Bill Clinton Discusses His DNC Speech with Jon Stewart: VIDEO

Jon Stewart praises Clinton's choice to use facts and numbers rather than ideology in his speech to the Democratic National Convention and asks Clinton if he knew he was "crushing it".

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

NEWS: Hitch, Bumps, And Ballers (VIDEO)

The Times neatly sums up the sudden eruption of pro-equality sentiment from the NFL:

“I think it’s a transformational moment and seismic shift to see so many folks in the world of sports stepping up and speaking out in support of equality and fairness and, in this instance, marriage equality,” Ellner said. “It really demonstrates what we know, and what’s apparent in the polls, and that the world has changed.”

And another such summary from CNN.

Muslims, Jews, and Christians find common ground:

Around 500 mainly Jewish but some Christian and Muslim protesters gathered in Berlin on Sunday to demand the right to circumcision after a disputed court ruling in Germany outlawing the rite.

Some protesters were draped in Israeli flags, others wore orthodox Jewish dress for the peaceful demonstration on Berlin’s Bebelplatz, infamous as the site of book-burning ceremonies carried out by Adolf Hitler’s Nazis.

One banner at the demonstration accused Germany of reverting to a “colonial power” while another read: “Foreskin? No thank you!”

Next year likely to be the hottest on record.

Obama gets a great big convention bump:

The latest daily tracking poll showed Obama, a Democrat, with a lead of 4 percentage points over Romney. Forty-seven percent of 1,457 likely voters surveyed online over the previous four days said they would vote for Obama if the November 6 elections were held today, compared with 43 percent for Romney.

... Obama increased his lead over Romney in certain favorable characteristics. Asked who was more "eloquent," 50 percent of the 1,720 registered voters questioned in the poll favored Obama, compared to 25 percent for Romney. Asked about being "smart enough for the job," 46 percent sided with Obama compared to 37 percent for Romney.

In fact, Obama led Romney in a dozen such favorable characteristics, such as "represents America" or "has the right values." The only such category in which Romney had an advantage was being "a man of faith," as 44 percent picked Romney, who is Mormon, compared to 31 percent for Obama, who is Christian.

The GOP sues to keep third-party candidates off the ballot in November.

Al Pacino as Joe Paterno?

There are a lot of big books coming out this fall. The Times' has a preview:

Fall is traditionally the biggest season in the book business, the time that publishers reserve for their most high-profile authors. But this year it is especially crammed with writers who are both household names and have not released a book in several years, like the octogenarian Mr. Wolfe, whose last novel, “I Am Charlotte Simmons,” was published in 2004, and Mr. Díaz, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao,” which came out in 2007.

Salman Rushdie, the author of “Midnight’s Children,” will release a memoir ... [J.K.] Rowling, best known for her phenomenally best-selling Harry Potter series, has written her first novel for adults, “The Casual Vacancy.”

In November Nan A. Talese/Doubleday will release Ian McEwan’s “Sweet Tooth” ... Michael Chabon’s new novel, “Telegraph Avenue,” is scheduled for release on Sept. 11 ...

The pileup has left publishers jostling for shelf space and publication dates, and critics wondering how they can review all of the elite writers worthy of attention ...

The NBA's Rajon Rando, point guard, millionaire, and noted cutie, goes to work as an unpaid fashion intern.

AFTER THE JUMP: See the ordinarily private Carol Blue, Christopher Hitchens's widow, speaks to Charlie Rose about her late husband's last book, Mortality, and his "year of living dyingly."

Sarah Palin Forgets She's Famous: VIDEO

Here's a fantastically awkward bit of brand-burnishing from Sarah Palin, delivered while she was being interviewed on FOX Business Network Thursday evening, shortly after John Kerry mentioned her during his speech at the DNC:

I think he diminished himself by even mentioning my name. How does he even know my name? I mean, aren't these guys supposed to be these bigwig elites who don't waste their time on the little people like me? Me representing the average American?

Sen. Kerry mentioned Palin's name while tossing a zinger at Mitt Romney -- something about how Sarah Palin once said she could see Russia from her house, while it seems like Mitt Romney's only ever seen Russia in Rocky IV. Fox Business Network host Neil Cavuto gave Palin a minute to respond to the joke, and then mercifully stepped in to formulate a response on her behalf -- something to the effect that it's a shame how Democrats are still taking Palin's Russia comments out of context, while complaining about their own words being similarly misused. Watch AFTER THE JUMP ...

This Is What Inclusion Looks Like: VIDEO

A highlight reel of all the LGBT mentions at the Democratic National Convention, via HRC.

Check it out, AFTER THE JUMP...

Jeremy Hooper at Good As You has the LGBT mentions in text here, here, and here.

Michael Stipe Demands FOX News Dease and Desist Use of R.E.M.

A note on the REMHQ web page:

R.E.M.'s "Losing My Religion" was used in the Fox News coverage of the Democratic National Convention last night. R.E.M. today, through its music publisher, Warner-Tamerlane Music, demanded that Fox News cease and desist from continuing its unlicensed and unauthorized use of the song. Michael Stipe said, "We have little or no respect for their puff adder brand of reportage. Our music does not belong there."

More DNC Speeches of Note: Tammy Baldwin, Eva Longoria, John Kerry, Charlie Crist

More speeches of note from last night's DNC:

Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) may become the first out gay senator if she wins in November.

"Our president has made historic progress toward equality. He repealed "don't ask, don't tell" so that no American ever again has to lie about who they are in order to serve the country we love. Republicans want to write discrimination into our Constitution. But the Wisconsin I know believes that with each passing year and each generation, our country must become more equal, not less."

Eva Longoria:

"Mitt Romney would raise taxes on middle-class families to cut his own — and mine. And that’s not who we are as a nation, and let me tell you why: because the Eva Longoria who worked at Wendy’s flipping burgers — she needed a tax break. But the Eva Longoria who works on movie sets does not....And just like our president and first lady, I took out loans to pay for school. I changed oil in a mechanic shop, I flipped burgers at Wendy’s, I taught aerobics and I worked on campus to pay them back."

Senator John Kerry:

"...after more than 10 years without justice for thousands of Americans murdered on 9/11, after Mitt Romney said it would be naive to go into Pakistan to pursue the terrorists, it took President Obama, against the advice of many, to give that order and finally rid this earth of Osama bin Laden....Ask Osama bin Laden is he is better off now than he was four years ago."

And former Republican Florida Governor Charlie Crist, now an independent, who looks ready to make the switch to Democrat:

"That's the leader Florida needs. That's the leader America needs. And that's the reason I'm here tonight, not as a Republican, not as a Democrat, but as an optimistic American who understands that we must come together behind the one man who can lead the way forward in these challenging times: my president, our president, Barack Obama! And if you see the president before I do, give him a hug for Charlie!"