Soros: I Can't Stop a Republican ‘Avalanche’  —  George Soros, the billionaire financier who was an energetic Democratic donor in the last several election cycles but is sitting this one out, is not feeling optimistic about Democratic prospects.  —  “I made an exception getting involved in 2004 …

‘The Simpsons’ Explains Its Button-Pushing Banksy Opening  —  How did “The Simpsons” manage to track down Banksy, the pseudonymous British artist, and get him to create the powerful opening-credit sequence from Sunday's episode, which seems to reveal the torturous sweatshop responsible for the show's creation?

North Carolina Muslim Admits Working with al Qaeda: “Proud to be an American Traitor” [Full text]  —  I think we can quit with the speculation about where he went and why  —  Update by Rusty: The full text of Khan's story can be found at the end of this post.  —  I'm reading the magazine now and will continue to update.

Republicans Maintain Strength Among Likely Voters  —  Race generally stable; independents remain key benefit for GOP  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Republicans maintain a substantial advantage over Democrats among likely voters in Gallup's generic ballot for Congress — in both lower- and higher-turnout scenarios …

Why Obama Is in the Jaws of Political Death  —  Barack Obama is being politically crushed in a vise.  From above, by elite opinion about his competence.  From below, by mass anger and anxiety over unemployment.  And it is too late for him to do anything about this predicament until after November's elections.

Axelrod to US Chamber: What Are You Hiding That You Don't Want the American People to See?  —  We caught up with White House senior adviser David Axelrod today to chat about the current controversy about the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and whether any of its ads are being funded with foreign money.

Trending: ‘Exuberant’ author aims for President, meets Secret Service  —  (CNN) - The Secret Service is now shedding some more light on the circumstances surrounding a man who threw a book at President Obama at an event in Pennsylvania Sunday.  And they're not throwing the book at him.

3 Share Nobel Economics Prize for Labor Analysis  —  The 2010 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science was awarded on Monday to Peter A. Diamond, Dale T. Mortensen and Christopher A. Pissarides for their work on markets where buyers and sellers have difficulty finding each other …

More Great Candidates to Support This Year  —  I've just finished up another great week of travel across our country.  From Florida to California, the feeling is unmistakable.  A commonsense grassroots movement is determined to get our country back to its founding principles and constitutional roots.

Fiorina, Whitman down tequila shots  —  California's top Republican candidates, Senate hopeful Carly Fiorina and gubernatorial hopeful Meg Whitman, took a timeout from taking shots at their opponents over weekend to take shots of tequila.  —  Appearing at the Hispanic 100 Lifetime Achievement …

White Men With Guns—Reconstruction Redux  —  I saw it.  But I couldn't believe it.  —  There I was, in a fast food drive through, behind a man whose back window decal, in small white letters, sent me a message that sent a chill down my spine—just as he'd hoped it would, no doubt.  It said:

Former VP Dick Cheney appears gaunt at California event months after heart procedure  —  WASHINGTON - Former Vice President Dick Cheney appeared gaunt and frail as he defended Bush administration terror policies before a sellout California crowd over the weekend.

“Progressive Hunter”  —  Jailhouse Confession: How the right-wing media and Glenn Beck's chalkboard drove Byron Williams to plot assassination … Byron Williams' alleged domestic terror plot began in Groveland, a tiny Gold Rush town nestled high in the Sierras, three hours east of San Francisco.

Source: Brown's wife called Whitman a ‘whore’  —  gubernatorial race, meg whitman, jerry brown, politics  —  Fox News is claiming it has sources whom have identified the person in Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown's campaign who called Republican challenger Meg Whitman a “whore.”

Buck's refusal to prosecute 2005 rape case reverberates in U.S. Senate race  —  Critics: Weld DA's treatment of alleged victim ‘shows his general view of women’  —  When Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck refused to prosecute a rape case five years ago, he probably had no idea …

The President's Nun: Obamacare Scranton Scandal Explodes  —  Can you say “October Surprise”?  —  A mushrooming political battle over ObamaCare involving the White House, two incumbent Pennsylvania congressmen, three Catholic hospitals and a nun has just exploded in, of all places, Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Column: An ugly word for an ugly economy  —  You may not know the term “hysteresis.”  It's the “lagging of an effect behind its cause,” and it's an ugly word that sounds like a foot fungus.  It's also an ugly thing to have happen to your economy.  And it may be what's happening to ours.

Democrats Are Conflicted Over Black Vote, Obama  —  ST. LOUIS—Democrats say it is critical that they turn out African American voters this November.  But for Robin Carnahan, the party's nominee for Senate in Missouri, that is proving to be a tricky proposition.

Manchin: If healthcare reform can't be fixed, ‘repeal the whole thing’  —  West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin (D), who is in a tough fight for a Senate seat, said Monday he'd support repealing the healthcare reform law if it can't be fixed.  —  Manchin, who's been falling behind in his race …

Hey, Small Spender  —  Here's the narrative you hear everywhere: President Obama has presided over a huge expansion of government, but unemployment has remained high.  And this proves that government spending can't create jobs.  —  Here's what you need to know: The whole story is a myth.

Americans' Image of “Federal Government” Mostly Negative  —  More than 7 in 10 describe government in negative terms  —  PRINCETON, NJ — More than 7 in 10 Americans use a word or phrase that is clearly negative when providing a top-of-mind reaction to the federal government.