memeorandum: Barney Frank Confronts Woman At Town Hall Comparing Obama To Hitler (The Huffington Post)

2:05 PM ET, August 19, 2009

Top Items:

Democrats Seem Set to Go Alone on a Health Bill — WASHINGTON — Given hardening Republican opposition to Congressional health care proposals, Democrats now say they see little chance of the minority's cooperation in approving any overhaul, and are increasingly focused on drawing support for a final plan from within their own ranks.

Nat Hentoff / Jewish World Review:

I am finally scared of a White House administration — The members of that ultimate federal board will themselves not have examined or seen the patient in question. For another example of the growing, tumultuous resistance to “Dr. Obama,” particularly among seniors, there is a July 29 …

Discussion: Dr. Sanity, Samizdata.net, PoliGazette, Macsmind and Vox Popoli

Washington Post:

White House Is Seeking to Repair Intraparty Rift About Public Option — Public Option Wasn't Intended as Major Focus — President Obama's advisers acknowledged Tuesday that they were unprepared for the intraparty rift that occurred over the fate of a proposed public health insurance program …

Steven Pearlstein / Washington Post:

Time to Give Up on the Public Option — Enough already with the public option! — It is not the be-all and end-all of health-care reform. It is not the long-awaited safety net for the uninsured. And if, as many liberals hope, it turns out to be nothing more than Medicare for All …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, The Atlantic Politics Channel, New York Times, Matthew Yglesias, PoliGazette, USA Today, The Atlantic Business Channel, Donklephant, Slate, Ezra Klein, Left in the West, The Huffington Post and the albany project

Rasmussen Reports:

Without Public Option, Enthusiasm for Health Care Reform, Especially Among Democrats, Collapses — Just 34% of voters nationwide support the health care reform plan proposed by President Obama and congressional Democrats if the so-called “public option” is removed.

Discussion: TalkLeft, Power Line, HotAirPundit and AmSpecBlog

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:

TIPPING POINT.... By all appearances, Democrats have gone above and beyond in trying to secure at least some Republican support for health care reform. GOP leaders have gotten a lot of face time at the White House. Dems have signaled a willingness to make all kinds of concessions.

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Firedoglake, Salon, Hullabaloo, The Mahablog, Progress Illinois, The Moderate Voice and Dennis the Peasant

Mark Murray / msnbc.com:

NBC poll: Doubts over Obama health plan — NBC poll: Misperceptions abound on president's health overhaul initiative — WASHINGTON - Two weeks since raucous congressional town-hall meetings on health care became a national story — and days after President Barack Obama began holding his own town halls …

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
CREATING A STRONG INCENTIVE TO LIE.... Following up on the earlier item …

Discussion: Firedoglake and The Plum Line

Rasmussen Reports:
Election 2010: Florida GOP Senate Primary

Discussion: The Washington Independent and TPMDC

Michael O'Brien / The Hill's Blog Briefing Room:
Blue Dog: Votes aren't there to go it alone on public option

Discussion: TPMDC

Mike Allen / The Politico:
Parties point fingers, W.H. goes solo

Discussion: Glenn Thrush's Blog and The BLT

Sam Youngman / The Hill:
White House insists it wants bipartisan health bill

Discussion: The Washington Independent

Conor Clarke / The Daily Dish:
Time To Let Go Of The Public Option — I have decently warm feelings …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice

Karen Travers / Political Punch:
Gibbs Denies Reports that WH, Democrats Giving Up on Bipartisan …

Discussion: Hot Air

CNN:
Is White House ready to go to war over health care?

Discussion: The Huffington Post and AmSpecBlog

CNN:

Barney Frank goes toe to toe at health care town hall — (CNN) — Most Congress members conducting town hall meetings this month have chosen a noncombative posture to deal with angry participants who disrupt the proceedings. Not Rep. Barney Frank. — At a lively two-hour meeting Tuesday night …

Discussion: Associated Press, Capitol Briefing, Fox News, Think Progress, Mediaite, Althouse and Outside The Beltway

Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:

Barney Frank's Townhall — Obviously, not all aspects of the Barney Frank Experience are going to play in Peoria, but I think his fighting spirit is something that progressive politicians in jurisdictions of all kinds could learn from: — Voters don't have a great deal of knowledge about the issues …

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Dennis the Peasant

The Huffington Post:
Barney Frank Confronts Woman At Town Hall Comparing Obama To Hitler

Discussion: New York Magazine

Mark Silva / The Swamp:
Health-care, Nazism: Fight out of bounds

Discussion: Majikthise

John McCormack / Weekly Standard:

CNN Fails to Report Woman Comparing Obama to Hitler is a Lyndon LaRouche Democrat — CNN's Larry King showed the above video of Barney Frank laying the smack down on a woman at a townhall meeting who compared Obama to Hitler. CNN left out the fact that this woman is a Lyndon LaRouche Democrat.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, HotAirPundit, JammieWearingFool, TPMDC, NECN, Michelle Malkin, The Washington Independent, Mediaite, Gawker and Ben Smith's Blog

