COULDN’T HE HAVE FOUND AN AMERICAN JOURNALIST TO QUOTE? Biden Quotes China’s State News Agency To Attack Romney on Outsourcing.

Because if we know anything at all, it’s that attacking Romney isn’t one of those jobs American journalists won’t do.

JIM TREACHER: How Dare Romney Remind People of “Julia!” The Democrats think Romney just self-destructed by pointing out, um, THEIR ENTIRE STRATEGY. “The economy is collapsing, our embassies are being overrun, our diplomats are being murdered, and Obama doesn’t know what to do about any of it except for his usual plan of lying his ass off. So he and his enablers in the media hope you’ll be distracted by Romney’s ‘gaffe’ of criticizing the Democrats’ strategy. They hope you’ll be offended that Romney pointed out what the Dems have been telling you your whole life: that you need the government to provide for you, that you can’t go a single day without a handout. They hope you’re as credulous as the people who voted for them last time.” Well, that’s pretty much their only hope at this point.

UPDATE: Reader Eric Cowperthwaite writes:

My wife saw the clip of the secret video tape on The Today Show this morning, turned to me and asked, “So, what’s wrong with what he said? He’s just telling the truth.”

I think people all over the country saw that this morning and asked the same question. Can’t wait to see the polls next week.

Well, if you’re wrong, it’s basically already over for America. At least until after the inevitable financial collapse.

THIS MUST BE MORE OF THAT “SMART DIPLOMACY” WE WERE PROMISED: U.S. intel cable warned Cairo embassy — but not Benghazi consulate — of possible violence on September 10; Update: Susan Rice caught lying? “Yesterday Rice cited the two American contractors killed in the Benghazi attack as proof that Stevens and his staff did have some security. But NBC says she was wrong: The contractors weren’t part of the consulate’s regular security detail. Apparently Stevens had nothing except a security supervisor and a local militia. Why?”

AT AMAZON, markdowns on bestselling multitools. Always handy to have around. My favorite is the Skeletool. I keep one in my study and one in my car.

Also, today only: Panasonic Lumix GF3 12 MP Compact System Camera and 14-42mm Zoom Lens, $299.99. That’s a good price for a micro four-thirds camera.

NICK GILLESPIE: Secret Romney Tape Means We Can Finally Stop Talking About Obama’s Failed Foreign & Domestic Policy! “Does anyone still think that Obama has any idea of what he’s doing with regard to foreign policy?” No, but the press doesn’t want to talk about that, so they’re happy to have this tape. Not that they were talking about it before.

For the slow-learners in the press corps, the reason it’s bad when nearly half the electorate doesn’t pay income tax isn’t that they’re somehow parasites. It’s that people who don’t have skin in the game don’t care about the game. In a better world, everyone would pay at least some income tax — enough to feel it, say 5% of gross income — and it would go up and down every year in proportion to government spending. If that happened, there would be political pressure to control government spending, and we wouldn’t have the $16 Trillion debt. Don’t, however, expect our corps of bylined Democratic operatives to stress that point, even if by some chance they manage to grasp it.

Meanwhile, more from Nick:

Obama’s actual record is worth sussing through. As spun out at the Democratic National Convention, Obama’s domestic policy moves have seen nothing but success. Either the stimulus flat-out worked or, if it didn’t actually achieve any of its goals in terms of reducing unemployment, it staved off far worse outcomes. You got that, America: If I hadn’t gotten to do what I wanted, says President Obama, you’d be even more out of a job. The illegal auto bailout was so successful that it will never earn back what was spent on it. Health care reform, which expands the budget-breaking program Medicare and yet manages to protect completely the budget-breaking program Medicare, will help the country’s bottom line because it forces more people to pay for insurance so good they have to be forced to pay for it. The president’s plans for the future include more spending, slightly more taxes (but only on the rich) and deficits for at least the next 10 years (his budget proposal only goes that far).

When the focus shifts from economic policy to things such as the drug war, or immigration, or transparency, well…noboby really wants to discuss those things anyway, right?

Apparently not.

UPDATE: Reader Aaron Chmielewski writes:

Who wants to think of themselves as the 47%?

Mitt can make this work brilliantly.

The implication is people who vote for Obama don’t want people to work. He won’t raise taxes on them, but he will focus on the America that wants to work, the people who don’t want to be part of the 47%.

Indeed.

ANOTHER UPDATE: By “slow learners in the press corps,” I particularly want to include David Brooks.

MORE: Reader Leslie Eastman writes: “I defy the press to release the full contents of Romney’s speech.”

And reader Tom Gunn writes: “I think this secret Romney tape is not going to do what the progressive expect it to do. 47% of the population on the dole, of that 47%, 23 million are not paying taxes BECAUSE they don’t have a job and would do near anything to be able to pay taxes because that would mean they have a JOB with income!” Yeah, not so many of those going around. Ask Jimmy Carter’s unemployed grandson. . . .

Plus, an excellent point about the Khalidi tape:

Well, the LA Times has a “secret” video of Barack Obama speaking at a party for a famous radical Palestinian, Rashid Khalidi. They’ve been sitting on it since before the 2008 election, and they won’t let voters see it. Why is that?

Because they’re covering for him. Which bears repeating over and over an over again.

MORE E.M.P. WORRIES: Should You Worry About the Power Going Out Like in Revolution? This Congressman Thinks So.

MITT ROMNEY: I’ll Deliver Recovery, Not Dependency.

MICHAEL WALSH: Mitt Romney’s Gettysburg Moment. “Mitt Romney found himself in an unexpected place last night — in the public eye. He ought to make the most of it.”

