The Health Care Bill Dies? … Well, as the French would say... Quelle surprise!  —  It's funny, earlier this summer I was watching the Federer-Roddick Wimbledon Final.  Great match in a way, final set was 30 games long, one of the all-time epic battles.  And yet, as I watched it …

Bill Kristol Says Things That Are The Opposite of True … “One reason the price of health care is going up so fast is because of government programs,” says Kristol.  “The price of Medicare and Medicaid have gone up faster than private insurance.  That's well-documented.”

Born in the U.S.A.  —  Pres. Barack Obama has a birthday coming up, a week from Tuesday.  We hope he takes the day off—or even the whole week, the briefest of respites from his busy schedule of truncating our liberties while exhausting both the public coffers and our patience.

Obama-Haters Becoming Increasingly...Racial In Their Rhetoric  —  An interesting pattern has emerged in the last few weeks, as President Obama's ratings have started to come down to Earth: You can really see a type of Obama-hatred out there that really does cross over into a purely racial territory.

Andrew Sullivan is Right  —  It doesn't happen terribly often, but I'm with Andrew Sullivan on the need to lay Obama birther-ism to rest— a subject on which he's been blogging with some energy over the last day.  —  Indeed, it's almost as if birthers have allowed an intense …

Memo: No health vote before recess UPDATE  —  Democratic leaders may have thrown in the towel — telling their Republican counterparts that there will be no health care vote on the House floor before the August recess starts this Friday, according a Republican memo obtained by POLITICO.  —  The memo:

Blue Dogs still chewing on Waxman's offer  —  The fate of the House healthcare proposal rested in the hands of the Blue Dogs on Tuesday morning as the coalition review the healthcare compromise offered Monday night by Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.).

Palin tests radio waters.  —  Alaska's now former Governor is coy about her future political plans, but radio is at least one option she's leaving on the table.  While not exactly shopping the GOP's 2008 vice presidential candidate, sources say Palin representatives have been quietly testing …

Senate Panel Endorses Sotomayor  —  WASHINGTON — President Obama's nominee to the Supreme Court, Judge Sonia Sotomayor, moved closer to taking her seat on Tuesday as the Senate Judiciary Committee overwhelmingly approved her nomination and sent it on to the full Senate.

Shatner Does The Palin Farewell Speech  —  I haven't blogged on Sarah Palin's bizarre farewell speech, but Conan O'Brien's inspired idea to stage a dramatic reading by William Shatner has wakened me from my dogmatic slumbers:  —  Of course the definitive bizarre Shatner vocal performances can be found on his album The Transformed Man.

Keyes and Birthers, Buckley and Birchers … I've held fire for the last several months as I've watched the so-called “Birther” movement gain steam.  —  At first it was amusing, like playing a drinking game — you know, like taking a shot every time Chris Matthews explains why he insists …

Iowa parties agree on Saturday caucuses for 2010  —  Sources from both the Iowa Democratic Party and Republican Party of Iowa say they are getting ready to jointly announce a date for the 2010 Iowa caucuses.  For the first time, they'll be held on a Saturday afternoon in January.

Axelrod's Son Hired by Huffington Post  —  David Axelrod's son is following his father's career path — that is, the one he had before becoming a political strategist.  —  Ethan Axelrod is joining the Huffington Post, the liberal Web site that has been largely supportive of President Obama.

The White House Reacts to Aluf Benn's Arguments  —  Shortly after I posted a link to Aluf Benn's New York Times op-ed on President Obama, I spoke to two senior administration officials who seemed to feel fairly strongly that Benn doesn't understand what the President is trying to do.

CSI: Watergate  —  Has an amateur historian found the key to the lost 18 ½ minutes?  —  Post Comment  —  ON JUNE 20, 1972, President Richard Nixon and his chief of staff, H.R. “Bob” Haldeman, met in Nixon's hideaway office at the Old Executive Office Building.

Harvard Prof Gates Is Half-Irish, Related to Cop Who Arrested Him  —  Two Men at Center of Controversy Linked by Irish Heritage  —  Henry Louis Gates Jr., the black professor at the center of the racial story involving his arrest outside his Harvard University-owned house, has spoken proudly of his Irish roots.

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Exclusive Interview: Pirate on When to Negotiate, Kill Hostages  —  For his story on the economics of Somali piracy, WIRED contributing editor Scott Carney spoke to one of the ocean-going hijackers.  They talked about how to negotiate a ransom, when to kill a hostage, and how to avoid the Navy.

Cabinet Will ‘Retreat’ to Blair House to Hand Out Report Cards  —  Aides promise that there will be no trust circles or “sharing” exercises, but President Obama's Cabinet will gather Friday and Saturday to mark the administration's sixth month in office with a high-level retreat.

Chris Parks Says He Was Mistaken For An Army Deserter  —  Parks Decided Against Enlisting In The Military 10 Years Ago  —  It took a few minutes for Chris Parks to realize that when he was taken aside by Homeland Security at the Charlotte, N.C., airport it wasn't just another airport security check.

Newsweek's Obama Correspondent Joins Administration  —  Daren Briscoe, a Newsweek correspondent who was embedded with Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign, has taken a job with the Obama administration, according to an email sent to a listserv of his classmates at the Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism.