Top Items:


In Exclusive Interview, Paul Ryan Distances Self From Todd Akin — CARNEGIE (KDKA) — In Congressman Paul Ryan's first interview in Pennsylvania, Mitt Romney's vice presidential pick reacted strongly to Congressman Todd Akin's comment than women who are raped rarely get pregnant.
Discussion:
Firedoglake, ABCNEWS, Ballot Box, The Maddow Blog, Angry Black Lady Chronicles, Crooks and Liars, Zandar Versus The Stupid, Little Green Footballs, New York Times, Hullabaloo, Taylor Marsh, Wake up America, Daily Kos, CNN, First Read, Talking Points Memo, The Hill, Towleroad News #gay, The Raw Story, No More Mister Nice Blog, New York Magazine, rightwingwatch.org, The Moderate Voice, The Caucus, GOP 12, Balloon Juice and Gothamist
RELATED:


Rick Santorum: Here Are the Reasons That Romney Might Lose — The former senator is heading to Tampa to speak on behalf of his former rival. He tells Howard Kurtz what Romney must avoid if he is to beat Obama. — Rick Santorum has a simple formulation for how the 2012 election will turn out.
Discussion:
CNN, The Hill, Politico, The Hinterland Gazette and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

The Tax Returns are Hurting Romney, Badly — I didn't mention this in my previous post, but in addition to the aforementioned questions, NBC News and the Wall Street Journal asked respondents about the recent controversies over Bain Capital and Mitt Romney's tax returns to gage whether they affected support for the Republican nominee.
Discussion:
The Maddow Blog, Politico and Mother Jones

Just Think No — There's something trying about an unforgiving man suddenly in need of forgiveness. — Yet Todd Akin is right. He shouldn't have to get out of the United States Senate race in Missouri simply for saying what he believes. He reflects a severe stance on abortion …
Discussion:
NewsBusters.org blogs, Weasel Zippers, Washington Post, The Daily Dish, Prairie Weather, News Desk and Jammie Wearing Fools


Ryan Refuses To Say Abortions Should Be Available To Women Who Are Raped … This morning, Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO) revealed that GOP vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan urged him to drop out of his U.S. Senate race after Akin's “legitimate rape” comments made him a liability to Republicans nationally.

Paul Ryan stands by his anti-abortion record while running away from it
Discussion:
First Read and Little Green Footballs

Ryan Refuses to Explain “Forcible” Rape as Dems Attempt More Akin-izing of the GOP Ticket
Discussion:
The Hill, The Raw Story, The PJ Tatler, CNN and ABCNEWS


CHART: Akin's Views On Women's Health Are In Line With GOP
Discussion:
The Political Carnival

David Catanese, Politico Reporter, Apologizes For Todd Akin Tweets
Discussion:
Media Decoder, Mediaite, Talking Points Memo and naked capitalism, more at Mediagazer »

Marco Rubio on how he learned he wasn't Romney's VP pick; kind words for Nelson, harsh ones for Akin — Republican Sen. Marco Rubio told a Forum Club of the Palm Beaches luncheon crowd today about the phone conversation he had with Mitt Romney the day before Romney announced Paul Ryan as his running mate.
Discussion:
The Hill and Washington Post
RELATED:

Advice Regarding Akin — My advice, for what it's worth, to conservatives and Republicans desperate to see Todd Akin off the ballot in Missouri: You've made your point. You've bewailed and denounced and threatened. Now it's time to hearken to the words of Lincoln, in his great Temperance Address …
Discussion:
Politico, The Spectacle Blog, American Power and Moe Lane


Illinois Republicans Discuss Akin, Party Response
Discussion:
Wonkette, CNN, Politico, Daily Kos, The Huffington Post, Mediaite, Associated Press and The Raw Story

Boxer: Akin is the symptom, but Ryan and Romney are the disease
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Politico, Washington Examiner, Weasel Zippers, Hot Air and The PJ Tatler

Michael Steele: GOP plank not ‘mainstream’
Discussion:
Little Green Footballs, NewsBusters.org, Mediaite and Guardian


Texas Judge Suggests He Will Join ‘Civil Unrest, Civil Disobedience, Civil War Maybe’ If Obama Is Reelected — Judge Tom Head, a county judge in Lubbock, Texas, announced on a local television station that he would personally join the resistance against a United Nations' takeover of American sovereignty …
Discussion:
The Maddow Blog, The Raw Story and Applesauce
RELATED:

Texas Judge Warns Of ‘Civil War, Maybe’ If Obama Wins
Discussion:
Booman Tribune, Wonkette and Stinque

