The Twittersphere erupted Sunday when former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin tweeted that “peaceful Muslims” should “refudiate” the mosque being built in New York City near where the Twin Towers once stood. Palin found herself the butt of many tweets, as refudiate, of course, is not a word in the English language.

After deleting the offending tweet, Palin replaced it with another calling on “peaceful New Yorkers” to “refute the Ground Zero mosque plan,” which only added to the confusion because it would appear the word she was looking for was “repudiate.” Then came the kicker: To quell the vicious Twitter-ribbing she was receiving, Palin unleashed yet another tweet comparing herself to no less than the Bard of Avon.

Naturally, this led to a very entertaining Twitter meme, #ShakesPalin, in which participants revamped classic Shakespeare quotes, Palin-style (and of which Reason’s The Cato Institute’s Julian Sanchez was arguably the champion).

A good time had by all.

Fall of the Republic was recently uploaded on the Internet but has since been taken down in what many are calling an act of censorship. The film has gone viral and followers of the movie are attempting to get it back online, as right now all links to the film lead to blank pages.

“This was a criminal act, and You Tube needs to investigate, track the IP and find out who did it,” said Alex Jones. “The Obama Deception was getting more and more popular, and the establishment doesn’t like the fact that it exposes the Left-Right paradigm and identifies Obama as a puppet.”

Jones’ other films include Fall Of The Republic, which documents how an offshore corporate cartel is draining the national economy.

The Obama Deception is a film that is a reality check and very candidly establishes that the Obama phenomenon is a hoax that has been carefully devised by the New World Order captains.

The concept of a One World Government has its roots in Obama’s regime, shows the movie The Obama Deception.

The Obama Deception movie uncovers who Obama actually works for, the lies he is telling to the public to con American people into believing that he is actually doing something valuable for the country and the world and finally reveals his real agenda.

The Obama Deception film also explores the possibilities of America turning into Nazi Germany that forces National Service, domestic civilian spies, warrantless wiretaps, omission of the Second Amendment and Martial Law.

The Obama Deception also shows how in Obama’s government, there are efforts to create a new Bank of the World that will dominate every nation through carbon taxes and military force.

In recent weeks, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has circulated information to local reporters about Republican candidates in close races. Among the claims:

— That Jim Renacci of Ohio once owed nearly $1.4 million in unpaid state taxes.

— That David Harmer of California received $160,000 in bonus and severance pay from a firm that got a federal bailout.

— That Jon Runyan of New Jersey got a legal break in property taxes for his 25-acre homestead by qualifying for a farmland assessment thanks to his four donkeys.

Renacci’s campaign said the candidate did not believe he had tax liabilities for a trust fund and eventually paid all that he owed. A spokesman for Harmer said criticizing him for the money he lawfully earned is a “severe twist of the facts.” Runyan’s campaign said his actions were legal.

Jon Vogel, executive director of the DCCC, said Democrats are merely pointing out that some Republican recruits in competitive House races are “flawed candidates.”

He added, “We have made this election a choice. . . . They’re trying to run this national message in part about fiscal discipline, but they’ve recruited a number of candidates not credible to carry that message.”

Opposition research has been a part of political campaigns for decades, but the 2010 cycle is different. In many states, Republicans have steered clear of candidates with long political track records — eschewing state representatives and veteran city council members who have cast thousands of votes ripe for scrutiny — in favor of political outsiders. The top GOP recruits include several former professional sports stars, as well as doctors and businessmen.

Democratic leaders are trying to frame the November midterm elections not as a national referendum on the party in power but as local choices between two candidates.

“We can win the contrast, but not the referendum,” Democratic strategist Steve Murphy said. “What is critical in this election cycle is for Democratic candidates to hold Republican candidates accountable for their views.”

Republicans see the Democrats’ strategy as a sign of weakness.

“When the issues are cutting against you, it is typical for a party in trouble to resort to other means,” said Ken Spain, spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee. “With the unemployment rate unacceptably high and President Obama’s approval rating falling, they have nothing left to run on other than character assassination.”

