New Rx for Health Plan: Split Bill  —  The White House and Senate Democratic leaders, seeing little chance of bipartisan support for their health-care overhaul, are considering a strategy shift that would break the legislation into two parts and pass the most expensive provisions solely with Democratic votes.

Unreal: MSNBC edits clip of man with gun at Obama rally to support racism narrative  —  I missed this yesterday at Newsbusters but Treacher, rightly aghast, tipped me to it this afternoon.  Never will you see a starker example of MSNBC getting away with the sort of deception for which Fox News …

Poll Shows Most Americans Oppose War in Afghanistan  —  A majority of Americans now see the war in Afghanistan as not worth fighting, and just a quarter say more U.S. troops should be sent to the country, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.  —  Most have confidence in the ability …

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 …

NY dealers pull out of clunkers program  —  NEW YORK (AP) - Hundreds of auto dealers in the New York area have withdrawn from the government's Cash for Clunkers program, citing delays in getting reimbursed by the government, a dealership group said Wednesday.

Chuck Todd thinks we support the public option just because conservatives don't  —  On Andrea Mitchell's show this morning, Chuck Todd was on to opine about health care reform.  He said one outrageous thing and one right thing.  The Toddster said that progressives might be attached …

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.

C.I.A. Sought Blackwater's Help in Plan to Kill Jihadists  —  WASHINGTON — The Central Intelligence Agency in 2004 hired outside contractors from the private security contractor Blackwater USA as part of a secret program to locate and assassinate top operatives of Al Qaeda, according to current and former government officials.

Harriet Miers Takes Another Crack at the U.S. Supreme Court  —  Former White House counsel Harriet Miers once aspired to serve on the Supreme Court, a bid that failed in 2005.  Now, back in private practice, she's angling to argue a case before the high court.

Kennedy looks to set stage for successor  —  Senator Edward M. Kennedy, in a poignant acknowledgment of his mortality at a critical time in the national health care debate, has privately asked the governor and legislative leaders to change the succession law to guarantee that Massachusetts …

SICK FANATICS CHEER BODY BAGS  —  BRITISH Muslim fanatics sparked fresh fury last night by praising Taliban “heroes” for sending our troops back from Afghanistan in body bags.  —  Dozens of homegrown “jihadis” have posted website messages cheering last weekend's carnage in Helmand province …

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 …

Bernanke, a Hero to His Own, Can't Shake Critics  —  WASHINGTON — Ben S. Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve, no longer looks sleep-deprived.  —  He still works seven days a week, but earlier this month he took two days off — for the first time in two years — to attend his son's wedding.

Paedophile pensioner given Viagra on the NHS - despite string of attacks on children  —  A paedophile with a 30-year history of abusing children is being prescribed Viagra on the NHS - and there is nothing the authorities can do to stop him.  —  Roger Martin, 71, merely has to visit his GP …

Legislature to vote on sweeping prison reforms  —  SACRAMENTO — Democratic lawmakers and Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger are poised as soon as today to enact a package of far-reaching prison reforms that would allow some prisoners to serve the last 12 months of their sentences under house arrest …

Hijackers Threatened to Blow Up Mystery Ship: Reports  —  MOSCOW (Reuters) - The hijackers of a cargo ship that disappeared off the coast of France threatened to blow it up if their ransom demands were not met, Russian news agencies said on Wednesday.  —  Russia on Tuesday arrested eight people …

New poll finds that 39 percent of Americans want government to ‘stay out of Medicare.’  —  As ThinkProgress has noted before, conservatives have frequently obscured the fact that Medicare is a government-run single-payer program.  Constituents appearing at health care town halls have even demanded …

Mom of Bristol Palin's Ex Cops Plea  —  Mother of Bristol Palin's Former Fiance Pleads Guilty to Possession with Intent to Deliver Painkiller  —  (AP) The mother of the man former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's daughter Bristol had planned on marrying has reached a plea deal in her drug case.

San Diego school chief, berated and beloved, likely HISD pick  —  The San Diego, Calif., schools chief — whose rapid-fire reforms have inflamed the teachers' union and impressed others — is the frontrunner to lead the Houston Independent School District.  —  The Houston school board …

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.

The face of Abbas Kargar Javid — man accused of killing Neda Soltan  —  The man accused of killing Neda Soltan has been identified as Abbas Kargar Javid, a pro-government militiaman, after photographs of the Basiji's ID cards appeared on the internet.  —  The identification challenges …

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” …