Republicans are equating the Quran book burning to building a mosque in Manhattan. “Pastor” Terry Jones’ Quran-threatening circus shows that the enemy of American democracy isn’t just foreign terrorists, but also homegrown idiots turning U.S. policy into reality TV. How does a fringe preacher go from 50 congregants to the front page of 50 newspapers [...]

Huffington Post: Introducing DNC Chairman Tim Kaine at the University of Pennsylvania, the retiring Pennsylvania Democrat, known for his oratorical flair, warned about the government being taken over by “whackos.” He called some of the more colorful characters in the Republican Party “fruit loops.” He derided House Minority Leader John Boehner as “the tan guy,” [...]

Will Bunch, For Media Matters: September 11 is a very important day for Glenn Beck. For one thing, the king of all right-wing media talks about it all the time — more on that in a second. What’s more, the horrors of Sept. 11, 2001, are pretty much what made the Fox News Channel host [...]

Media Matters: Dick Morris, purporting to be an expert on the deficit from working in the Clinton White House, attacked President Obama for proposing to let the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans expire, claiming that “is just a method of increasing the deficit.” In fact, extending tax cuts actually adds to the deficit. [...]

STRATEGIC ADJUSTMENTS: Obama Raises Stakes and Redefines Debate For The Midterm Elections — President Obama decided this week to raise the stakes in this fall’s election by making the choice about something instead of nothing but anger. Even Democrats concede that a Republican sweep may be in the cards. But there is another possibility: that [...]