Free Republic

9 p.m. ET, all across the dial. A Politico contributor kinda sorta predicted this morning that he’d call this presser, although she urged him to pound the table and demand a clean debt-ceiling bill now that the apocalypse is almost upon us. No dice there: The One will endorse Reid’s plan instead, which helps him marginally with his campaign by giving him a talking point about how he’s “tough on spending” or whatever. But do expect plenty of table-pounding as he tries to somehow (a) be the cool, composed “adult in the room” who won’t resort to cheap political ploys...

LOS OLIVOS, California (AFP) – The plans for Michael Jackson's funeral remain uncertain, but that did not stop Desiree Crossley and her family from camping out for hours outside of his Neverland ranch. Reports that the King of Pop would be laid to rest at his sprawling fantasy estate prompted a near stampede here to the rolling hills of Santa Barbara wine country, with hundreds of media satellite trucks parking outside the gate. As newscasters broadcast live in multiple languages and traffic crews hurriedly erected no-parking signs, Crossley waited with a friend in foldable chairs, her two daughters sitting in...