White House disables e-tip box  —  Following a furor over how the data would be used, the White House has shut down an electronic tip box — flag@whitehouse.gov — that was set up to receive information on “fishy” claims about President Barack Obama's health plan.

Man Carrying An Assault Rifle And Pistol Outside Obama Event  —  A man was seen carrying an assault rifle and a pistol outside the VFW Convention in Phoenix where President Obama spoke today, a local newspaper reports.  (Click through for a photo.)  —  Local police said it's legal under Arizona law …

Rep. Massa: I will vote against the interests of my district  —  Rep. Eric Massa (D-N.Y.) addressed an intimate group of Netroots activists during their annual Netroots Nation gathering in Pittsburgh this weekend.  Mr. Massa reiterated his support for a single-payer health care bill.

Rationing and Rationality  —  Defined at a high level of abstraction, rationing is inevitable in medicine.  Not everything that might be in a patient's best interest can be done in a world of finite resources, and some constraint has to limit his treatment.  Thus the left-wing jibe that the market features “rationing by price.”

Wal-Mart, CVS, Best Buy ditch Glenn Beck (plus 5 more companies)  —  Cross-posted at Jack and Jill Politics, Firedoglake, and Daily Kos.  —  Big news today.  We've confirmed that eight more major advertisers have pulled their support from Glenn Beck's show — Wal-Mart, Best Buy, CVS …

Conservatives Now Outnumber Liberals in All 50 States, Says Gallup Poll  —  (CNSNews.com) - Self-identified conservatives outnumber self-identified liberals in all 50 states of the union, according to the Gallup Poll.  —  At the same time, more Americans nationwide are saying this year …

Joe The Plumber Says He Would ‘Beat The Livin’ Tar' Out Of Pelosi  —  This past weekend, at the right wing's RightOnline blogger conference in Pittsburgh — sponsored by Americans for Prosperity — Alternet's Adele Stan reported that Joe “the Plumber” Wurzelbacher attacked Nancy Pelosi for calling teabaggers “un-American.”

Chuck Grassley's Dispiriting Bipartisanship  —  Spent a few hours today as one of the panelist's on Dylan Ratigan's “Morning Meeting.”  Toward the end of the second hour, Chuck Grassley hopped on the program to talk death panels and bipartisanship.  It sounded like bipartisanship dying.

Hutchison kicks off governor's race, slams Perry  —  Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R), the great-great-granddaughter of a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence, made official Monday morning her bid to become governor of her home state.  —  In a morning speech at her old high school in La Marque …

Telling Grandma ‘No’  —  When Democratic congressmen dream these days, they're tongue-tied in town halls, fumbling with their microphones while they're shouted down by slavering, pitchfork-wielding Limbaugh listeners.  —  But Barack Obama is wiser than most Democratic congressmen, and his nightmares are savvier.

CNN anchor to protester: Hey, stop calling yourselves “real Americans”  —  All this poor guy meant by “real” is that the people at Obama's town halls were true grassroots activists who went on their own initiative, not as fronts for the White House or some conservative astroturf operation.

Orly Taitz: Obama policies are ‘clear and present danger to Israel’  —  The driving force behind the ‘birther’ movement has found her star is rising in Israel.  —  U.S. President Barack Obama's domestic and foreign policies pose “a clear and present danger to Israel,” says the driving force behind …

Time to Legalize Drugs  —  Undercover Baltimore police officer Dante Arthur was doing what he does well, arresting drug dealers, when he approached a group in January.  What he didn't know was that one of suspects knew from a previous arrest that Arthur was police.  Arthur was shot twice in the face.

The Swiss Menace  —  It was the blooper heard round the world.  In an editorial denouncing Democratic health reform plans, Investor's Business Daily tried to frighten its readers by declaring that in Britain, where the government runs health care, the handicapped physicist Stephen Hawking …

Exclusive: New Poll Finds Majority Of Republicans Either Believes Or Isn't Sure About “Death Panel” Claim  —  Wow.  A forthcoming poll by the nonpartisan Research 2000 for DailyKos finds that a majority of Republicans either believes, or isn't sure about, the claim that the Dem health care proposal …

On Fox, Mark Sanford “(D)” holds press conference  —  Media outlets - including Fox - misidentify as Democrats several Republicans facing scandal, poor poll numbers  —  EXPAND ALL EXPAND 1ST LEVEL COLLAPSE ALL

Obama administration says marriage law unfair  —  WASHINGTON — The Obama administration filed court papers Monday claiming a federal marriage law discriminates against gays, even as government lawyers continue to defend the law.  —  Justice Department lawyers are seeking to dismiss …

Mike Huckabee bashes America on foreign soil  —  (updated below - Update II)  —  Mike Huckabee this week traveled to a foreign country and, speaking on foreign soil, is now bashing America in front of a foreign audience: … According to Haaretz, Huckabee is joined on this trip by …

Poll: 57% don't see stimulus working  —  WASHINGTON — Six months after President Obama launched a $787 billion plan to right the nation's economy, a majority of Americans think the avalanche of new federal aid has cost too much and done too little to end the recession.  —  POLL RESULTS: Six questions

Tom DeLay on ‘Dancing With the Stars’ — It's Hammer Time!  —  Tom DeLay, the former Republican majority leader in the House of Representatives, will be a contestant on “Dancing with the Stars” when the popular ABC show premieres Sept. 21.  And, before you laugh or think this is going to be a joke …

Why the Ladies Love Jon Hamm of ‘Mad Men’  —  The other day, I saw Don Draper in a restaurant on Manhattan's Upper West Side.  Or rather, I saw Jon Hamm, the award-winning actor who plays the ad exec anti-hero on AMC's Mad Men, which kicked off its third season Sunday night.