Growing Number of Americans Say Obama is a Muslim  —  Religion, Politics and the President  —  OVERVIEW  —  A substantial and growing number of Americans say that Barack Obama is a Muslim, while the proportion saying he is a Christian has declined.  More than a year and a half into his presidency …

AP Standards Center issues staff advisory on covering New York City mosque  —  Associated Press Deputy Managing Editor for Standards and Production Tom Kent sent the following note to the staff about covering the New York City mosque story:  —  Colleagues,

Weekly Jobless Claims Post Surprise Jump, Hit 500,000  —  New U.S. claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly climbed to a nine-month high last week, yet another setback to the frail economic recovery.  —  Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 12,000 to a seasonally adjusted 500,000 …

Blunt employing throw everything at Robin and hope something sticks strategy  —  I am having a hard time understanding the campaign strategy of Seventh District Congressman Roy Blunt.  In the accompanying video, Blunt apparently wants us to be deeply offended because Robin Carnahan …

Sink Inching Up In Close Florida Gov Race, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Crist Leads Three-Way Senate Race  —  Apparently bolstered by the civil war for the Republican nomination for Governor in Florida, State Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, the Democrat, is on the plus side …

Clemens to Be Indicted for Perjury in Doping Testimony  —  Federal authorities have decided to indict Roger Clemens on charges of making false statements to Congress about his use of performance-enhancing drugs, according to two people briefed on the matter.  —  An announcement is expected later today.

The Battle for the Term “Feminist”: Sarah Palin Wins This Round  —  Yesterday, the pro-choice group Emily's List released a video with a bunch of women in “mama grizzly” suits telling Sarah Palin that she doesn't speak for them.  Well, Palin's seen the video, and she's responded with an epic …

Breaking: Blago Holdout Retired State Employee Who Once Handed Out Campaign Literature For Relative Seeking Office; NPR and Liberal Talk Radio Listener  —  Here's what Fox local news in Chicago reports: … Note that that is not yet confirmed.  It is now confirmed by CBS local news Chicago.

Last U.S. combat convoy has left Iraq  —  Mosul, Iraq (CNN) — The last U.S. brigade combat team in Iraq has left the country, a move that helps U.S. President Barack Obama reach his goal of 50,000 troops in the country by September 1.  —  Their departure leaves about 56,000 U.S. troops in the country, according to the U.S. military.

Please forgive me for the actions of extremists I have never met who commit acts of violence that I have never advocated  —  As a white male Baptist, it is my duty today to denounce the violence perpetrated by Patrick Gray Sharp, 29, who yesterday attacked the police headquarters in McKinney …

How To Lose A Guy In 75 Days  —  Two years after his coattails helped sweep two dozen Democrats into office, President Obama is proving more a boon to Republicans than to Democrats during the midterm elections.  His poll numbers are so morose that Democrats are planning ways to avoid his shadow …

Skip the lecture on Israel's ‘risks for peace’  —  In the intifada that began in 2000, Palestinian terrorism killed more than 1,000 Israelis.  As a portion of U.S. population, that would be 42,000, approaching the toll of America's eight years in Vietnam.  During the onslaught …

Obama on the Trail  —  Illinois voters say they would be negatively influenced if a candidate was endorsed by Barack Obama.  And if his support isn't an asset in his home state it's hard to imagine where it is.  —  40% of voters in the state say they'd be less likely to support …

Joe Sestak, the 60th Democrat  —  Joe Sestak stepped out of a Chevy Suburban on the morning of July 3 and met up with a group of 15 campaign volunteers gathered in the parking lot of a drugstore in Canonsburg, Pa., just southwest of Pittsburgh.  The town is the birthplace of Perry Como.

NRSC: ‘The Next Time Democrats Call You Extreme, Show Them This Video.’  —  You see it here first, folks: the new web video from the NRSC about just whose views are “extreme” around here.  —  Their closing sequence, showcasing that the so-called extreme candidates are either leading or in dead heats …

Nancy's nefarious conspiracy theory  —  Is Nancy Pelosi making a bid to join Rob ert Welch, longtime leader of the John Birch Society, as a truly great conspir acy theorist?  —  It would seem only an inspired paranoic could find it so unaccountably strange — cue the “Twilight Zone” …

‘Ground Zero’ Imam: ‘I Am a Jew, I Have Always Been One’  —  The right-wing campaign against the so-called “Ground Zero mosque” includes vicious personal attacks on the Muslim cleric who leads the Cordoba Initiative, the organization behind the plan.  I know Imam Faisal Abdul Rauf …