Charlie Crist refuses to say whom he will caucus with, should he be elected to the Senate. Which is smart. But it's also hard to keep up that guessing game when you have to actually explain how you would vote on things, in the Senate. That is when independent Florida Gov. Charlie Crist keeps getting mixed up!

A bigoted pastor who has assailed gays and Muslims is launching the "9-11 Christian Center at Ground Zero" a mere two blocks from the World Trade Center site this Sunday, but so far the project hasn't drawn a peep of protest from those who are outraged by the "ground zero mosque."

John Bolton -- the former U.N. envoy and America's angriest John Oates impersonator -- is one of those think tank-ensconced nuts who is surrounded at all times by sycophantic fellow nuts who think he is the bee's knees, so it's really only natural that he is "flattered" that some of the nuts think he should be the president of the entire United States.

The Tea Party may not be quite done complicating the GOP 's chances of winning back the Senate this fall. In primaries in several states this year, the party's restive base -- a.k.a. the Tea Party -- has united to knock off establishment-backed candidates, nominating insurgents with dicey fall prospects. Sharron Angle in Nevada and Rand Paul in Kentucky are prime examples.

Media columnist Howard Kurtz, fresh from "reporting" on how much he loves a magazine published by one of his employers (and how it is more successful than a magazine his other employer recently sold), breaks the news that an employee of his other employer now has a slightly different job title.

(update below - Update II)

On one side is severely ethically-challenged Rep. Charlie Rangel, who seems to be trying his best to hurt his party's chances in the midterms. On the other is his main opponent, Assemblyman Adam Clayton Powell IV, who has a recent conviction for driving while impaired, has not introduced a single bill in the state legislature in the past five years, and has been accused of (but never charged with) rape twice -- once by an intern.

A $40 million prison sits in the desert north of Baghdad, empty. A $165 million children's hospital goes unused in the south. A $100 million waste water treatment system in Fallujah has cost three times more than projected, yet sewage still runs through the streets.

China and North Korea confirmed Monday that their leaders met while the Kim Jong Il was on a secretive trip to his northern neighbor, apparently to seek aid and drum up support for a succession plan.

"Do not come any closer," God told Moses at the burning bush. "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground."

This originally appeared at The Crime Report.

President Barack Obama is aiming to underscore his commitment to a region weary of calamity as he travels to New Orleans on the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

(updated below)

Where to begin telling the story of Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin's "Restoring Honor" rally, on the site of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s historic "I have a dream" speech exactly 47 years later? As promised, we published Sarah Palin's 8/28 speech alongside King's, and Mark Benjamin reported from the event. I'm excited Beck announced his "Black Robe Regiment"; it's long past time to retire the white robes.

Glenn Beck’s “Restoring Honor” rally on Saturday was big and white and agitated. But in an informal survey of attendees, it was difficult to pin down what exactly motivated them to come to Washington, many from far away.

Still reeling in the wake of the BP oil disaster, New Orleans is approaching the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina on Sunday. The city has replaced almost all its levees, moved and upgraded pumping stations, written new evacuation plans for the most vulnerable residents, and is now well prepared to withstand another 100-year storm like the one that hit five years ago.

Glenn Beck is borrowing some lines from President Barack Obama.

Earlier today, Sarah Palin addressed Glenn Beck's "non-political" Restoring Honor rally in Washington, D.C. Courtesy of YouTube, here's her speech, in four parts:

Sarah Palin says the way to honor Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy is to honor those men and women in the military who protect the United States.

I don't think accidental New York Governor David Paterson is stupid, but he frequently demonstrates shockingly poor judgment. And he's a terrible communicator (except, oddly, on sports talk radio). But this week, his muddled attempts to be a peacemaker in the hysterical mosque controversy finally became flat-out nuts.