Did Jerry Lewis (ask your grandparents) really call somebody an “illiterate faggot” in the exhausting final hours of the Labor Day Telethon? Hell if I know! I’d have to watch the video to find out, so get back to me on that one, will you? In other news, it turns out that the Labor Day Telethon still exists! [After Elton]

WALNUTS! McCain has it on his head. Rudy Giuliani used to have it in his butt. John Edwards’ wife has it, too, and there’s a good chance some of Rudy and Mitt’s other wives have it or had it or will get it. MORE »

Photo: house.gov/jerrylewis MORE »

• Deputy Secretary of State Robert B. Zoellick is resigning to join the private sector, conveniently for the New York Times‘ ongoing series on officials working in domestic security who’ve found the private sector more lucrative [WP, NYT, NYT]

• Barack Obama has spent the recess “touring the country at breakneck pace,” is strongly considering an ‘08 run. [WP]
• Duncan Hunter releases list of his pet earmarks for the ‘07 budget. [WP]
• At least 19 California towns have paid millions of dollar to a single DC lobbying firm to influence their own congressman, Rep. Jerry Lewis. Lewis has close ties to the firm, which “drawn the attention of a federal investigation into the relationships between lobbyists and lawmakers.” [LAT]

• So Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA) has hired Attorney Robert Bonner, who used to run the U.S. Attorney’s Office that’s now investigating Lewis. [TPMMuckraker]

• Did Rove get immunity in exchange for his cooperation? [FireDogLake ]
• Crooked Timber makes it easy to read Solzhenitsyn into Guantanamo. [Crooked Timber]
• Last night Rep. Steve King (R-IA) said Iraq wasn’t very dangerous. In fact, he said, his wife is in more danger living in DC: “Well I by now have a feel for the rhythm of this place called Washington, D.C., and my wife lives here with me, and I can tell you, Mr. Speaker, she’s at far greater risk being a civilian in Washington, D.C. than an average civilian in Iraq.” [Think Progress]
• This one is really just about the photo. [Shakespeare's Sister]

• The Counterterrorism Blog keeps track of reactions to Zarqawi’s death. Proterrorism Blog strangely silent all day. [The Counterterrorism Blog]

• Shockey news on House Appropriations Chair Jerry Lewis (R-CA) and Terroristster.com. [TPM Muckraker One and Two]
• Yearly Kos attendees starting to lose us: “We, the people, are coming to power slowly and indefatigably, here in Vegas.” [Daily Kos]
• In Sen. Rick Santorum’s (R-PA) 2005 book, It Takes a Family, he talks about the “weird socialization” of public school kids. For the audio book, he grasps for poll numbers and changes the language to “strange socialization.” [Attytood]
• ABC News publishes the name and picture of the informant who ratted out Zarqawi. It’s cool that ABC’s The Blotter allows open comments, especially today when the commenters are pissed. [The Blotter]

• Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, al-Qaida leader, is killed in Iraq by a “precision airstrike”; Bush says it’s “a significant victory in the war on terror.” [AP]
• George H.W. Bush “waged a secret campaign over several months” to replace Rumsfeld with a “retired four-star general,” but the president held firm. [Salon]
• Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) exposes how Cheney played hardball with the Judiciary Committee. [NYT]
• Victory in California primary “settled Republicans nerves,” but the margin was slim and the campaign was expense. Ken Mehlman: “You see a lot of things that are bellwethers, and they indicate Republicans are in position to hold Congress.” Professor: “The fact that Busby got 15 points over Democratic registration, that should make Republicans nervous. It’s not that Bilbray won. This is a safe Republican seat. I was very surprised that $5 million doesn’t allow you to break 50 percent.” [WP, NYT, LAT, USAT]
• Constitutional amendment banning gay marriage fails to get 60 votes needed to end debate; roll calls ends with 49 yeas, 48 nays. Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.): “We’re not going to stop until marriage between a man and a woman is protected… for the future of our children in this society.” [WP, NYT, USAT]
• FBI threatened to pick the lock of Rep. William Jefferson’s office when a Capitol Police official hesitated. [WP]

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• Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) has learned nothing from HBO’s Big Love. [Political Animal]

• Lieutentant Ehren Watada refuses to go to Iraq when Stryker Brigade is deployed. Wizbang readers want him shot: “They had a better way of dealing with this sort of thing during WWII. It was called a ‘firing squad’” and then turn on each other: “You cry babies have no clue and shit for memories.” [Wizbang]
• House Appropriations Chairman Jerry Lewis’ (R-CA) is even more screwed. Remember when Letitia White bought a house with a defense contractor who wanted funds earmarked from Lewis’ committee? And then that house turned out to be the headquarters for a Political Action Committee? Today we learn that PAC is operated by Lewis’ stepdaughter, Julie Willis-Leon. [TPM Muckraker]
• Zakaria Amara is punk as shit: “I hate flags. I hate countries… I hate man made laws…. I hate nationalism with a passion…” Or, as the Sex Pistols put it: “Get Pissed Destroy!” [Pajamas Media]

• “Bipartisan uproar” erupts over the depth and legality of the NSA’s monitoring of domestic calls; Bush defends surveillance activities, saying, “Our efforts are focused on links to al-Qaeda and their known affiliates.” [WP, NYT, USAT, WSJ]
• Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) may subpeona phone company executives; Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.): “I believe we are on our way to a major constitutional confrontation on Fourth Amendment guarantees of unreasonable search and seizure.” [WP, USAT, USAT]
• Senate leaders reach compromise on immigration; legislation could hit the floor next week. [NYT]
• Senate approves $70B tax plan by vote of 54 to 44. [WP, NYT, USAT]
• Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.): “Impeachment is off the table.” [WP]

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• Tape from Osama bin Laden surfaces, his first since December 2004: “[Al Qaeda] operations are under preparation and you will see them in your homes the minute they are ready.” [WP, NYT, USAT, WT]
• Independent counsel is unable “to say with certainty whether any criminal laws were broken” by Henry Cisneros, but there was “a coverup at high levels of our government.” [WP, USAT, WT]
• Justice Department analysis supports the legality of warrentless eavesdropping. [WP, NYT]
• Bush previews State of the Union message: “The best way to solve the deficit is to grow the economy, not run up your taxes.” [USAT, WT]
• Most Americans “could not care less” about the lobbying scandal; corruption is seen as bipartisan. [WP]
• Liberal group calls for Justice Department investigation of Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Calif) regarding hedge fund donations. [USAT]
• Additional Democratic senators –including Leahy and Salazar– announce their intention to oppose Samuel Alito. [WP]
• Republican National Committee set to break with Bush over immigration. [LAT]

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