While we were watching Obama last night, the MTV Music Video Awards took place in LA. In case you are wondering what you missed: Best New Artist went to the latest incarnation of the British Invasion boy group, One Direction, who were contestants on the British version of the X Factor, were then signed by Simon Cowell's record label and became Mega Stars. You can watch their live performance here.

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“In 1968, France was a dangerous place to be for a 21-year-old American, but Mitt Romney was right in the middle of it. - Gloria Borger of CNN, in their "documentary," "Romney Revealed."

Via digby, Tommy Christopher of Mediate lampoons CNN and Gloria Borger:

Yep, in 1968, the brave choice was to avoid the draft and Vietnam and go to France. What in the world has happened to CNN?

Hurricane Isaac touched down at 6:45 p.m. about 90 miles southeast of New Orleans. New Orleans is under both a hurricane warning and a tornado watch. 100,000 are already without power. There are flash flood watches. Storm surge flooding should begin tonight and continue through Thursday morning. Here's the latest alert.

Time for Zachary Richard and his cajun/Zydeco/blues/rock/music to send good thoughts to those in Isaac's path. "Come On Sheila" from Snake Bite Love, is one my favorites:

I’ve been waiting here since this morning,
I’ll wait as long as it will take.
Down in the old town of the city of New Orleans,
With my heart so heavy it might break.

Last night they put up a hurricane warning,
Last night you came into my room.
Around midnight the rain started falling,
I was holding on to you.

Who's Sheila? [More...]

in a good way:

Not to mention the systematic Republican campaign to deny people of color the fundamental right to vote.

Tropical Storm Isaac has hit the Florida Keys and is expected to turn into a category 2 hurricane.

Miami looks safe, but the latest warning says New Orleans may be in danger.

A HURRICANE WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR...
* THE FLORIDA KEYS INCLUDING THE DRY TORTUGAS
* THE WEST COAST OF FLORIDA FROM BONITA BEACH SOUTHWARD TO OCEAN REEF
* FLORIDA BAY

A HURRICANE WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR...
* EAST OF MORGAN CITY LOUISIANA TO INDIAN PASS FLORIDA...INCLUDING METROPOLITAN NEW ORLEANS AND LAKE PONTCHARTRAIN

Thanks to TL pal Fishcamp who is in the Keys and been updating us in comments. He recommends following the Caribbean Hurricane Network.

Baby Lorenzo arrived just after 3 a.m. Must have been a long night of labor for Snooki. Congrats to Snooki and Jionni LaValle.

The world just got another Guido!!!" a rep for Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi told MTV. Lorenzo Dominic LaValle has entered the world weighing 6lbs, 5oz. Nicole, Jionni & Enzo are doing great!"

MTV shared in Snooki's excitement: "We couldn't be happier for Nicole and Jionni on the healthy delivery of their baby boy! We look forward to Lorenzo's first trip to the Jersey Shore and can't wait to see his first animal print onesie."

Me either, I'm a big Snooki fan.

In a comment in her post defending Romney's birther joke, Ann Althouse writes:

What we're talking about -- or really just feeling -- is that Obama might not be sufficiently American. That's what Romney found a way to say with a smile. It's not about "defending" Romney for telling the joke or explaining the joke. Something has been made a topic: Obama's insufficient commitment to American values.

I see. It's mot an appeal to racists, just a little McCarthyism. All better.

Speaking for me only

He could throw millions at his his lawyers, and in the end, the deck was stacked against him. Sometimes, you just need to know when to hold them and when to fold them. Lance Armstrong folded today. He really had no choice.

The US Doping Agency can take away his medals and titles, and prevent him from competing in the future, but it can't take away his memories and all the good times he had. He's still ahead.

Look at this "reporting", via Hunter:

So, now we know. After months of his campaign dodging direct questions on the matter, Mitt Romney said Thursday in South Carolina that at no time in the past decade has he paid less than a 13 percent tax rate.

Mitt Romney refuses to release his tax returns, and this WaPo "journalist" pronounces the question answered.

Simply pathetic. I suppose the new standard is what the candidate says is taken as gospel and enough. Why would any candidate ever release their tax returns applying this standard? What a pathetic excuse for a reporter.

I don't usually read articles about Zumba, but when looking for news about Kim Dotcom in the New Zealand Herald tonight, I came across a new series of articles and videos about Zumba and I got sucked in.

First, Zumba flew a reporter from New Zealand to Florida to attend its annual instructor's conference in Orlando last week. Attending the convention: 8,000 instructors from 80 countries. Here's his video report on the "United Nations of Zumba."

Second, Zumba, which is already said to be worth a half billion dollars, is branching out into the music business. With 14 million people now taking Zumba classes, it figures who needs radio stations? Zumba Fitness CEO Beto Perlman says:

We have 14 million people and we're democratic. They are all listening to the music that we give them.

So why not make deals directly with the artists, whose music they will feed directly to the Zumba-ites at classes, where music is already a key component? Instead of buying music heard on the radio, millions will buy a song after dancing to it at Zumba class. Pretty clever. It's a win-win -- Zumba classes won't get stale, artists make some money, and Zumba rakes in millions. [More...]

Ross Douthat:

Most Republicans would have been happy posing as deficit-reducers while arguing for deficit-financed tax cuts. But Ryan, despite his own supply-side sympathies, deliberately drew up a plan for deficit reduction that would work with our current tax code, and doesn’t require any rosy fantasies about how tax cuts will spur unprecedented growth. [Emphasis supplied.]

Wait, what?

Ryan’s assumptions provide the key to understanding his political thinking. He predicts that his plan would bring in more revenue from increased economic activity even while cutting the top tax rate and corporate rate from 35 percent to 25 percent, adopting the supply-side theories that he has subscribed to since he was at Miami University of Ohio. [Emphasis supplied.]

It's the old cut taxes on the rich + ? = Prosperity gnome plan. Get this:

If Rep. Paul Ryan’s newly unveiled 2012 budget is signed into law, this is what Ryan’s economic forecasters say will happen: The unemployment rate will plunge by 2.5 percentage points. The still-sinking housing market will roar back in a brand new boom. The federal government will collect $100 billion more in income tax revenues than it otherwise would have. And that’s just in the first year. By 2015, the forecasters say, unemployment will fall to 4 percent. By 2021, it will be a nearly unprecedented 2.8 percent.

Sounds like a "rosy fantasy" to me. Ross Douthat is both a fool and a knave.

Vogue Magazine has a 9 page interview with Chelsea Clinton in its September issue, which will be on the newsstands August 21. But you can read it now here. A slideshow of images is here. [More...]