Facts Are Stubborn Things  —  Opponents of health insurance reform may find the truth a little inconvenient, but as our second president famously said, “facts are stubborn things.”  —  Scary chain emails and videos are starting to percolate on the internet, breathlessly claiming, for example …

U.S. journalists reportedly pardoned in N. Korea  —  (CNN) — North Korean President Kim Jong Il has pardoned and ordered the release of two U.S. journalists, state-run news agency KCNA said Wednesday.  —  The announcement came after former U.S. President Bill Clinton met with top North Korean officials …

Blackwater Founder Implicated in Murder  —  A former Blackwater employee and an ex-US Marine who has worked as a security operative for the company have made a series of explosive allegations in sworn statements filed on August 3 in federal court in Virginia.

McDonnell leads by 14  —  Bob McDonnell has opened up a 51-37 lead over Creigh Deeds in the race to be Virginia's next Governor, up from a 49-43 advantage four weeks ago.  —  The movement in the race likely has more to do with national trends than anything actually going on in Virginia.

What Obama and My Wife Have in Common  —  Dear Mr. President:  —  First, happy birthday.  I do hope today is an enjoyable day for you and your family.  Coincidentally, I also will be celebrating this week the birth of someone dear to me, my beloved wife, Gena, whose birthday is Aug. 9.

More facts behind the GE/Fox deal and a new Olbermann statement  —  (updated below)  —  On Saturday, I wrote a post under the headline: “GE's silencing of Olbermann and MSNBC's sleazy use of Richard Wolffe.”  In it, I wrote: “now we have an example of GE's forcibly silencing …

Clinton 51%, Palin 39%  —  If America elects a woman president soon, right now her name appears to be Hillary Clinton.  —  In a hypothetical match-up between the two most formidable female candidates in their respective parties, Clinton defeats former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin 51% to 39% …

HONORING AN AMERICA-HATER  —  THE Medal of Freedom is the nation's highest civilian honor.  Past recipients include John Wayne, Norman Rockwell and Vaclav Havel.  This year, one of the 16 recipients President Obama selected (along with such worthies as Sen. Edward Kennedy and the late Jack Kemp) …

Hezbollah stockpiles 40,000 rockets near Israel border  —  Richard Beeston on the Israel-Lebanese border and Nicholas Blanford in Beirut  —  Three years after Israel fought a bloody war in Lebanon against Hezbollah, there are fears that hostilities could erupt again — this time with the militant group better armed than ever.

Adelaide man caught up in bid to oust Obama  —  A self-described ‘grey-haired guy in a corner of little old Adelaide’ has been unwittingly implicated in a conspiracy to oust the 44th President of the United States from office.  Unbeknown to David Bomford, a group called the Birthers have used …

Sotomayor: Qualified, mainstream  —  Judicial confirmation hearings weren't always ideological witch hunts.  —  When John Roberts and Samuel Alito were nominated to the Supreme Court, Republicans argued that they should be confirmed based on their impeccable qualifications and mainstream jurisprudence.

PERSONAL INCOME AND OUTLAYS: JUNE 2009 REVISED ESTIMATES: 1929 THROUGH MAY 2009  —  Personal income decreased $159.8 billion, or 1.3 percent, and disposable personal income (DPI) decreased $143.8 billion, or 1.3 percent, in June, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Hey, Mister Postman  —  Art Laffer (why is he, of all people, on my TV?) asks what it will be like when the government runs Medicare and Medicaid.  —  But I'd raise a further question: he warns that when the government takes over these, um, government programs, they'll be like the Post Office and the DMV.

CNN Poll: Did Obama act stupidly in Gates arrest comments?  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) - A new national poll indicates that white and black Americans don't see eye to eye on last month's arrest of Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates.  The CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey …

Obama's birthday: Turning the candles  —  President Barack Obama, born 48 years ago today in Honolulu, Hawaii, celebrated his first birthday in the White House with a family breakfast in the private residence, a birthday song at lunch sung by senators in the State Dining Room and a song …

For The Modern GOP, It's A Return To The “White Voter Strategy”  —  With Republican party leaders so constrained by ideological blinders that none of their positions is likely to produce gains among non-white minorities, especially Hispanics, the GOP is finding it has no real alternative but to revert to a “white voter” strategy.

White House Counsel's Job Is at Stake  —  WASHINGTON — Obama administration officials are holding discussions that could result in White House counsel Gregory Craig leaving his post, following a rocky tenure, people familiar with the matter said.  —  Mr. Craig, the top lawyer at the White House …

Obama's Birthday Cards From Birthers (PICS)  —  It's the president's birthday!  And what better way to celebrate than to give the birther movement even more media attention.  Of course, we don't really know that Obama was born on August 4th, because he refuses to show his birth certificate …

Insurers only pull your coverage when it hurts  —  Via Yves Smith, an important piece on “rescissions”: cases in which insurance companies retroactively cancel your health coverage.  —  The industry would have you believe that it's a minor issue, because only a small fraction of the insured experience rescissions in any given year.

DNC hammers Republican-backed ‘mob rule’  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — The Democratic National Committee released a sharply-worded statement Tuesday accusing Republicans of colluding with “K Street Lobbyists” to incite “angry mobs” of extremists to disrupt health care town halls in congressional districts around the country.

Hope and History  —  As a candidate Obama promised us a lot; as president he's delivered very little — and many gay people are getting impatient.  Does the outcry unmask this president's indifference, or reveal our own impotence as a movement?  —  He looked like a hero, and that was the problem.

Obama administration withholds data on program … WASHINGTON (AP) - The Obama administration is refusing to release government records on its “cash-for-clunkers” rebate program that would substantiate—or undercut—White House claims of the program's success, even as the president presses …