JIM LINDGREN: “One thing I learned tonight is that neither Charlie Gibson nor anyone on his staff reads the Volokh Conspiracy (or Hot Air for that matter).”

UPDATE: Taking my daughter to school just now, I heard NPR’s David Folkenflik repeat the error that Sarah Palin was confused by the Bush Doctrine. Good grief, can’t these people read something besides Kos? If they can’t manage InstaPundit, they could at least read TalkLeft. I’m seriously beginning to lose faith in the honesty and professionalism of the mainstream media . . . .

MCCAIN’S HAD A GOOD COUPLE OF WEEKS, but I think it’s a little early to be writing Obama’s political obituary.

ALTERNATIVE ENERGY: Thin Film Solar Companies Raise Hundreds of Millions in Funding.

VIRGINIA POSTREL: “Jihadi terrorism in fact combines two ancient forms of glamour–the martial and the religious–with the modern promise of media celebrity.” Yes, terrorism is a creature of, or, if you prefer, a parasite upon, the mass media.

LOU MINATTI reports on hurricane preparations in Houston.

“PAINFULLY UNCOMFORTABLE.”

MORE ON IKE FROM BRENDAN LOY, including this: “Ike will probably remain Cat. 2 — but storm surge will be huge.” His advice: “Get the Hell out. . . . Coastal residents, do not treat this storm like a typical Category 2! The Gulf of Mexico is about to temporarily reclaim a large chunk of prime Texas real estate. If you’re in a surge zone, this no time to hunker down and complacently recall the names of all the previous storms you’ve successfully weathered, or confidently assert that Ike will turn right, like Rita did. (It might. But you don’t know that. No one does.) This is the time to move inland, to higher ground. Get out of Ike’s way!” Personally, I don’t believe in getting crosswise with hurricanes. So that’s my advice.

VANITY FAIR ON THE PRESS, POLITICS AND POWER:

In the voting booth on November 4, it’s likely that most members of the media will pull the lever for Barack Obama. Whether or not they put aside their professional standards and actively try to get him elected is another matter. But because conspiracy theories are fun (see VF.com’s Trig Palin parentage timeline ), let’s assume for a moment that they do. Is there any way they could effectively accomplish it? Let’s review what they’ve tried so far:

1. Fawning coverage of Obama (the candidate with a halo-like glow around him on the covers of Newsweek, Time, and Rolling Stone; Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews gushing so embarrassingly that they had to be removed from MSNBC’s anchor desk)

2. Digging dirt on Obama’s opponents (The Times’s innuendo-laced piece about McCain’s ties to lobbyist Vicki Iseman; the poorly fact-checked stories about Palin’s supposed book-banning and secessionist proclivities)

3. Tough but fair investigations into McCain and Palin’s various lies, bad decisions, and questionable policies
Those are pretty much the only weapons in the media’s arsenal, and so far none of them have really worked.

Read the whole thing.

FINANCIAL TIMES: Democrats on Capitol Hill fear Obama fallout. “Democratic jitters about the US presidential race have spread to Capitol Hill, where some members of Congress are worried that Barack Obama’s faltering campaign could hurt their chances of re-election.”

GOOD FOR BARACK OBAMA: “Barack Obama says that ROTC should be allowed on campuses such as Columbia, which would offer an honest debate. He also thinks that the economic difference should also be fixed, though he rejects a draft.”

GOOD QUESTION: “What is it about Sarah Palin that seems to have driven so many smart, thoughtful Obama supporters around the bend?”

Or maybe they just weren’t as smart and thoughtful as they seemed.

TOM SMITH: “The New Republic hits on a clever strategy to counter Palinsanity. Send out reporters to cover McCain Palin events and then write things making fun of the women they meet there, how they dress, and their children. In my experience, women really respond well to that sort of thing. . . . BUT check out the comments to the TNR piece. Readers seemed not to have picked up on the condescending tone, and are saying ‘yeah, Sarah is great.’ This is just too funny, when TNR readers misread.”

SARAH PALIN WAS ON CHARLIE GIBSON — I was busy with PJTV, but Hot Air has coverage. Gibson apparently made the mistake of relying on the AP, always risky . . . .

UPDATE: More here and here.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Still more. Also here.

Plus, much more from Tom Maguire. “I’ll score one for Palin’s briefers and smite the ABC News prep team. Geez, maybe Palin is ready to be Vice President and maybe she’s not, but is ABC qualified to interview Vice Presidents?” Plus, looking back on Lincoln and God: “John Edwards actually nailed the Lincoln connection. So there you go – on this topic anyway, Sarah Palin is at least as prepared for the Vice-Presidency as John Edwards.” Not sure you’re helping her there, Tom, but point taken.

