Top Stories

• Shirley Sherrod says she'll sue Andrew Breitbart
• Republicans Block Bill to Aid Small Business
• House ethics committee unveils 13 ethics charges against Rep. Charles Rangel
• Welcome to the Republican Tea Party: Dems Push Back
• GOP Filibusters Small Business Bill After Criticizing Dems for Delay
• Obama Takes on Teachers Unions, Insists on Performance Standards (via HuffPo)
• Obama Trumpets Democrats' Small-Business Bona Fides

Below the Fold

• BP fights lawsuit as jobless grow desperate
• Obama: America needs to hear Sherrod's full story
• Hostile senators unload on ex-Arlington chiefs
• Obama says he'll still push for an energy bill
Analysis ►  • If Ronald Reagan was the classic Teflon president, Barack Obama is made of Velcro
• July deadliest month of Afghan war for U.S.
• Emotions Flare After Draconian AZ Immigration Law Is Blocked
Analysis ►  • Rangel Case Poses Test for Democrats as Elections Near
Analysis ►  • Charles Rangel Trial: GOP Gets Its Wish for a Case During Campaign Season
• Wyly Brothers Gave Millions to Over 200 Republican Candidates
Watch this! ►  • Anthony Weiner Goes Ballistic at GOP for Killing 9/11 Responders Health Care Bill
• Tell White House Correspondents Assoc.: Don't Reward Fox "News" with Helen Thomas' WH Press Pool Seat
• Chris Matthews gets Breitbart story 100% wrong, embarrasses himself on Hardball
• Proof positive: Unemployment benefits NOT a work disincentive
Analysis ►  • The ACORN doesn't fall far from the nutball – why has there been no MSM reevaluation of that journalistic travesty?
Watch this! ►  • Tea Partying 'patriots' ginning themselves up for a shooting war – and GOP politicians are on board
Analysis ►  • Chris Bowers: Biggest mistake of the Obama admin? Not getting rid of the filibuster
• US outrage as scandal grows over Arlington military grave mix-up
• Michele Bachmann to give away funds donated by fraudulent vets charity
• Rangel Ethics Panel Begins Trial Phase; Potential Deal in Limbo
• Obama 'The View' Interview: President Blasts Media Over Sherrod Firing
Analysis ►  • Did Bush DOJ Intentionally Appoint Tainted Special Prosecutors?
• Shirley Sherrod to Sue Andrew Breitbart
Analysis ►  • What legislation is coming for the 99ers?
• Eleventh hour before special ethics panel for Charlie Rangel
Watch this! ►  • Obama to Sign Tribal Law And Order Act Today
• We had co-conspirators, DC sniper tells William Shatner
• Congress Moves to Narrow Cocaine Sentencing Disparities
• House lawmakers, citing corruption, may block $4 billion in aid to Afghanistan
Analysis ►  • Media fooled by right-wing propaganda – again; reporters and editors are too scared of the "liberal media" label to fact-check the right
Analysis ►  • Why the press – and public – ignored two huge stories
• AZ Gov. Brewer: Fight over AZ law 'far from over'
• Sen. Franken: Stop the corporate takeover of the media

Rep. Gingrey on the GOP: 'I don't think we'll ever be as big a tent organization as the Democratic Party.' | John Boehner launches new effort to boost party, himself

Analysis ►  What Newt's really running for (Hint: It's not president) | NV-Gov: GOP candidate Brian Sandoval lies about Arizona law comment | WA-Sen: DeMint Backs Rossi in Washington | FL-Sen: Can Meek even get out of the Democratic primary? | NV-Sen: Sharron Angle Senate Campaign Is Object Lesson in How to Lose An 11-Point Lead in 7 Weeks | TX-Sen: Sharp's bid still alive, just on hold | NC-08: the suddenly-contested 8th district race will center around jobs | Is Illinois Ready for a Third Party? You Betcha. | KY-Sen: Rand Paul Claims Controversial Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining Isn't So Bad | MO-Sen: Teabaggers want Bachmann to stay away | NC: Political strategists and PAC money paved way for school board takeover | CO-Sen: Norton continues to spout bogus budget lines | IA: Santorum says Pawlenty is engaging in 'class warfare' | IA Dem strategist says GOP platform 'relentlessly kooky' | Angela McGlowan Returns to Fox News After Losing Bid for Congress | California Republicans shunning one traditional path to victory: the environment | Palin running fifth in New Hampshire poll

MI-Gov: New poll shows Bernero leading Dem. primary | FL-Gov, Sen: Self-financed candidates Greene, Scott jump to leads over party candidates

NV-Sen: Sharron Angle has spent more than $600,000 on shady firm Base Connect | Watch this! ►  Meet the Republicans' Counterpart to Alvin Greene | CO-Gov: Dan Maes Says He's Still in Race Despite Robocalls

Oil industry is driving force behind Proposition 23's attack on California's new greenhouse gas law

NV-Gov: Sandoval (R) isn't worried about SB 1070 because his kids look white | Perry Claims Texas Has the 'Best Health Care in the Country' While It Has the Worst Uninsured Rate | Vitter Likens 70 Year-Old Drug Safety Board to a 'Death Panel'

MI State Sen. Anderson calls for legislation to hold oil companies fully accountable for costs of spills | Rep. Steve King's opposition to bill combating rape on tribal land questioned | Congress Rethinks Its Ban on Internet Gambling | Financial reform law exempts SEC from information requests

Rep. Keith Ellison says GOP and tea party 'have been fused'

Sheriff Joe Arpaio Not Relenting After Court Ruling | Bowles of U.S. Debt Commission Putting Focus on Spending Cuts

Romer: Extending Bush tax cuts "wrong answer"

Obama Mocks Polls But Spends More on Them ($4.4M) Than Bush Did

The final lesson of BP: Big money corporations are still free to influence politics

Pelosi Defends Democrats on Ethics | Stanford's former financial empire even murkier than originally reported; was it used to launder intelligence money? | House Ethics Committee Reaches a Deal with Charles Rangel – Maybe | Alberto Gonzales still working at DOJ??? | California's city officials scramble to limit damage from Bell scandal | Hundreds of FBI agents probed over cheating on surveillance test

Michele Bachmann Flirts with Tancredo's Obama Impeachment Claim

Poll: Nearly 6 in 10 Pakistanis view US as the enemy | Body of second American sailor found in Afghanistan | Envoy Says Corruption Helps Taliban Win Recruits

Ex-Arlington chief blames staff for mix-ups | Veterans Agency to Probe Insurer Handling Soldiers' Benefits

Al-Qaida 'planned 9/11 style attack on Kabul'

Shawna Forde and her killer Minutemen had scheduled other 'operations' when they were arrested for murders

Fidel Castro will take his secrets to the grave

Nuclear Forensics Skill Is Declining in U.S., Report Says | Wikileaks data: suspected army source sent back to US

'Worst Bush-era policies' becoming the 'new normal': ACLU

Top Judiciary Republican calls Kagan "dangerous"

White House Seeks to Clarify F.B.I. Powers vis-à-vis E-Mail

Weekly Standard editor Fred "The Weasel" Barnes claimed political purity in bashing Journolist, but he's on the Republican payroll | CBS Staffer Alleges Redstone Abuse | Millionaire TV celebrity declares "Most Americans are like me" | Conservative media oblivious to major increase in border enforcement | Breitbart was the problem, not "bloggers" | Right wing rushes to malign AZ judge – who Kyl called "highly competent, very well respected" | Murdoch seeks $600,000 from White House for news service | Conservative paper's partisan links back data requests, despite denials | Atrios: "TIME Magazine Can't Die Soon Enough " | Journalism killed by liberal bloggers e-mailing each other, Drudgico Politico declares

Shirley Sherrod: "I will not give FOX an interview, period. They had their chance to get the truth, and they were not interested." | Before admitting a "breakdown," Fox aggressively denied prematurely covering Sherrod story | Beck denies being "responsible" for planned massacre at office of group he demonized | Fox News / Fox Business Make Up Story on SEC & FOIA | FOX News backs a new poll tax

Analysis ►  Creating an automatic unemployment insurance extension system | Bashing immigrants isn't good for Arizona's economy | Job Subsidies Also Provide Help to Private Sector | New Jobless Claims Remain Elevated

Andrew Cumo, NY AG, Probes Insurance Companies Over Reports of Witholding Payments to Soldiers' Families | FTC Restricts Debt Settlement Industry

NM Planned Parenthood rallies supporters against Operation Rescue

Analysis ►  Arizona's immigration law: is it aimed at criminals or at workers? | In Colorado, Debate Over Program to Check Immigration History of the Arrested | Lindsey Graham considering overturning the 14th amendment to end 'birthright citizenship.'

Company at center of Michigan oil leak cited for problems | Defining Extremism: GOP Opposes Federal Fracking Regs REGARDLESS of Whether EPA Finds Poisoning

Team of federal investigators forms to launch criminal inquiry on BP oil spill | BP Name Change: Amoco Possible Rebranding Option for Stations | Backlash against Bobby Jindal's bluster

Henry Paulson: Fannie, Freddie Should Become Like 'Public Utilities' | Foreclosures up in 75 percent of top U.S. metro areas

Right-Wing Group Launches 'Anti-Islamic' Bus Ads in Major Cities

Gingrich played the fool about race. But so did some liberal leaders