Cheney Uncloaks His Frustration With Bush  —  ‘Statute of Limitations Has Expired’ on Many Secrets, Former Vice President Says  —  In his first few months after leaving office, former vice president Richard B. Cheney threw himself into public combat against the “far left” agenda of the new commander in chief.

Roxana Mayer: I'm Not a Doctor But I Play One at Town Hall Meetings  —  [This post follows up on a previous post in which I questioned the credentials of a woman at a Texas town hall meeting who claimed to be a doctor, but turned out to be anything but.  She is a graduate student in social work — oh, and an Obama delegate.

Election 2010: Pennsylvania Senate Election  —  Pennsylvania 2010 Senate Match-ups: Specter, Sestak Top Toomey  —  Uncomfortable town hall meetings are just the tip of the iceberg for Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter.  He now trails Republican Pat Toomey by double digits in his bid …

‘LOST CONTROL OF THE MESSAGE’.... There was an interesting exchange yesterday in the White House briefing room.  A reporter asked Press Secretary Robert Gibbs about the administration's message strategy when it comes to health care reform. … Gibbs responded by noting that there's …

Poll: Health care views take sympathetic tilt  —  WASHINGTON — The raucous protests at congressional town-hall-style meetings have succeeded in fueling opposition to proposed health care bills among some Americans, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds — particularly among the independents who tend to be at the center of political debates.

Wanted: Obama healthcare reform volunteers willing to be paid $15 an hour  —  It seems that, despite all the media attention lavished on e-mail appeals to his supporters, not everyone pushing for President Obama's embattled healthcare reform plan these warm August days is an idealistic volunteer …

Hillary Fights a Tide of Trivialization  —  This was supposed to be the trip that would show exactly how Hillary Rodham Clinton would make good on her pledge, at her confirmation hearing for secretary of state, to make women's issues “central” to U.S. foreign policy, not “adjunct or auxiliary or in any way lesser.”

Oregon Rep. Fights Palin, Gingrich Attacks  —  Democrat Earl Blumenauer, Author of Health Care Measure on End-of-Life Issues: Death Panel Charge is “Blatant Lie”  —  (CBS/ AP) For more than decade in Congress, Oregon Rep. Earl Blumenauer has been known for his ever-present bow-tie and tireless advocacy of bikes.

Says he flubbed stats  —  Before presenting tennis legend Billie Jean King with the Medal of Freedom Wednesday, President Obama ticked off some ...  ... of her accomplishments: 12 Grand Slam titles, 101 doubles titles, 67 singles titles.  —  “Pretty good, Billie Jean,” he quipped.

Massive campaign for Obama hits air  —  A new coalition on Thursday launched $12 million in television ads to support President Barack Obama's health reform plan, in the opening wave of a planned tens of millions of dollars this fall.  —  The new group, funded largely by the pharmaceutical industry …

Cap-and-Trade's Unlikely Critics: Its Creators  —  Economists Behind Original Concept Question the System's Large-Scale Usefulness, and Recommend Emissions Taxes Instead  —  In the 1960s, a University of Wisconsin graduate student named Thomas Crocker came up with a novel solution …

The reckless Right courts violence  —  Hysterical talk from TV and radio hosts may be a cynical marketing exercise.  But it's getting too dangerous to ignore.  —  A man bearing a sidearm appears outside President Obama's Aug. 11 town hall meeting in Portsmouth, N.H., under a sign proclaiming …

Protector of traditional marriage Doug Manchester leaving wife of 43 years  —  In July 2008, hotelier and developer Doug Manchester donated $125,000 to help gather signatures for a proposition that would ban same-sex marriage in California.  The early money was crucial to getting the initiative—which ultimately passed—on the ballot.

The Return of the Viral Email  —  Read an email out this morning from Senior Advisor David Axelrod and watch a new “Reality Check” video from Health Reform Director Nancy-Ann DeParle below.  Both respond to the malicious chain emails that have been circulating on health insurance reform:

Yale Press Bans Images of Muhammad in New Book  —  It's not all that surprising that Yale University Press would be wary of reprinting notoriously controversial cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in a forthcoming book.  After all, when the 12 caricatures were first published by a Danish newspaper …

Nineteen Minutes In a Car With Harry Reid  —  LAS VEGAS - Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader, was having second thoughts - or was he? - about the way he had characterized people who are disrupting town halls with “lies, innuendo and rumor,” and not letting others speak.  They are, he said, “evil-mongers.”

Sen. Debbie Stabenow, Energy Leader (National Review, 08.10.09)  —  Detroit, Mich. - Michigan just experienced its coldest July on record; global temperatures haven't risen in more than a decade; Great Lakes water levels have resumed their 30-year cyclical rise (contrary to a decade …

JOHN EDWARDS SECRET DNA TEST PROVES HE'S THE DADDY!  —  BOMBSHELL WORLD EXCLUSIVE!  John Edwards has secretly undergone a DNA test - and it proves he's the father of his mistress' love child, The ENQUIRER has learned exclusively.  —  Multiple sources confirm the bombshell development …

Climate bill could cost 2 million jobs  —  Add another climate bill cost estimate to the growing pile.  —  The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) and the American Council for Capital Formation (ACCF) released a study Wednesday that found under a high-cost scenario the House global warming bill …

Santorum on Iowa Trip and 2012 Rumors: 'I'm Very Concerned About America Right Now'  —  This is a rush transcript from “On the Record,” August 12, 2009.  This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.  —  GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, FOX NEWS HOST: Have you heard?  Senator Santorum is headed to Iowa!

France and Germany exit recession  —  The French and German economies both grew by 0.3% between April and June, bringing to an end year-long recessions in Europe's largest economies.  —  Stronger exports and consumer spending, as well as government stimulus packages, contributed to the growth.

Internal Memo Confirms Big Giveaways In White House Deal With Big Pharma  —  A memo obtained by the Huffington Post confirms that the White House and the pharmaceutical lobby secretly agreed to precisely the sort of wide-ranging deal that both parties have been denying over the past week.