Hey, the only way Mitt can get any press is if he can convince them that he’s committed a gaffe. Since this is a story that actually helps him, but that the press is dumb enough to think looks like a gaffe, I suspect the campaign was behind it, somehow.

And isn’t it rich that the video was shot by Jimmy Carter’s currently-unemployed grandson? That’s how bad the Obama economy has gotten. . . .

HOW’S THAT HOPEY-CHANGEY STUFF WORKIN’ OUT FOR YA? (CONT’D): Recovery Faltering as Corporate Profits Fall. “Here’s some more bad news for the economy: analysts are predicting that corporate profits may fall this quarter for the first time in three years. This comes as a bit of a surprise.”

It’s almost . . . unexpected!

SEPTEMBER IS NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS MONTH. Okay.

Here are some bug-out bag recommendations, plus a list of things to keep in your car or SUV.

Here are some more key supplies. And you may want to visit Bill Quick’s disaster-prep discussion forum.

“SMART DIPLOMACY:” Could Obama’s ‘ally’ gaffe cost us Egypt? Actually, I think his “Cairo speech” gaffe did that already . . . .

JAMES TARANTO: The Pretextual Presidency: The Obama administration and the embassy rioters find common ground. “In its public statements, the Obama administration has put no daylight between itself and the embassy rioters in insisting that this is all about the video. . . . If you think of the Obama administration as an extension of the Obama campaign, it’s easy to understand its insensitivity to civil liberties and its eagerness to embrace the pretext that the embassy riots were about the video. From the standpoint of Obama’s re-election, it is imperative that voters be as distracted as possible from Obama’s failures. The murders in Libya and riots across the Middle East underscore failures both tactical (insufficient protection of diplomatic missions and personnel) and strategic.”

Plus, this damning question: “Other than a Nobel Peace Prize, what exactly does Obama have to show for being a ‘different kind of president’?”

FROM THE TAR-AND-FEATHERS ISN’T GOOD ENOUGH DEPARTMENT: Mom Jailed For Letting Her Kids Play Outside. What were the officers’ names, and the names of whoever sent them? We know the name of the woman who was arrested, jailed, but never charged with anything. Why don’t we know theirs?

JUST A REMINDER:

UPDATE: It’s interesting to watch Kevin Drum wrestle with this. He admits that the Obama Administration is a civil liberties disaster, but somehow has to pretend that Nakoula is a “right wing hero.” But pretty much everybody on the right I’ve seen thinks the film stinks. It’s not about Nakoula, it’s about Obama. Drum, who’s a decent guy, grasps this at one level, but the cognitive dissonance is killing him. Must not be seen to agree with evil rightbloggers . . . .

Lefties are troubled by this photo for two reasons. One is that it’s bad for Obama, to whom they are, ahem, overly committed. But the other is that it’s just plain troubling. They don’t want to admit that the Messiah of 2008 is actually a somewhat thuggish Chicago Machine politician. But reality does seem to be creeping in.

Hey, maybe this’ll help.

MOE LANE: Carter 2.0 and the Gas Prices of September. “When it comes to gas prices, we are in the bizarre scenario where the economy is in stagnation, but the price of a vitally necessary commodity is showing severe inflation over time. If only there was, you know, a word or something to cover this sort of situation. . .”

ANN ALTHOUSE: The Secret Video of Romney Talking To Donors: “Presented at Mother Jones as if it’s quite disturbing, but I don’t see anything bad in there at all.” That’s how these things work.

LEGAL EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: A Guide To The Lawyer Glut.

TAR. FEATHERS. City Councilman Seeks Criminal Charges Against Critic Who Threatened To Recall Him.

SPIN: CNN Hides Background of Prominent Religious Critic Under Siege. “Oh sorry, that was back in May of 2008, when CNN built ‘the Wright-Free Zone’ to protect Obama’s presidential bid when he tossed Rev. Wright under the bus. The rest of the world doesn’t get that kind of helpful service from Time-Warner-HBO.”

NEIL MUNRO: White House Media Ignores Obama’s Muslim-Outreach Meltdown.

This will make ignoring it harder: In Lebanon 500,000 Hezbollah Fanatics Chant “Death to America” at Anti-US Protest (Video).

YA THINK? Striking Chicago Teachers Flunk Sympathy Test. “Numerous studies have shown that top-quality teachers are the single most important factor in improving education. But for too many years in too many places, teacher evaluations have been a meaningless shambles. Harried principals conduct pre-arranged ‘drive-by’ observations. Teachers resist using student achievement on standardized tests to rate them. School boards and legislators, cowed by powerful unions, leave the flawed system in place. . . . According to a 2009 study, less than one-half of 1% of its teachers were rated unsatisfactory; 94% were rated superior or excellent. Yet with all these supposedly fabulous teachers, just 60.6% of its students graduated, a dismal percentage that is in line with New York and Los Angeles. On national reading and math tests, Chicago’s fourth- and eighth-graders lagged behind the national average and behind the average even for large urban districts.”

INDEED: Campaign that wrote off the white working class decries Romney’s concerns with the culture of dependency.

They’ll turn us all into beggars ’cause they’re easier to please.

MARY KATHARINE HAM: The War On Bacon.

A SIZE 12 EGO IN A SIZE NINE SOUL: Prof. Jacobson: Lugar announces will not campaign for Mourdock — Donate to Mourdock NOW. “As tempting as it would be to lash out at Lugar, that’s not productive. Mourdock needs every vote possible, including Lugar supporters.” Oops.

PRESIDENT SUPINE: Mastermind of World Trade Center bombing to be “transferred” to Egypt? Let’s hope that this story isn’t true, or that it’s a trial balloon that pops.

UPDATE: Seen on Facebook: