Obama Rejects Obamaism  —  I'm a sap, a specific kind of sap.  I'm an Obama Sap.  —  When the president said the unemployed couldn't wait 14 more months for help and we had to do something right away, I believed him.  When administration officials called around saying that the possibility …

Perry Looks Better Against Romney Than Against Obama  —  Leads Romney by 10 points in “narrow down” but trails Obama  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Rick Perry leads Mitt Romney by 31% to 24% in a new USA Today/Gallup poll of Republican presidential nomination preferences.

FACT CHECK: Are rich taxed less than secretaries?  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama makes it sound as if there are millionaires all over America paying taxes at lower rates than their secretaries.  —  “Middle-class families shouldn't pay higher taxes than millionaires and billionaires,” Obama said Monday.

A future for drones: Automated killing  —  One afternoon last fall at Fort Benning, Ga., two model-size planes took off, climbed to 800 and 1,000 feet, and began criss-crossing the military base in search of an orange, green and blue tarp.  —  The automated, unpiloted planes worked on their own …

Ralph Nader praises Sarah Palin  —  Ralph Nader hearts Sarah Palin?  —  We decided to call the longtime left crusader about a speech Palin gave in Iowa earlier this month, one which seemed to mark the transformation of Palin from a standard-issue movement conservative to something more independent and more reformist.

House Dems outraise Republicans for Aug.  —  The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) outraised the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) in August and narrowly leads it in overall fundraising for the year to date.  —  The DCCC raised $3.6 million last month to the NRCC's $3 million.

Weak and Bumpy Global Recovery Ahead  —  The global economic recovery is slowing, with world growth projected at 4 percent in both 2011 and 2012, down from over 5 percent in 2010, the IMF said in its latest forecast.  —  And even this lowered projection counts on a lot going well.

Greek Crisis Exacts the Cruelest Toll  —  HERAKLION, Greece—The first time he despaired of his debts, Vaggelis Petrakis drank a poisonous brew of beer and gasoline.  —  A note he left didn't mention the financial woes of his fruit and vegetable business, of which his family was well aware.

Day No. 972: President Obama unveils a deficit reduction plan … Barack Obama took office Jan. 20, 2009.  That was 972 days ago this morning, almost to the hour when he finally offered his newest full-blown deficit reduction plan.  (See full Obama text below.)  —  Or as he put it, “Good morning, everybody.

The Appraisal: A Glimpse at Bloomberg's Lavish Tastes at Home  —  He has been known to serve tuna on crackers during cocktail hour.  He prefers diners to power-breakfast spots like the Regency.  His sartorial style remains buttoned down, with a salmon-color crew neck and matching socks about as gaudy as it gets.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio Assigns ‘Cold Case Posse’ To Investigate Obama's Birth Certificate  —  Hey, remember the birthers?  —  Infamous Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio does — which is why he announced a five-person “Cold Case Posse” that will delve into the issue of President Obama's birth certificate.

Rick Perry's Lesser-Known First Book Could Be A Distraction From Economy-Centered Message … WASHINGTON — Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) has taken plenty of heat for making dubious assertions about modern medicine and health, but she's not the only Republican presidential candidate to have done so.

Anti-Gay NOM Activist Maggie Gallagher Attends Staged Broadway Benefit for Team Challenging Proposition 8  —  So, I attended last night's wonderful staged reading to a packed house of Dustin Lance Black's ‘8’, the dramatization of the federal case in California against Proposition 8 …

Joe McGinniss: Threats are the ‘Palin way’  —  Sarah and Todd Palin “scare” and “threaten” people - that's the “Palin way,” author Joe McGinniss charged on Tuesday.  —  In an interview on CNN for the release of his new book, “The Rogue: Searching for the Real Sarah Palin,” McGinniss said he spoke to …

Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal: Navy Lt. Gary Ross, Partner Dan Swezy Wed As Military's Gay Ban Formally Ends … DUXBURY, Vt. — Just as the formal repeal of the military's “don't ask, don't tell” policy took effect, Navy Lt. Gary Ross and his partner were married before a small group of family and friends.

No Extra Credit  —  What if everything that is happening in Washington right now is just meaningless noise?  —  What if the Obama jobs plan, the coming deliberations of the supercommittee, the debate over taxing millionaires — what if none of it is likely to make a whit of positive difference for the economy?

Get the Energy Sector off the Dole  —  Why ending all government subsidies for  —  fuel production will lead to a cleaner energy future—and why Obama has a rare chance  —  to make it happen.  —  ast September, President Obama promised that the cornerstone of his legislative program …

The Qwikster and the Dead  —  This morning I found an apology-laden missive in my inbox from Reed Hastings of Netflix, explaining that they'd really messed up the transition when they announced the end of free streaming, and that in order to fix it, they had . . . decided to more decisively split their DVD and streaming services.

Apology Adds An Epilogue To Kelo Case  —  Supreme Court Justice's Startling Apology Adds Human Context To Tough Ruling  —  Though she lost the eminent domain case against New London and her home, Susette Kelo, seen at an eminent domain protest at the Capitol in 2006, became a compelling figure in the property rights movement.

Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Connie Schultz resigns from The Plain Dealer (updated)  —  CLEVELAND, Ohio — Pulitzer Prize winner and Plain Dealer columnist Connie Schultz resigned today.  —  “In recent weeks, it has become painfully clear that my independence, professionally and personally …