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.

The LaRouche Cult and the Health Care Protests  —  After noting that the disturbed woman who accused Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) of supporting a “Nazi policy” was a LaRouche cultist, I checked out the trove of videos that LaRouche's Virginia-based organization has made available since …

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 …

A deeper look at the birthers  —  After we conducted polls over the last couple of weeks finding significant numbers of ‘birthers’ in North Carolina and Virginia, we decided to take the question national but also drum down more specifically on where exactly the people who think Barack Obama …

Is there really a boycott of Glenn Beck?  Update: Law of unintended consequences?  —  We've heard about the boycott of the Glenn Beck Show on Fox News Channel, one where as many as 20 advertisers have dropped their spots, thanks to pressure from left-wing groups angry at ... well, their latest anger du jour.

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 …

Anti-Reform Group's Internal Memo: “Rumors Of The Death Of The Public Option Have Been Greatly Exaggerated”  —  In a clear sign that conservatives are worried that the public option could still survive, an internal memo from a top anti-health care reform group claims that “rumors of its death” …

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.

Whole Foods Devotees Lash Out at CEO  —  Customers, Angry Over His Health-Care Views, Share Feelings of Betrayal on Web  —  Whole Foods aficionados who assumed the company's management was as crunchy as the brand are feeling betrayed.  —  They have stormed Twitter, Facebook and the blogosphere …

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?

NY dealers pull out of clunkers program  —  NEW YORK (AP) - Hundreds of auto dealers in the New York area have withdrawn from the government's Cash for Clunkers program, citing delays in getting reimbursed by the government, a dealership group said Wednesday.

Dem investigators target insurers  —  House Democrats are probing the nation's largest insurance companies for lavish spending, demanding reams of compensation data and schedules of retreats and conferences.  —  Letters sent to 52 insurance companies by Democratic leaders demand extensive documents …

A call with the rabbinate  —  From the Washington Jewish Week, and confirmed just now by Gibbs:  —  President Barack Obama needs some outside help pushing health care reform, and he's turning to rabbis to get it.  —  In a morning conference call with about 1000 rabbis from across the nation …

McCain: Maverick No More?  —  He ran for president last year as a “maverick” Republican and had a high-profile meeting with Barack Obama after the election, but Arizona Sen. John McCain has been a staunch Republican vote since failing to win the White House.

The Death Book for Veterans  —  Ex-soldiers don't need to be told they're a burden to society.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  If President Obama wants to better understand why America's discomfort with end-of-life discussions threatens to derail his health-care reform, he might begin with his own Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

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.

Etheridge considering Senate bid  —  Democratic U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge said today that he is giving some thought to running against Republican Sen. Richard Burr next year.  —  Etheridge, a Lillington Democrat, said he has been courted by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee as a potential candidate, reports Rob Christensen.

Ink-redible: 150-million-year-old squid discovered  —  Palaeontologists have drawn with ink extracted from a preserved fossilised squid uncovered during a dig in Trowbridge, Wiltshire.  —  The fossil, thought to be 150 million years old, was found when a rock was cracked open, revealing the one-inch-long black ink sac.