Democratic officials are advising campaigns to hire trackers to follow their Republican opponents to public events with video cameras, ready to catch any gaffe or misstatement. And the Democratic National Committee last week issued a call to the public to submit any embarrassing audio or video of Republicans, as well as copies of their direct-mail advertisements.

Party officials would not say how many staffers are working on opposition research. Such work used to be farmed out to campaign consultants, but the DCCC brought research operations in-house in 2008 to be more nimble. “It may appear to be more aggressive this cycle because what we’re finding on Republicans is so rich,” Vogel said.

In Ohio, Democrats are trying to exploit Renacci’s business record in his race against Rep. John Boccieri (D). Renacci, who owns a Chevrolet dealership, nursing homes, real estate investments and sports teams, among other interests, has faced a string of lawsuits related to his businesses.

Democratic operatives circulated a report in April that Renacci owed nearly $1.4 million in unpaid state taxes, interest and penalties. Renacci fought the assessment, believing the money he was holding in a trust was free of state tax liabilities. But after losing a dispute over his liability, Renacci paid everything he owed, said his campaign manager, James Slepian.

“This is a story that the DCCC was pushing pretty hard,” Slepian said. “It’s unfortunate that John Boccieri has chosen to conduct his campaign by slinging mud from behind Nancy Pelosi’s desk rather than talking about the issues that really matter.”

But Democrats say the strategy paid dividends in the May special election for the Pennsylvania House seat of the late Democrat John P. Murtha. Republican Tim Burns framed the race as a referendum on Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), both unpopular in a district that Obama lost to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in 2008. But Democrat Mark Critz won handily after tailoring his message to local concerns and attacking Burns for saying he would protect tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas.

“Some years you ride the wave, and other years you paddle your canoe,” Democratic strategist Paul Begala said. “Democrats, they’ve got to paddle like hell. So what you do when you’re paddling is, as the Republicans seek to nationalize, you localize and personalize.”

“There are more things we are prepared to do..There are things like additional easing of movements, some questions of economic projects,” Benjamin Netanyahu said. “There are quite a few. The point is we are prepared to do them.”

Netanyahu did not specifically include extending the freeze on the settlement construction set to expire in September, but suggested he was open to that possibility if progress is made in the peace talks.

“I think once we get there realities may change, but I think the most important reality is that we don’t stick on…all sorts of requirements and grievances, “ he said.

Netanyahu told me he wants to put aside all preconditions, excuses and grievances and just start negotiating.

“We want President Abbas to grasp my hand, get into a room, shake it, sit down and negotiate a final settlement of peace between Israel and the Palestinians,” he said.

The Israeli leader said he appreciated yesterday’s warm reception and dismissed the chill in U.S.-Israeli relations, saying it is “natural” for allies to have disagreements.

Netanyahu told me he is confident that he can bring a peace agreement to the region that a majority of Israelis support.

“Don’t be so skeptical,” he said. “Raise your hopes. It’s summer time and we can perform miracles if we set our sights to them.”

Obama called acting Polish President Komorowski and told him that he regrets “not being able to make it.”

“Michelle and I continue to have the Polish people in our thoughts and prayers, and will support them in any way I can as they recover from this terrible tragedy,” he said in a statement released this afternoon.

“President Kaczynski was a patriot and close friend and ally of the United States, as were those who died alongside him, and the American people will never forget the lives they led,” he said.

The U.S. ambassador to Poland will represent the United States at the funeral Sunday in Krakow.

Canadian Prime Minister Harper has also announced that he will not be taking a trans-Atlantic flight to Poland.

Several other countries, including Japan, South Korea and India, have already indicated they will not be able to attend the funeral.

Air Force One had been expected to leave Saturday evening for the overnight flight, and return immediately to the United States on Sunday after the funeral.

The president’s travel is being limited just like that of many other people. The Air Transport Association reports that “out of 337 daily nonstop scheduled flights by U.S. carriers between the U.S. and Europe, today 282 originating and departing flights have been canceled as a result of the Icelandic Volcanic activity.”