MORE: POLITICO: Final score: McCain wins the day. “Sarah Palin confronted a major obstacle in her interview with Charlie Gibson – her first one-on-one as a vice presidential candidate – and appears to have held her own.”

STILL MORE: TalkLeft: “Indeed, her eventual answer to the question is extremely sensible (unlike Bush and McCain’s actual policies) and smart politics. She did not accept the premise of Gibson’s question and then gave a sensible answer to the question.” Also, a suggestion that fellow lefty blogs aren’t helping the side by engaging in over-the-top responses, a piece of excellent advice that is sure to be ignored.

Plus, McCain’s blog guy, Patrick Hynes, comments on the press coverage. “Later, many conservative blogs called out Charlie Gibson for demanding Gov. Palin answer for something she did not say regarding the War in Iraq being a task from God. However, I was struck by the number of journalists who, despite the Googles at their fingertips, framed her remark as a change in her position, even though it was Gibson who had his facts wrong.” They’re really running with this rapid-response thing. They’ll probably have a YouTube response by the time I get up tomorrow.

Plus, more bad reviews for Gibson. I guess he was underprepared.

And Jim Treacher offers a sneak peek at Part 2.

FINALLY: Reminding Josh Marshall of Obama’s position. “Hmm, speaking of policies learned in the past week – in March of this year Obama supported NATO membership for Georgia and the Ukraine. And did he back down during the scuffling in Georgia this August? He did not . . . Too funny. I think we can count on Dr.M to simply move on (what, you expect a correction or clarification?) but the real fun will be in seeing how many other Attack Drones follow his lead. . . . Time does not permit me to wallow in Marshall’s embarrassment or to see how many sheep have followed him out to pasture. But do enjoy the barrel-fishing.” Marshall has really embarrassed himself these past two weeks. But there’s safety in numbers there since, as noted at TalkLeft, he’s not alone.

And if it’s Obama’s position, it must be progressive!

Also, did ABC edit out its mistakes for the West Coast?

Taylor Marsh: “But what she’s saying is that honoring our responsibility as a NATO ally we would be obliged to come to the aid of any country under serious threat, as would others in NATO. Can anyone prove she’s wrong? … .. I didn’t think so. Right, we don’t have the troops, which Putin knows all too well. However, that’s not the issue in this interview. Sounds to me like we’re at the water’s edge on this one. Review? Lowered expectations going in. Quick study. Holds her own. Point to Palin. Deadly outcome for Democrats. Palin just might be the gift that keeps on giving… to the Republicans.”

And reader C.J. Burch writes: “When talk left is giving a Republican candidate a fair run on the Bush doctrine that’s news. Maybe we should all spend less time lsitening to reporters and more time listening to people, hunh?”

Mike Rappaport: “Bad form and bad journalism on Gibson’s part. When Gibson asked the question, I wasn’t sure exactly what the Bush Doctrine was. There were a couple of different notions associated with it and I wasn’t sure there was a single one that was the Bush Doctrine. I assumed that I was just ignorant, and that Gibson was trying to trip up Palin. . . . Of course, there are boobs out there who don’t realize the tricks that are being played.”

IF YOU MISSED IT LIVE, you can still watch Pajamas TV’s special 9/11 anniversary coverage. I’m on, along with a lot of luminaries ranging from TigerHawk to Andrew Breitbart.

SOME 9/11 THOUGHTS: “You know, it didn’t cross my mind that there could be another 9/11 attack today until I read Glen’s comment. Do you think there is someone who deserves a little credit for this ease of mind we enjoy?”

VIDEO: Kanye West arrested at airport.

Plus, new TSA laptop guidelines.

NEWS IN THE ROSENBERG CASE:

Ever since he was tried and convicted with Julius and Ethel Rosenberg on espionage charges in 1951, Morton Sobell has maintained his innocence.

Until now. In an interview on Thursday, Mr. Sobell, who served nearly 19 years in Alcatraz and other federal prisons, admitted for the first time that he had been a Soviet spy. And he implicated his fellow defendant, Julius Rosenberg, in a conspiracy that delivered to the Soviets vital classified military information and what the American government claimed was the secret to the atomic bomb.

Before my time, but I believe that all right-thinking people believed the Rosenbergs innocent back then. I wonder what other beliefs, widely shared among right-thinking people today, will turn out to be similarly wrong in 50 years?

REASON TV: Drew Carey tours Second Life.