, D-Ore., introduced then-presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama at a campaign event in Oregon in 2008. Now he seems to be recalculating how close is too close to be to an unpopular President Obama.
Discussion:
The Hill

FEMA'S use of term ‘federal family’ for government expands under Obama — Posted: 6:17 p.m. Wednesday, Augt. 31, 2011 — Don't think of it as the federal government but as your “federal family.” — In a Category 4 torrent of official communications during the approach and aftermath …

Lieberman: Obama's concern with offending Muslims hurts war effort — The Obama administration's fear of offending Muslims will hurt the U.S. war against terrorism, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) said Thursday in a speech blasting the president's new counterterrorism strategy.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly

GOP Israel group launches New York campaign — The fact that both candidates in Anthony Weiner's old Democratic-leaning district have criticized Obama on Israel offers the Emergency Committee for Israel some fodder. — The video is part of a broader campaign the group is in New York City that's expected …


The Freelance Surge Is the Industrial Revolution of Our Time — Welcome to the Gig Life. The boom in independent work is changing the way we think about jobs and careers. Does Washington get it? — REUTERS — It's been called the Gig Economy, Freelance Nation, the Rise of the Creative Class …
Discussion:
Prairie Weather