“You would think they should be saying thank you,” the president said to applause.

Members of the audience shouted, “Thank you.”

An exuberant Obama appeared at a fundraiser for the DNC at the Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami. The event raised $2.5 million for the party.

The president’s 30-minute speech included a lot of recycled material from previous fundraisers like this, but he did reference this week’s special election in Florida, won by a Democrat, and the fight for financial regulatory reform.

Speaking about the upcoming battle over financial regulatory reform, Obama said that every member of Congress is going to have to make a choice that is “very simple, between special interests and the American people.”

Obama noted that the lobbyists and special interests are prepared to fight to defeat this legislation.

“It’s like throwing a piece of meat in a piranha tank,” the president said. “They’re going to race to see how fast they can tear it apart.”

Obama referenced the Florida Democratic state Sen. Ted Deutch’s victory in Tuesday’s special election to replace Rep. Robert Wexler, a Democrat who is retiring. To loud applause from the crowd, Obama tempered the reaction: “Let’s not get too excited,” he said. “It’s a Democratic district.”

The president said that Republicans were saying this would a referendum on him, the Recovery Act and the recently passed health care legislation.

“Maybe it was,” he said to laughter and applause.

“Here’s what I think: I think if we stay true to our principles, if we do what’s right for the American people, then elections will take care of themselves,” Obama said.

In a nod to Vice President Biden, the president acknowledged the crowd for their help getting health care reform across the finish line.

“As my vice president said, ‘This is a big deal,’” Obama said to laughter, even though he omitted the one key word to that infamous quote from his No. 2. “And he was right.”

That earned the president a “Go Joe Biden!” from a man in the crowd.

David Cameron believes Labour’s record on crime and anti-social behaviour will feature heavily in the general election campaign which is likely to be triggered by Gordon Brown on Tuesday.

The Tory leader will demand that police “harass” troublemakers, as he distances himself from the party’s recent “hug-a-hoodie” reputation.

The move comes after weekend polls suggested the Tories now have a 10 point lead over Labour, enough to given them an overall majority.

Chris Grayling, the shadow home secretary, told The Daily Telegraph that a Conservative government would usher in a new era of policing with senior officers returned to the frontline and offenders dealt with swiftly.

He said he expects prison numbers to rise in the first years of a new Tory administration as new policies on sentencing, including scrapping early release and tougher terms for knife crime, come into force.

He said: “I want to see more ‘in your face’ policing. I want to see the trouble-makers being stopped, getting harassed, getting challenged and being dealt with immediately.”

Mr Grayling on Sunday found himself at the centre of a row over equal rights after he was secretly recorded saying that Bed & Breakfasts should have the right to turn away homosexual couples.

His remarks on policing, which were made in an interview he gave to The Daily Telegraph last week, mark a significant hardening of the Tory policy under Mr Cameron who drew widespread criticism for a speech early in his leadership when he talked about showing more understanding to those youngsters falling into crime. He was derided for what became known as his “hug-a-hoodie” policy.

Mr Grayling said he thought there was “risk aversion” among frontline officers who “are trapped by the system.”

Changes in leadership of policing will be central to the new Tory plans for law and order.

“I think the biggest cultural change we need is all about the leadership of policing. Too many communities are facing a threat from low level crime that is just not being dealt with,” he said.

“I fear that responsibility is being pushed so far down the line that it is being left to the beat policeman who has no direction. If you speak to the beat bobby he will say we live in the world of defensive policing – in terms of they think ‘are we doing the right things in terms of our political masters, in terms of targets set.

I met two police sergeants recently who said they had not arrested anyone for six months.

“I want inspectors and sergeants out on the Saturday night with the constables helping them deal with the problems. It’s really not happening and it’s got to change.”

He cites the example of Garry Newlove who was murdered by youths after he confronted them about vandalism outside his Cheshire home in 2007. Helen, his widow, last week held meetings with Mr Grayling to talk about the case.

