IN THE MAIL: From David Drake, Patriots.

AFGHANISTAN: STAY THE COURSE! “Politics is replete with irony but none greater than the sight of a president, who rose to power decrying the ultimately successful effort in one battlefield in the war on terror, looking now to those dreaded neo-con pundits and Republican lawmakers for support against the pre-9/11 mentality he was all too happy to promote on the campaign trail. . . . Maybe Obama should put aside the anti-Bush venom for a moment and give his predecessor a call—he might learn something about the lonely obligation of a commander in chief to resist the howls from the likes of Will, Hagel, and the netroots.”

KATHERINE MANGU-WARD: TARP Tall Tales.

J.D. JOHANNES: Outside the Bubble.

MOST APPALLING MEMBER OF CONGRESS? I dunno. I see their point, but there’s a lot of competition for that spot. . . .

JOE BIDEN: “ACTING PRESIDENT?” Don’t scare me like that . . . .

Knoxville, Tennessee. In the parking lot at Downtown West.

UPDATE: Reader James Dempsey writes: “The bumper sticker in your post is from LaRue Tactical (http://www.laruetactical.com/), a great company doing great things for American and Allied servicemembers. As the anniversary of Sept. 11th approaches, it is worth going to La Rue’s webpage and reading the biography of MSG Horrigan.”

It was parked in front of Salon Visage.

DAN RIEHL ON THE SCHOOL-SPEECH CONTROVERSY: “That what once would have been a non-event is so incredibly controversial suggests to me that a great many Americans likely feel disconnected from the nation’s political affairs right now, as well as extremely concerned about what the future’s going to bring. The crisis Rahm suggested taking advantage of doesn’t just cut one way, after all. And I doubt that any alienation, or all the concern came about from just 9 months of any one term. For decades, we’ve been cruising along relatively content in an economic sense, even taking into account some real bumps in the road along the way. Now, I believe many people are genuinely worried and perhaps hyper-sensitive to just about everything political.” Interesting times.

DAN RIEHL: The honeymoon is over. Gee, do you think?

EARL SCRUGGS AND STEVE MARTIN: FOGGY MOUNTAIN BREAKDOWN.

UH OH: Obama Support A Bit Shaky in Illinois, Tribune Poll Finds. Not as shaky as it will be. . . .

GOOD NEWS! US unemployment rate jumps to 26-year high of 9.7%. It’s good news, you see, because it’s slightly better than “expectations.” Yay!

HEH: Ed Schultz: You know who’d support the public option? Jesus. Those “Christianists” are everywhere.

MARTA MOSSBURG: Why Democrats Lost The Health Care Debate.

THE SOLITAIRE SOLON.

YOU THINK? Florida Exodus: Rising Taxes Drive Out Residents. “There are many things public officials probably shouldn’t do during a severe recession, but no one seems to have told the leaders in Florida about them. One thing, for instance, would be giving a dozen top aides hefty raises while urging a rise in property taxes, as the mayor of Miami-Dade County recently did. Or jacking up already exorbitant hurricane-insurance premiums, as Florida’s government-run property insurer just did. Or sending an army of highly paid lobbyists to push for a steep hike in electricity rates, as South Florida’s public utility is doing.”

OOPS: Despite Best Efforts, Rep. Baron Hill Ends Up on YouTube In a Compromising Position. “Rep. Baron Hill (D., Ind.) cannot possibly be this big a jerk all the time.”

UPDATE: Reader Karen Wyle writes:

I attended Rep. Baron Hill’s town hall meeting on September 2nd, and am delighted that a video made it to YouTube despite his efforts. I am no big fan of Baron Hill, my (sigh) representative in Congress, and the video is perfectly accurate – in fact, it doesn’t quite convey the intensity of his “it’s MY town hall” statements. However, in fairness, I wanted to point out that despite his apparent support for key elements of Obamacare, he made an effort to hear from both sides during the meeting, several times saying he wanted only those in opposition to ask a question next. When he tried to close the meeting with an opposition question and got one from the far left instead, he extended the meeting long enough to get a true opposition question.

Good to hear.

CELLPHONES FOR SOLDIERS: Reader Meredith Meyers writes:

I’m a huge online consumer and regularly use Amazon.com, Overstock.com, etc. for most of my purchases. (Except clothes…I’m a girl….other story.)

I just bought a new feather comforter from Overstock–have to wait until tomorrow morning to pronounce the purchase a success, ho-hum or a failure–and out of the box drops an envelope from Cell Phones for Soldiers to donate my old cell phone to soldiers. See www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com. . . . They are just another of the quiet millions of American and American businesses showing their support every day for our men and women in the service. I threw my old cell phone into the bag and now I want to tell everyone I know to support them (cellphonesforsoldiers + Overstock). You seem to share a lot of these stories with your readers and hope you’ll help spread the message around.

Yeah, I’ve gotten the same thing in Amazon packages, and I thought I’d blogged about it once but I can’t find the post. (Maybe I just meant to? I seem to remember photographing the little phonemailer baggie, though.) Anyway, it certainly seems like a worthwhile thing, and kudos to Overstock for doing it, too.

ER, CAN I HAVE ANOTHER CHOICE PLEASE? What’s In Store For the Economy: Inflation or Default?

EZRA KLEIN SAYS NEXT WEEK WILL BE OBAMA’S FIRST SPEECH ON HEALTH CARE. Mickey Kaus says it’ll be number 28. Or 120. It depends on what the meaning of “speech” is, I guess . . . .

MEGAN MCARDLE: “We are in the future. Unfortunately, the future has rotten battery life.”

POLITICO: School-speech Backlash Builds.

UPDATE: ABC News: School Districts in Six States to Refrain from Showing Presidential Address Next Week.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CHARLIE RANGEL AND YOU.

IT ISN’T EASY TO BE ME.

HOT AIR: VAN JONES SAYS HE DOESN’T AGREE WITH THE 9/11 “TRUTHER” PETITION HE SIGNED. Well, okay then.