Who Needs Facts When You Have Misspelled E-mails?
18 percent of Americans -- and 31 percent of Republicans -- believe Barack Obama is a Muslim. More to the point, the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life spent good money calling a bunch of people and asking them about this, and then all of your major news outlets get to cluck and say "Ooh, this really means something or other," and everyone gets to fill time in the August news lull, so America's ignorance is a make-work program, really. Also, people who think he's a Muslim are more likely to think he's doing a bad job. There are no solid numbers on how many Americans think he's a half-breed.[ Fox ]WikiLeaks and the Pentagon were supposed to have this phone call, wherein the Pentagon was going to tell them things that were extra extra really secret and they honestly shouldn't reveal them (according to Wikileaks), or wherein the Pentagon was going to yell at them and demand their stuff back (according to the Pentagon). But the WikiLeaks lawyer didn't even answer the phone when they called. Probably he was high or something. [ NYT ]
The Deputy White House Press Secretary is using crafty reverse psychology to make sure no news happens while the President is partying on Martha's Vineyard. [ WP ]
Some freshman senators have made some wacky proposals, based on problems they've noticed in their first two years on the job, that include things like not allowing bills to be held up by a single anonymous senator, and having one half of the chamber be the threshold for passing a bill, rather than 60 percent. This is because they are eager to "pass" legislation. We can only thank God that Robert Byrd isn't alive to see this madness. [ AP ]