And Mr Grayling has also highlighted the cases where people defending their property or trying to report crimes have been arrested by police. In the interview he talked about how Sal Miah called 999 when he found two teenagers raiding his restaurant’s cellar.

But when officers arrived, they arrested the 35-year-old on suspicion of assault and battery. He was released with a police caution.

Mr Grayling said that he did not want a return to Life on Mars – the drama which launched 1970s DCI Gene Hunt. But yesterday. Mr Cameron was not slow to seize on Labour’s attempt to portray the Tory leader as the hard-bitten television detective.

The Tory leader told Sky News: “I think also a lot of people in this country will actually be looking at this and thinking, hold on, it would be great if police officers were out there nicking villains and feeling collars and arresting people rather than sat behind their desk filling in paperwork.”

The Conservatives are promising to scrap the bureaucracy that they argue is keeping officers away from the frontline. There will be new, accountable, elected police commissioners and he will order more senior officers to leave their offices and lead their men on the streets.

As part of the shake-up of the justice system they would stop early release – something that is certain to increase the numbers of those held in prison.

In the interview Mr Grayling says he intends to model himself in part on Michael Howard, who was regarded as a hardline, right-wing Conservative home secretary under Sir John Major.

The Tories point to a slew of statistics to show how Labour has failed on crime, including almost 900 offenders a day are let off with a caution, almost half of people who committed an act of violence against the person in 2008 were let off with a caution, and nearly half of all offences are now dealt with by a warning, a caution or a fixed penalty notice.

Last night Lord Mandelson issued a memo to party workers in which he prepared them for the coming election campaign. He said Mr Cameron was offering nothing different to the two previous Tory election leaders William Hague and Michael Howard.

He said: “Real change promised by David Cameron at the start of his leadership has been junked. Change is now no more than a PR slogan.

“This will be a big choice election. It is a choice between securing the recovery with Labour or immediate Tory cuts that could tip us back into recession. Between protecting frontline services with Labour or an unchanged Tory Party salivating at the prospect of taking an axe to them.

“Between the granite-like resilience and big brain of Gordon Brown or the plastic PR and wobbliness of David Cameron.”

Allison Meyers, the director of the RNC’s Young Eagles program for young donors, was fired over the scandal, according to RNC sources.

The committee announced late Monday that it had let go of a staffer who was responsible for approving a $2,000 meal at a risque club in Los Angeles that features nudity and sexual reenactments. The reimbursement was made to a California GOP consultant named Erik Brown, who the committee says has agreed to return the money.

The RNC has not confirmed the identity of the fired staffer. It did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Meyers’s firing was first reported by Reid Wilson at Hotline On-Call.

Don’t tread on me.

Dozens of yellow flags bearing that defiant message, along with the image of a coiled snake poised to strike, whipped in the wind above the crowds rallying in the tiny highway hometown of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

“Don’t ever let anybody tell you to sit down and shut up, Americans!” said former Alaska governor and GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. A hearty crowd huddled in a dirt lot for the “Showdown in Searchlight” cheered.

The rally was originally intended to stir up opposition to Reid’s bid for reelection this fall.

But the parade of speakers seemed equally focused on defending the young protest movement from its detractors, an acknowledgment that any association with the vandalism, threats and slurs reported by Democrats could harm tea party aims and drive away allies.

No tea party group has been found to be involved in any of the incidents.

Several websites, including Palin’s, have been cited as examples of the incendiary tone. In announcing her efforts to try to unseat key Democratic members of the House, Palin’s site used the image of a rifle scope. She told her supporters via Twitter, “Don’t retreat, instead – RELOAD.”

On Saturday, Palin dismissed as a “bunch of bunk” suggestions that she was promoting violence.

“Our vote is our arms,” she said to cheers. “We’re not inciting violence. Don’t get sucked into the lame-stream media lies.”

Palin’s outlook matched that of many who inflated the population of Searchlight, home to fewer than 1,000 people.