David Weigel / The Washington Independent:
Was Barney Frank's ‘Nazi’ Questioner a LaRouche Cultist? [UPDATE: Confirmed]

Discussion: The Atlantic Politics Channel, Boing Boing, Reason, Shakesville and Personal Democracy Forum blogs

Kenneth P. Vogel / The Politico:

Axelrod's ties targeted in health fight — Critics of President Obama's health-care overhaul are zeroing in on his senior adviser David Axelrod, whose former partners at a Chicago-based firm are the beneficiaries of huge ad buys—now at $24 million and counting—by White House allies in the reform fight.

Discussion: JustOneMinute, AmSpecBlog and Hot Air

Michelle Malkin:
Axelrod's profits: Uh, who's on the take from the drug lobby again?!?!

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog, Townhall.com, protein wisdom, The Jawa Report, Atlas Shrugs, Moe Lane, Dr. Melissa Clouthier and Pajamas Media

Domenico Montanaro / msnbc.com:

FIRST THOUGHTS: OBAMA'S GOOD, BAD NEWS — From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Ali Weinberg — *** Good news and bad news: The (relatively) good news for the Obama White House in the new NBC News poll is that the contours of the health-care debate haven't really changed …

Discussion: Think Progress and MyDD

The Note:
Obama to Take Questions on Conservative Talk Radio Show

Discussion: ABCNEWS

Jo Becker / New York Times:

A Conservative's Road to Same-Sex Marriage Advocacy — Theodore B. Olson's office is a testament to his iconic status in the conservative legal movement. A framed photograph of Ronald Reagan, the first of two Republican presidents Mr. Olson served, is warmly inscribed with “heartfelt thanks.”

Discussion: The Volokh Conspiracy, The Daily Dish, New York Magazine, #gay, Law Dork, Law Blog, Gawker and The Huffington Post

Martin Feldstein / Wall Street Journal:

ObamaCare Is All About Rationing — Overspending is far preferable to artificially limiting the availability of new procedures and technologies. — Printer — Friendly — Although administration officials are eager to deny it, rationing health care is central to President Barack Obama's health plan.

Discussion: Democracy in America, Betsy's Page, Pundit & Pundette, Sense of Events, The Greenroom, BizzyBlog and American Power

James Brown / CBS News:

TV News Giant Don Hewitt Dies At 86 — CBS News Legend And “60 Minutes” Creator's Career Spanned 60 Years — (CBS) Don Hewitt, recognized as a father of modern television news and the creator of the medium's most successful broadcast, “60 Minutes,” died Wednesday after battling pancreatic cancer.

Discussion: Mediaite, Gawker, The Page, Wonkette and NPR Blogs

Larry Rohter / New York Times:

New Doubts Raised Over Famous War Photo — After nearly three-quarters of a century Robert Capa's “Falling Soldier” picture from the Spanish Civil War remains one of the most famous images of combat ever. It is also one of the most debated, with a long string of critics claiming that the photo …

Discussion: The Plank

Pew Research Center:

More See White House and GOP Leaders at Odds — Democratic Favorable Ratings Slide — Americans are in an increasingly sour mood about Washington. Barack Obama's approval ratings continue to inch downward and a growing proportion of Americans (63%) think that the president and Republican leaders …

Discussion: Politics Daily, The Swamp, Washington Wire and The Plum Line

Sam Dagher / New York Times:

At Least 95 Killed in Series of Attacks in Baghdad — BAGHDAD — At least 95 people were killed and 563 wounded in a series of truck bombings and other attacks on Wednesday that rocked areas around official buildings in central Baghdad, the Interior Ministry said.

Discussion: Guardian, Vanity Fair and Norwegianity

Carla Marinucci / San Francisco Chronicle:

Senate bid dogged by Fiorina's failure to vote — (08-18) 19:51 PDT — Republican Carly Fiorina, the former Hewlett-Packard CEO, took her first formal step Tuesday to challenge incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer - but does she pass the Citizenship 1o1 test?

Discussion: Scorecard's Blog, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, CNN, Senate Guru and TBogg

Warren E. Buffett / New York Times:

The Greenback Effect — IN nature, every action has consequences, a phenomenon called the butterfly effect. These consequences, moreover, are not necessarily proportional. For example, doubling the carbon dioxide we belch into the atmosphere may far more than double the subsequent problems for society.

Discussion: The Hill's Blog Briefing Room and Felix Salmon

Emily Friedman / ABCNEWS:

Happy Birthday, Bubba! Clinton Turns 63 — Former President Seems to Be Settling Into Role as Elder Statesman — On his 63rd birthday, former President Bill Clinton is not without reason to celebrate. — After all, it was Clinton who earlier this month was lauded after helping …