memeorandum: The last Labor Day? — Let's get it over with and rename the holiday “Capital Day.” (E.J. Dionne Jr/Washington Post)

4:05 PM ET, September 5, 2011

Top Items:

Happy Labor Day: Top 10 union thug moments of the year — As the MSM whitewashes Big Labor's ugly threats, Tea Party smears, and history of coerced dues-subsidized racketeering this Labor Day, what better way to mark the holiday than with an illustrated list of top 10 union thug moments of the year.

Discussion: Firedoglake, Doug Ross, PERRspectives, Scared Monkeys, The TrogloPundit, LaborUnionReport.com, The Gateway Pundit, Nice Deb, alicublog, Althouse and Wizbang

E.J. Dionne Jr / Washington Post:

The last Labor Day? — Let's get it over with and rename the holiday “Capital Day.” We may still celebrate Labor Day, but our culture has given up on honoring workers as the real creators of wealth and their honest toil — the phrase itself seems antique — as worthy of genuine respect.

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Washington Monthly, The Democratic Daily, Balloon Juice, Daily Kos and Pirate's Cove

CBS News:

“Doesn't appear” Palin will run: DeMint — The Labor Day weekend marks the unofficial start of the presidential campaign season, and many of the leading candidates for the Republican nomination have started to take shots at each other, not just at President Obama, reports CBS News political correspondent Jan Crawford.

Discussion: Maggie's Notebook and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Gschwarzcnn / CNN:

Perry to skip DeMint forum — (CNN) - Republican presidential candidate and Texas Gov. Rick Perry will not attend the Palmetto Freedom Forum of GOP candidates Monday night, sponsored by Sen. Jim DeMint, and will instead return to Texas to deal with the wildfires in the state, DeMint and the Perry campaign told CNN.

Discussion: Associated Press, Hot Air, TPMDC, The Political Carnival and Booman Tribune

Meghashyam Mali / The Hill:
Perry to skip DeMint's presidential forum, will return to Texas to deal with wildfires

Discussion: Austin American-Statesman and CNN

Patricia Bosworth / Daily Mail:

Rebel without a bra: Jane Fonda said her biggest regret was not sleeping with Che Guevara... but that was to please her husband — One day, at the height of her fame in the mid-Seventies, Jane Fonda turned up on the doorstep of her ex-husband, Roger Vadim. She was lugging a bulging sack.

Discussion: theblogprof, neo-neocon, Weasel Zippers and ParaPundit

Maggie Haberman / The Politico:

Bachmann bunked at S.C. gov's mansion — Michele Bachmann had some face-time with South Caroline Gov. Nikki Haley on Sunday night, dining with the governor and coveted endorser and staying over at the governor's mansion, according to a source familiar with the get together.

Discussion: The Raw Story and Daily Kos

Emily Schultheis / The Politico:
Rick Perry fires at Mitt Romney at S.C. town hall

Discussion: Online NewsHour

Meghashyam Mali / Ballot Box:
Poll finds Perry and Romney tied for lead with GOP Calif. voters

Discussion: gqrr.com and Los Angeles Times

Gschwarzcnn / CNN:
Romney kicks off primary high season with pancakes

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog and The Hill

The Caucus:
Romney Draws Sparse Protest at Tea Party Event

Discussion: Datechguy's Blog, Connecting.the.Dots, Maggie's Notebook, The Other McCain, The Camp Of The Saints, The Lonely Conservative, Don Surber, Business Insider, CNN and The Gateway Pundit

Steven Greenhouse / New York Times:

Postal Service Is Nearing Default as Losses Mount — The United States Postal Service has long lived on the financial edge, but it has never been as close to the precipice as it is today: the agency is so low on cash that it will not be able to make a $5.5 billion payment due this month …

Christina Caron / ABCNEWS:

Going Broke: America Without a Post Office? — As the U.S. Postal Service begins shuttering offices across the country to stem their ever-growing $9.2 billion deficit, the entire agency now faces default and could shut down next summer, USPS spokesman Dave Partenheimer told ABCNews.com today.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and Ricochet Conversation Feed

Washington Examiner:

You have a right to record the police — Tiawanda Moore was vindicated after a jury acquitted her of the “crime” of recording the police. (AP photo) — All over America, police have been arresting people for taking video or making sound recordings of them, even though such arrests are pretty clearly illegal.

Discussion: Hit & Run and Don Surber

Wolfgang Schäuble / Financial Times:

Why austerity is only cure for the eurozone — In recent weeks, debt markets have undergone wild gyrations, leading some analysts and commentators to question the progress achieved in taming the sovereign debt crisis in the eurozone. More recently, economic data and forward-looking indicators …

Discussion: AMERICAN FUTURE and Paul Krugman

Wolfgang Münchau / Financial Times:
The worst of the euro crisis is yet to come

Discussion: Paul Krugman, Washington Monthly and FT Alphaville

Spiegel Online:
International Monetary Fund

Discussion: Guardian

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

The Fatal Distraction — Friday brought two numbers that should have everyone in Washington saying, “My God, what have we done?” — One of these numbers was zero — the number of jobs created in August. The other was two — the interest rate on 10-year U.S. bonds, almost as low as this rate has ever gone.

Discussion: The Talking Dog, NewsBusters.org, The Moderate Voice and The Impolitic

Ynetnews:

Israelis held in Istanbul airport — Passengers arriving in Turkey detained by local police after their passports taken away from them; passenger: Everyone was in shock — About 40 Israeli passengers on board a Turkish Airlines flight from Tel Aviv to Istanbul were held for several hours …

Discussion: Israel Matzav, americanthinker.com and Jihad Watch

NY Daily News:

Bloody weekend: 24 shot in 24 hours prompting Mayor Bloomberg to call for tougher gun laws — Twenty-four New Yorkers were hit by gunfire, one fatally, over 24 hours of violence this weekend, prompting Mayor Bloomberg to call the bloody stretch “unconscionable” and demand action from Washington.

Discussion: LewRockwell.com Blog, JammieWearingFool and Gothamist