Like a Boss — When it comes to being a rich guy, Mitt Romney should own it — What do women want? The conventional biological wisdom is that men select mates for fertility, while women select for status — thus the commonness of younger women's pairing with well-established older men but the rarity of the converse.
Discussion:
Wonkette, Gawker, Feministing, The Agonist, The Hinterland Gazette, The Raw Story, Sadly, No! and Shakesville

CBO warns of deep recession if Congress fails to avert ‘fiscal cliff’ — The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) on Wednesday warned the economy will enter a recession next year if the country goes over the so-called fiscal cliff. — In its most dire warning yet about the fiscal cliff …
Discussion:
Washington Times, CNN, Wake up America, MarketBeat, Wall Street Journal, Hot Air and Weekly Standard
RELATED:

Isaac lashing the Lesser Antilles; TD 10 forms — Tropical Storm Isaac is lashing the entire Lesser Antilles chain of islands with heavy rains this morning, and the winds will be on the increase this afternoon as the storm heads west at 19 mph. Isaac is still a weak and disorganized tropical storm, but that is changing.
Discussion:
CNN, Taylor Marsh, Hot Air, AccuWeather.com, The Hill, Political Insider, Washington Post and Outside the Beltway
RELATED:


Networks may miss Ann Romney speech — Ann Romney may not make primetime during next week's Republican National Convention. — The three major television networks — NBC, ABC, and CBS — are not airing primetime coverage of the RNC on Monday, the opening night of the convention and the night …
Discussion:
Election 2012, Daily Kos and Mediaite
RELATED:

Limited Convention Coverage Will Leave Ann Romney Off Air
Discussion:
CNN, more at Mediagazer »


Costs Seen in Romney's Medicare Savings Plan — WASHINGTON — Mitt Romney's promise to restore $716 billion that he says President Obama “robbed” from Medicare has some health care experts puzzled, and not just because his running mate, Representative Paul D. Ryan, included the same savings in his House budgets.


Get Lost — So, as you might have heard, Michael Mann of Climategate infamy is threatening to sue us. — Mann is upset — very, very upset — with this Mark Steyn Corner post, which had the temerity to call Mann's hockey stick “fraudulent.” The Steyn post was mild compared with other things …
Discussion:
Power Line, The Volokh Conspiracy and RedState


A Nation Adrift From the Rule of Law — We are losing sight of the basic principles that made us great in the 20th century. — No one doubts that the coming election will be the most important referendum on the size and nature of government in a generation.
Discussion:
ProfessorBainbridge.com and The Volokh Conspiracy

Team Romney calls out Obama for misspelling ‘Ohio’ at campaign stop — President Obama needed a do-over to spell “Ohio” correctly on the campus of Ohio State University this week. — Although Obama and several students at a campaign stop Tuesday morning at Sloopy's Diner on the campus …
Discussion:
Twitchy and The Ulsterman Report

Video: Obama Says He's “Pro-Choice” on Third-Trimester Abortions — The Washington Post reports that President Obama is running his reelection campaign as a “culture warrior,” trying to cast his opponents as extremists on such issues as abortion in the case of rape and requiring religious institutions to pay for contraception.
Discussion:
LifeNews.com, BuzzFeed, The Gateway Pundit and Washington Post


GOP Votes To Toughen Penalties On Rule-Breaking States — Watch out Florida! — The Tampa Bay Times Forum, where the Republican National Convention begins next week. — Image by Tim Boyles / Getty Images — TAMPA, Florida — The Republican National Committee's Rules Committee unanimously voted …

Seniors — Grandma isn't scared of Paul Ryan. — A new Washington Post-ABC News poll shows 41 percent of Americans view the new GOP vice presidential nominee favorably, while 37 percent rate him unfavorably — slightly improved from last week's polling. — Among seniors, though …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Hot Air, The Daily Beast, Mother Jones, Michelle Malkin, Hotline On Call and DCCC

Dempsey ‘disappointed’ by anti-Obama campaign by ex-military members — The United States' top military official criticized a group of former military and intelligence operatives for its aggressive campaign against President Obama, telling Fox News that he is “disappointed” by such political activity, which he called “not useful.”
Discussion:
Politico, Mediaite, USA Today and Foreign Policy


Michelle Obama ‘Guest Editor’ for Website Featuring Sex Tips—Including from Prostitutes — Michelle Obama is identified as a “Guest Editor” on all of the website's pages, including several titled “Love & Sex.” Video clips of iVillage interviews with Mrs. Obama appear on some of those …
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers, The Ulsterman Report, protein wisdom and Jammie Wearing Fools

We Need a ‘Conservative’ Party — There has been lots of talk that Paul Ryan's nomination ensures that we'll now have a “real” debate about the role of government. That's actually funny. The bar for this campaign is so low that we celebrate the fact that it might include a serious debate …
Discussion:
Liberal Values, Hullabaloo, Wonkette and Connecting.the.Dots