The pit-stop town was overrun by visitors in RVs, motorcycles and, in the case of Nevada political candidates, buses wrapped in campaign slogans. A few vendors hawked T-shirts, flags and a book-and-DVD series called “The Constitution Made Easy.”

Adherence to what supporters deem to be a strict interpretation of constitutional principles is a key tenet of the tea party movement, a loose confederation of local groups that arose in opposition to bank bailouts. It found its momentum as the loudest voice against President Obama’s healthcare overhaul, which Reid championed.

Saturday’s group, largely older and predominantly white, quickly packed a dirt lot the size of a football field and spilled onto a nearby hill topped with an abandoned mine shaft.

Interspersed were Revolutionary War re-enactors, plastic pitchforks, cut-out torches and skull-and-cross-bones flags with Obama’s face superimposed over the skull.

“The real pirates are in Washington,” said Judy Hoelscher, who sold the flags for $10 each.

Fred Kubitz of San Diego carried a sign branding Obama, Stalin and Hitler “three socialists.”

“I believe that we’re heading down the same road” as Stalin and Hitler, he said, adding that he did not see his sign as exaggerated and that, although a small number of people may resort to violence, “this is a movement of beautiful people, of laid-back and easygoing people.”

No problems were reported to police, despite the logistical challenge of accommodating the crowds on a plot just off the highway 60 miles south of Las Vegas.

Many people arrived about dawn, staking out seats in collapsible chairs. A traffic jam clogged five miles of the highway much of the morning. Las Vegas police, who patrol Searchlight, reported no arrests and one call “regarding a individual with a gun in an open holster,” a police statement said.

Police put the crowd estimate at about 9,000, while organizers claimed more than twice as many.

The rally is meant to kick off a national tour of smaller events organized by Tea Party Express, a Sacramento-based political action committee. The group is run by GOP political consultant Sal Russo. Another rally was held later in the day in a Las Vegas suburb, headlined by conservative author Ann Coulter.

Just down the road in Searchlight, about 50 Reid allies greeted cars heading to the rally with chants of “Harry! Harry!” Drivers responded with honks, thumbs down and a few middle fingers.

The Democrats’ signs — “Welcome to Reid Country” — were somewhat misleading. A recent poll showed that roughly one-third of Nevada voters had a positive opinion of Reid. Democrats struggle most in the state’s rural outposts, known for the sort of libertarian leanings and anti-tax views that match the tea party message.

“I like what they’re saying. It’s common sense,” Robert Shawn said of the tea party activists. The 51-year-old assistant kitchen manager at the Searchlight Nugget Casino, where some tea party backers asked him for directions, said he didn’t want to see the movement taken over by fringe views.

“If it becomes radical, it won’t work. They’ve got to focus on issues like keeping jobs here and lowering the cost of prescription drugs,” he said, adding that many protesters had asked him where the senator lives. “I’m not going to tell no one where he lives.”

Several tea party leaders have denounced violence and vandalism as a protest tactic.

At the same time, some of those leaders also cast doubt over whether reports of intimidation and window-smashing were exaggerated or made up by opponents to damage the tea party movement’s image. Conservative activists point to the incidents as another reason not to trust mainstream media and to blame the left.

“Thuggery is a tactic of the left wing,” Mark Williams, a Tea Party Express organizer, said from the stage. “We will not stand for it!”

Many activists were skeptical of reports that a racial slur was directed at Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) during a healthcare protest in Washington last weekend. In video of the noisy protest that has emerged on the Web, the purported obscenity is inaudible.

“They don’t have no true evidence of that,” said Joyce Bough, 64, a retired accountant from Bullhead City, Ariz. “I think that’s all made up.”

Her husband, Mel, nodded in agreement while holding a sign asking, “Is our freedom lost forever????”

Reid stayed clear of his hometown Saturday, instead campaigning at a Las Vegas shooting range. His campaign issued a statement: “Ultimately, though, this election will be decided by Nevadans, not people from other states who parachute in for one day to have a tea party.” The statement also thanked the tea party supporters for the economic boost they gave his hometown.