The Prez, The Press, The Pressure  —  Networks Grouse About Obama in Prime Time  —  In the days before President Obama's last news conference, as the networks weighed whether to give up a chunk of their precious prime time, Rahm Emanuel went straight to the top.

Angry right harasses Rep. Lloyd Doggett with anti-health care chants.  (Updated)  —  Today, House members are back home to begin their month-long recess.  The far right has indicated that they plan to welcome many of their representatives with large, angry throngs ("town halls gone wild").

Birther or Not, Here They Come!  Rightbloggers Work the Obama Birth Certificate Angle  —  As you may have heard, there is among certain people a controversy as whether Barack Obama was really born in the United States.  They generally believe that Obama's certification of live birth …

Sen. Enzi: No deadline for healthcare talks  —  One of the three Republican senators working on a bipartisan agreement on healthcare reform legislation flatly denied Monday the Democratic claims that negotiators had set a mid-September deadline to complete their work.

Into the lion's den: My encounter with The View; Vid link added  —  Just finished up on The View, where I sparred with the ladies about Culture of Corruption.  —  You can watch a bit of it at RCP and I'm sure Hot Air will have highlights up soon.  —  Best part: Every single member of the audience got a copy of the book!

Blue-State Blues  —  We know because he said so, in the first of many famous speeches, that Barack Obama doesn't see Red America or Blue America — he only sees the United States of America.  But as the president contemplates his faltering poll numbers and his stalling health-care push …

Political Party Affiliation: 30 States Blue, 4 Red in '09 So Far  —  PRINCETON, NJ — An analysis of Gallup Poll Daily tracking data from the first six months of 2009 finds Massachusetts to be the most Democratic state in the nation, along with the District of Columbia.

Sarah Palin, meet Mahmoud Ahmadinejad  —  You two right-wing populists have a surprising amount in common  —  President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad delivers a speech in Mashhad, Iran, on Friday; Gov. Sarah Palin gives her resignation speech in Fairbanks, Alaska, on July 26.  —  Is Sarah Palin America's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad?

McCain To Vote “No” On Sotomayor  —  Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) announced today that he will vote against Sonia Sotomayor, Pres. Obama's nominee to become the first Hispanic SCOTUS justice.  —  McCain, in a Senate floor speech: … McCain voted against Sotomayor's nomination to the 2nd Circuit Court …

Cash From Clunkers  —  Let's have a $4,500 subsidy for everything.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  Americans are streaming back into auto showrooms, and one reason is the “cash for clunkers” subsidy.  Democrats are naturally claiming this is a great success, while Republicans are claiming …

Just 32% of Virginia Republicans Think Obama is a Citizen  —  Here's an advance look at a new Public Policy Polling survey in Virginia completed over the weekend: An astonishing 41% of the state's Republicans think President Obama was not born in the United States while just 32% think he was and 27% are still not sure.

OBAMA JOKER POSTER  —  LOS ANGELES, CA - A poster depicting President Obama as Batman's The Joker has begun appearing around Los Angeles.  —  Someone has been creating posters of President Obama in the famous face paint of The Dark Knight's Joker, famously depicted by Heath Ledger.

U.S. Weighs Iran Sanctions if Talks Are Rejected  —  The Obama administration is talking with allies and Congress about the possibility of imposing an extreme economic sanction against Iran if it fails to respond to President Obama's offer to negotiate on its nuclear program …

Ghost Letters: Opponents Of Clean Energy Reform Send Fake Letters To Sen. Conrad  —  Last week, ThinkProgress reported that a DC-based lobbying firm was caught forging letters to Rep. Tom Periello (D-VA) in opposition to the Waxman-Markey clean energy bill.  The company, Bonner & Associates …

Obama's Anger Problem?  —  If President Obama is mad, who's he so mad at?  —  Let me explain.  On Friday afternoon, at the daily White House press briefing, press secretary Robert Gibbs was explaining why his boss this week will be making his second trip as president to hard-hit Elkhart …

Politico Only Knows Conservative Experts  —  Politico had the interesting idea of asking various DC policy experts to recommend books in their areas of expertise.  Unfortunately, it went off the rails.  Things start out okay on the Middle East where they ask one person from CAP (left) …

Resurrection  —  The bugs are not bad in this part of Afghanistan.  The scorched terrain is biologically boring.  Mice and ferret-like creatures dash around in the evenings when sparrows and doves and a few other sorts of birds flutter through the cool air.

Confidence in U.S. Health Care System Has Grown in Recent Months  —  Forty-eight percent (48%) of U.S. voters now rate the U.S. health care system as good or excellent.  The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that just 19% rate it as poor.

CROWD EXPLODES when Arlen Specter says “do it fast.”  This kind of thing just keeps happening....  CROWD EXPLODES when Arlen Specter says “do it fast.”  —  This kind of thing just keeps happening.  And it's happening all over.  —  Plus, planning to eliminate private insurance?

Three policewomen spend full day dressed in Muslim burkhas in controversial ‘In Your Shoes’ exercise  —  A police exercise which saw female officers spending a day dressed in full Muslim dress has been blasted ‘a complete waste of time’.  —  Two sergeants and a community support officer dressed …

Rewarding Bad Actors  —  Americans are angry at Wall Street, and rightly so.  First the financial industry plunged us into economic crisis, then it was bailed out at taxpayer expense.  And now, with the economy still deeply depressed, the industry is paying itself gigantic bonuses.

Warning: Oil supplies are running out fast  —  Catastrophic shortfalls threaten economic recovery, says world's top energy economist  —  The world is heading for a catastrophic energy crunch that could cripple a global economic recovery because most of the major oil fields in the world …