The Labor Department announced the unemployment rate rose a tenth of a point, to 9.6 percent in August so, as the AP noted, it “has exceeded 9 percent for 16 straight months,” while the economy lost 54,000 jobs. Yet, without avoiding the dire numbers, ABC, CBS and NBC managed to find a “mixed picture,” “mixed bag” or even a “silver lining” for President Obama and Democrats two months before election day.

“It’s a mixed picture here, but it’s giving some encouragement to those who are out there looking, some who are hanging onto their jobs and their businesses by a thread,” Brian Williams insisted on Friday’s NBC Nightly News. On the CBS Evening News, fill-on anchor Erica Hill saw “a bit of a mixed bag” before Anthony Mason asserted that “weak as the job numbers were, they were better than Wall Street expected” and he touted: “With American businesses creating 67,000 jobs in August, the private sector has now added jobs for eight straight months.”

A recurring rubric at James Taranto’s Best of the Web Today column at the Wall Street Journal online, is "We Blame George W. Bush," for tongue-in-cheek examples of the previous prez being panned for things palpably beyond his purview.  Let’s add another one to the list.  Dem senator Russ Feingold has blamed his tough re-election race on, yes, W.

Let’s think about that. If Bush were such a bad president.  If his policies were so disastrous for the country. Wouldn’t that boost the chances of an incumbent Dem senator who, like Feingold, had voted against Bush policies every step of the way?

Gallup might be seeing an historic spread in the Republicans’ favor, and even Mark Halperin is predicting a GOP gain of as many as 60 seats. But amidst all the panic and gnashing of teeth, the Dems still can count on one true believer: Bill Press.

Former California Dem chairman Press has predicted that when results come in on Election Night, GOP leader John Boehner’s office will be a "morgue," while Pelosi’s place while Pelosi’s place is "where the party’s going to be."

Press proferred his hyper-optimistic prediction on this evening’s Ed Show, reacting to the report that Ohio talk radio host Bill Cunningham will be broadcasting from Boehner’s office on Election Night.  For good measure, Press—ironically no fan of the First Amendment, apparently—expressed disappointment that it was legal for Cunningham to do so.

Let’s make sure Press’s prediction is duly noted.  See you on November 2nd, Bill.

On Tuesday’s Situation Room, CNN’s Jack Cafferty revisited one of his favorite subjects of ire, the Catholic Church, and this time called for the ordination of women. Cafferty highlighted the advertising campaign of a British organization which demands that Pope Benedict XVI allow for such simulations of ordination, and mocked a Catholic priest’s defense of the all-male priesthood.

The commentator devoted his 6 pm Eastern hour Cafferty File segment to the issue of women’s ordination: "’Pope Benedict: ordain women now‘- that’s the message that will be plastered on London buses when the pontiff heads to England’s capital in a couple of weeks. A group called Catholic Women’s Ordination is spending $15,000 for 15 buses to carry posters with that message around London for a month."

Monday’s NBC Nightly News re-ran the very same exchange between Brian Williams and President Barack Obama as had aired on Sunday’s Nightly News (as well as Monday’s Today show) in which Williams despaired over how “you’re an American-born Christian. And yet, increasing and now significant numbers of Americans in polls, upwards of a fifth of respondents are claiming you are neither….This has to be troubling to you.” Obama responded: “I can’t spend all my time with my birth certificate plastered on my forehead.”

Picking up on that line, Williams teased his Monday newscast: “Keeping the faith. In his interview with us, President Obama makes a comment about his own background that has already ricocheted around the world.”

The subsequent interview excerpt began with a discussion of Obama’s comments about the mosque near Ground Zero, an exchange which had not aired Sunday night or Monday morning, followed by a re-run of the Muslim/citizen misconceptions. For details, check my Sunday night NB post: “Brian Williams Treats Obama as Oracle of Wisdom…”

It would appear that the development of persuasive rhetoric began and ended during the 2007-2008 presidential campaign of now-President Barack Obama.

That’s the nearly inevitable conclusion one must reach based on a breathtakingly absurd contention in a (I can’t believe I’m typing this) "Breaking News Update" that appeared at the Associated Press at 3:40 p.m. yesterday.

When Glenn Beck spoke yesterday at his "Restoring Honor" rally in Washington, he told his audience: "One man can change the world. That man or woman is you. You make the difference."

The AP’s reaction was to assert that "Beck is borrowing some lines from President Barack Obama." By using the word "borrowing," AP in essence arrogantly, ignorantly and insultingly contended that Beck couldn’t possibly have come up with those sixteen words on his own, and that Barack Obama is the only historical repository of such profundity. From here, it looks like the wire service might be accusing Beck of plagiarism. My goodness, "The Essential Global News Network" should be thoroughly embarrassed.

There is something about CNN and the people writing chyrons for the alleged "most trusted name in news" with the "best political team on television." Last week, these geniuses clarified the White House’s position on President Barack Obama’s religion.

However on CNN Aug. 28 coverage of Glenn Beck’s "Restoring Honor" rally, which CNN reporters and anchors seemingly held their collective noses up and reported on throughout the event, the chyron on the screen was something likened to one of those parlor games where you circle the numerous errors involved. (h/t Inside Cable News)

First off, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s name was misspelled. Second, she was identified as a former presidential candidate, when she was actually the Republican vice-presidential nominee in 2008. And finally, it’s labeling Beck as Palin. Just not a good day for CNN.

Just as they did in the morning, on Friday night the broadcast network stories on Glenn Beck’s “Restoring Honor” rally in Washington, DC were pegged to left-wing complaints his event is scheduled for the 47th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, except the reporters refused to identify the ideology of Beck’s critics while showing no such reluctance to tag him and/or his allies.

“The rally in Washington. Followers of conservative radio and TV host Glenn Beck already gathering in the capital,” fill-in anchor Erica Hill teased at the top of the CBS Evening News. “In Washington,” she introduced the subsequent story, “followers of conservative talk show host Glenn Beck are already gathering on the Washington mall for tomorrow’s rally…” Reporter Wyatt Andrews, however, refrained from labeling: “Critics, like the Reverend Al Sharpton, say that Beck, who has described the President as [Beck: “a racist”] and who has railed against government programs for the poor, has no business invoking Dr. King.”

Sometimes you just have to chuckle at the transparent motivations of business writers in the establishment press.

Two Associated Press reports from this afternoon, one from Stephen Bernard and another much lengthier piece from Jeannine Aversa, attempt to set the template for Friday morning’s reportage: Despite all the bad news, including a serious downward revision to second-quarter economic growth, it’s up to Big Ben Bernanke to calm everyone down, and magically return the economy to some kind of even keel.

No pressure there, big guy.

Aversa’s earlier report lays it on especially thick:

Bernanke’s top tool now may be power of persuasion

The economy appears to be stalling. Yet the Federal Reserve has run out of simple steps it can take to revive it.

Former New York Governor George Pataki on Wednesday got into a heated discussion with Chris Matthews over the Ground Zero mosque and the Republican opposition to it.

In the middle of his second "Hardball" segment on MSNBC, Matthews played a clip of Rush Limbaugh saying on the radio earlier in the day, "If this is a nation that is Islamophobic, how do we elect a man whose name is Barack Hussein Obama?"

This led Matthews to ask his guest, "What do you think of guys that keep putting out lies like that?"

Over the course of the next five minutes, Pataki basically took over the show not only putting Matthews in his place, but also doing the same to his other guest, Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post (video follows with transcript and commentary):