Obama: Getting Through Irene Will Be ‘Tough Slog’  —  President Barack Obama offered moral support Saturday to federal emergency management workers hunkered down for Hurricane Irene's weekend march up the East Coast and 14,000 active-duty and National Guard troops were put on standby for post-storm relief work.

Rikers Island Prisoners Left Behind to Face Irene  —  “We are not evacuating Rikers Island,” Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in a news conference Friday.  Bloomberg annouced a host of extreme measures being taken by New York City in preparation for the arrival of Hurricane Irene …

Obama's Enablers  —  Meet the mainstream media.  —  As a rule, the press is the scourge of presidents.  They're expected to endure unending scrutiny, mistrust, and badgering—plus hostility if they're Republicans—by a hectoring herd of reporters and commentators in the mainstream media.

Cheney book: Bush authorized leak on Iraq  —  Dick Cheney writes in his forthcoming book, “In My Time: A Personal and Political Memoir,” that he was surprised to learn that President George W. Bush had personally authorized a leak about Iraq strategy to a Washington Post columnist …

Why won't America embrace the left?  —  In two centuries, the movement's history in America is plagued by failure.  An expert explains why  —  What has the left really accomplished over the past two centuries?  FDR's New Deal remains one of the great American success stories.

BREAKING: Perry Says He Hasn't ‘Backed Off Anything’ In His Book, Still Thinks Social Security Is Unconstitutional  —  ThinkProgress filed this report from Des Moines, IA.  —  During a campaign stop in Des Moines, Iowa today, Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) reaffirmed all the view expressed in his book Fed Up! …

Gaddafi 'seen in Zimbabwe on Mugabe's private jet' as Libya rebels march on dictator's home town  —  Colonel Muammar Gaddafi has fled Libya to Zimbabwe on a jet provided by Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe, it was claimed today, as rebels began the march on his home town.

Old Letter Sheds New Light on Joe Hill Murder Case  —  At Woodstock, Joan Baez sang a famous folk ballad celebrating Joe Hill, the itinerant miner, songwriter and union activist who was executed by a Utah firing squad in 1915.  “I never died, said he” is the song's refrain.

Man Accused of Stalking via Twitter Claims Free Speech  —  Even the Buddha of compassion might have been distressed to be on the receiving end of the diatribes that William Lawrence Cassidy is accused of posting on Twitter.  —  They certainly rattled Alyce Zeoli, a Buddhist leader based in Maryland.

State Department: Don't Invade Privacy of Cleric on CIA Kill List  —  While the New Mexico-born cleric, Anwar al-Awlaki, is the first American on the CIA's kill or capture list, the U.S. State Department refuses to release documents about al-Awlaki citing his right to privacy.

Al Gore to Rick Perry: Climate scientists aren't motivated by money  —  Al Gore on Friday bashed the notion that climate scientists are manipulating data for financial gain, a charge levied by global warming skeptics, including GOP White House hopeful Rick Perry.

BREAKING: Joe Solmonese to leave HRC in December; official announcement on Tuesday  —  This is a Pam's House Blend exclusive.  —  Yes, it's the end of an era.  The Blend has learned, from a trusted source in a position to know the details, that Joe Solmonese, President of the Human Rights Campaign …