In America, Crazy Is a Preexisting Condition  —  Birthers, Town Hall Hecklers and the Return of Right-Wing Rage  —  In Pennsylvania last week, a citizen, burly, crew-cut and trembling with rage, went nose to nose with his baffled senator: “One day God's going to stand before you …

‘We were duped’: Two British women tricked into becoming stars of campaign to sabotage Obama's healthcare reforms  —  Two British women have claimed they were duped into becoming the stars of a campaign to sabotage Barack Obama's healthcare reforms.  —  Furious Kate Spall and Katie Brickell claim …

54% Say Passing No Healthcare Reform Better Than Passing Congressional Plan  —  Thirty-five percent (35%) of American voters say passage of the bill currently working its way through Congress would be better than not passing any health care reform legislation this year.

Whole Foods Boycott Picks Up Steam (Guest Voice)  —  EDITOR'S NOTE: In the past we ran a line about Guest Voice posts not necessarily representing the opinion of TMV or its writers.  But after we ran many Guest Voice columns by conservative talk show host Michael Reagan …

Shopkeeper 'didn't want to shoot' robbers  —  2 suspects dead, 2 injured after 72-year-old opens fire in New York City  —  NEW YORK - The sidewalk outside the Harlem store still was smeared with blood Friday, and the glass on the door still was blown out.  —  Above the entrance …

Health Debate Fails to Ignite Obama's Grass Roots  —  MUSCATINE, Iowa — At her home on Tom Sawyer Road here the other night, Bonnie Adkins agreed to begin spreading the word that President Obama's embattled health care plan needed help.  —  Ms. Adkins, who for the past two years devoted hundreds …

Dealers wait for ‘cash for clunkers’ payments  —  Some consider dropping out of program  —  By Joe Taschler of the Journal Sentinel  —  A growing number of auto dealers say the process of getting paid under the government's “cash for clunkers” plan increasingly resembles some of the wrecks accumulating …

THIS ROBERT REICH COLUMN ON THE HEALTH CARE DEBATE is supposed to make you feel bad about the “right wing hate machine,” but instead it's a stunning admission of incompetence: … Hmm.  So it's like this: … Remember how Bush was supposed to be the idiot who went into Iraq without a plan …

Emanuel Wields Power Freely, and Faces the Risks  —  WASHINGTON — As White House chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel was the one to bring the hammer down on Sidney Blumenthal.  —  Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton wanted to hire Mr. Blumenthal, a loyal confidant who had helped her promote the idea of a …

The feud between Bill O'Reilly and Keith Olbermann keeps viewers tuning in  —  Their corporate bosses may have called for a cease-fire, but Fox's Bill O'Reilly and MSNBC's Keith Olbermann keep on sparring.  —  By Matea Gold reporting from new york >>>  —  Two weeks of vitriolic exchanges …

Kenneth Bacon dies at 64  —  Kenneth H. Bacon, a former Wall Street Journal reporter who became chief Pentagon spokesman under President Bill Clinton, died Saturday at age 64.  —  Bacon had been battling melanoama, and was on leave was his job as president of Refugees International, a Washington-based group he joined in early 2001.

THE PENANCE HAS NOT BEEN PAID.... Following up on this item from yesterday, I had an interesting conversation via email yesterday with Bruce Bartlett, a veteran of the Reagan and H.W. Bush administrations.  Bruce made a point that really resonated with me, and he was gracious enough to allow me to republish it here.

Kennedy absences raise concern for health vote  —  Sen. Edward Kennedy's absence from two high-profile public events is raising worries that the country's longest congressional champion for health reform may not be available to shepherd it through the Senate this fall.