Fox Doctors Hoffa Speech To Fabricate Call For Violence  —  Right-wing bloggers misled by dishonest Fox News video editing are attacking Teamsters President James Hoffa, Jr. for supposedly urging violence against Tea Party activists during a Labor Day speech.

Obama ratings sink to new lows as hope fades  —  Public pessimism about the direction of the country has jumped to its highest level in nearly three years, erasing the sense of hope that followed President Obama's inauguration and pushing his approval ratings to a record low, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

World Ends Today; Markets to Close Early?  —  The news out of Europe yesterday and this morning somehow puts me in mind of the long opening sequence in the John Landis feature film rendering of The Twilight Zone, in which Dan Ackroyd says to Albert Brooks, “You want to see something really scary?”

They like him  —  There's a deluge of terrible poll numbers for the White House today, but I think this one from our Battleground Poll is the most interesting:  —  Obama receives particularly low marks for his economic stewardship, with only 39 percent saying they approve and 59 percent saying they disapprove.

Why are three free-trade deals languishing on Obama's desk?  —  According to the White House, President Obama has been huddling with advisers on a jobs plan he'll present to Congress this week.  One thing he could do immediately is finalize the free-trade deals with Colombia …

Ron Paul to attack Rick Perry in new ad  —  Ron Paul is taking on Rick Perry in a new television ad blasting the Texas governor for for supporting Al Gore's 1988 presidential campaign, POLITICO has learned.  —  The 60-second spot, backed by a six-figure ad buy — the first negative ad attacking Perry …

Leak Offers Look at Efforts by U.S. to Spy on Israel  —  WASHINGTON — When Shamai K. Leibowitz, an F.B.I. translator, was sentenced to 20 months in prison last year for leaking classified information to a blogger, prosecutors revealed little about the case.  They identified the blogger in court papers only as “Recipient A.”

Europeans Talk of Sharp Change in Fiscal Affairs  —  As leaders in Europe try to contain a deepening financial crisis, they are also increasingly talking about making fundamental changes to the way their 17-nation economic union works.  —  The idea is to create a central financial authority …

The 2012 Election Will Come Down to Seven States  —  National polls are nice, but Electoral College math is what matters.  —  Straw polls, real polls, debates, caucuses, primaries—that's the public side of presidential campaigns 14 months before Election Day.

EXCLUSIVE: Palin's surprise visit delights bride and groom  —  On the eve of Sarah Palin's speech before the Tea Party Express in New Hampshire, the former Alaska Governor shocked diners and delighted wedding guests by making an unannounced visit to The Puritan Backroom restaurant for some of their famous chicken fingers.

Janet Napolitano: Shoes-on flight in sight  —  Air travelers will eventually be able to keep their shoes on to pass through security, but the restrictions on carrying liquids on board are likely to remain in place for some time, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told a POLITICO Playbook breakfast Tuesday.

In Jobs Data, “Surprises” Mean Bad News  —  Friday's jobs report was suggestive of an economy at stall speed.  The United States neither added or subtracted jobs in August, according to the initial estimates from government's establishment survey.  The numbers hadn't been good before …

Palin is in very good shape  —  I was among a pack of reporters following Sarah Palin around the boiling Iowa State Fair, a pack that got smaller as she gamely answered question after question until most of the reporters had dropped off and the questions were, to her mild surprise, exhausted.

About Jeffrey Goldberg  —  Jeffrey Goldberg, a national correspondent for the Atlantic, is the author of “Prisoners: A Story of Friendship and Terror.”  He was formerly a Washington correspondent and a Middle East correspondent for the New Yorker.  —  Robert Gates Says Israel Is an Ungrateful Ally: Jeffrey Goldberg

Exclusive Audio: Inside the Koch Brothers' Secret Seminar  —  Check back tomorrow for Part 2 of this report, on the GOP superstar who rocked the Koch seminar crowd.  —  “We have Saddam Hussein,” declared billionaire industrialist Charles Koch, apparently referring to President Barack Obama …