ONE OF THESE THINGS IS NOT LIKE THE OTHER.... A new Research 2000 poll conducted for Daily Kos asked respondents a rather straightforward question: “Do you believe that Barack Obama was born in the United States of America or not?”  Since the president was born in the U.S., ideally, the results would be around 100%.

In Beer Summit “Spoof” Milbank Suggests Hillary Drink “Mad Bitch” Beer  —  If I were on the board of directors of the Kaplan test prep company, and discovered that the people running a money-losing Kaplan subsidiary affiliate (better known as the Washington Post) had greenlighted a feature called …

Waxman gets deal on health bill  —  Liberal and conservative Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce panel struck a late-night deal Friday that will allow them to move a sweeping health care bill out of the committee after a two-week deadlock that put its fate in serious doubt.

McCain to filibuster “Cash for Clunkers” bill; Trouble for Reid with Dems, too  —  When Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-NV, tries to take up the House-passed “Cash for Clunkers” bill next week, he will hit a series of bipartisan road blocks.  —  Fox has learned that Sen. John McCain …

Forged letters to congressman anger local groups  —  As U.S. Rep. Tom Perriello was considering how to vote on an important piece of climate change legislation in June, the freshman congressman's office received at least six letters from two Charlottesville-based minority organizations voicing opposition to the measure.

Rudy: ‘Shut Up’  —  Rudy Giuliani, who has returned as a leading Republican spokesman, condemned Obama's health care plan in an interview with Sean Hannity.  —  He also offered, in response to the president's hope that the Gates arrest would be a “teachable moment,” this:  —  “He's actually right.

Right-Wing Harassment Strategy Against Dems Detailed In Memo: ‘Yell,’ ‘Stand Up And Shout Out,’ ‘Rattle Him’  —  This morning, Politico reported that Democratic members of Congress are increasingly being harassed by “angry, sign-carrying mobs and disruptive behavior” at local town halls.

More than 500 days of recession  —  The Commerce Department reported today that gross domestic product (GDP) contracted at a 1% annual rate in the second quarter of 2009, following a 6.4% decline in the previous quarter.  GDP is the total market value of goods and services produced in the U.S. economy …

Franken feuds with T. Boone Pickens  —  Five years after he put his money behind the Swift Boat ads that helped tank John Kerry's presidential campaign, Senate Democrats gave T. Boone Pickens a warm welcome at their weekly policy lunch Thursday.  —  Or at least most of them did.

Dodd Diagnosed With Early-Stage Prostate Cancer  —  U.S. Senator Christopher Dodd has been diagnosed with early-stage prostate cancer.  —  Dodd is scheduled to undergo surgery during the Senate's August recess and said he expects to be back at work after a “brief recuperation” at home.

What I Saw at the Beer Summit  —  Blogs and Stories  —  The Daily Beast's Elizabeth Gates joined her father, Skip, Sgt. Crowley, and the president to raise a beer and bury the hatchet.  An inside report from the peace talks.  —  In a world in which the conversation on race has traditionally taken …

Why Sarah Palin Fans Feel Betrayed  —  It's bad enough when she is mercilessly bashed from the left.  But it really stings when Republicans lay into her.  —  To be conservative is to be betrayed on a regular basis.  You send your kids to a school that tries to slyly indoctrinate them into liberalism …

Porn prosecution fuels debate  —  President Barack Obama's Justice Department has quietly agreed to move a pornography prosecution out of socially conservative Montana to more urbane New Jersey - fueling perceptions by some attorneys that the new administration is stepping back from the aggressive approach …

Probe finds new clues in AmeriCorps IG scandal  —  After seven weeks of trying, investigators looking into President Barack Obama's abrupt firing of AmeriCorps Inspector General Gerald Walpin are still unable to answer the most basic question of the whole affair: Why did the president do it?

Republicans Reveal Their Hypocrisy On Health Care, Refuse To Support Bill To Kill Government-Run Medicare  —  For months, Republicans have been trying to scare Americans away from supporting a public option in health care reform, claiming that “government-run” medicine is akin to socialism and would be disastrous.