Obama to address Congress on reform  —  President Barack Obama will address a joint session of Congress on health care reform in prime time on Wednesday, Sept. 9, a senior official tells POLITICO.  —  Obama plans to give lawmakers a more specific prescription for health care legislation than he has in the past, aides said.

Levi Johnston: “Me and Mrs. Palin”  —  Left, photograph by Nigel Parry/CPi Syndication.  Right, photograph by Mark Seliger.  —  Three days after Sarah Palin was announced as the Republican vice-presidential candidate, the McCain campaign released a statement saying that her 17-year-old unwed daughter, Bristol, was pregnant.

“I pledge to be of service to Barack Obama”  —  As if I needed any more evidence to bolster today's column about the Obama junior lobbyist campaign in America's schools, here's another item fresh from the headlines in Utah:

Pat Buchanan: Sotomayor?  Racist.  Hitler?  Misunderstood.  —  Following Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court, Pat Buchanan went to eleven.  He said that Sotomayor “believed discrimination against white males is okay”; he said she believed in “tribal justice” and …

Senate hopeful of the day: Curt Schilling  —  Add another name to the growing list of pols and would-be pols eyeing a run for Edward M. Kennedy's Senate seat: Former Red Sox ace Curt Schilling.  —  That's right, Mr. Bloody Sock himself apparently told NECN's Brad Puffer in an interview today …

Sentenced to death on the NHS  —  Patients with terminal illnesses are being made to die prematurely under an NHS scheme to help end their lives, leading doctors warn today.  —  In a letter to The Daily Telegraph, a group of experts who care for the terminally ill claim that some patients are being wrongly judged as close to death.

Rankings  —  Below are the Washington Monthly's 2009 national university college rankings.  We rate schools based on their contribution to the public good in three broad categories: Social Mobility (recruiting and graduating low-income students), Research (producing cutting-edge scholarship and PhDs) …

Lincoln: Public option too expensive  —  LITTLE ROCK — U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln said today she opposes a public health insurance option because it would be too expensive.  —  “For some in my caucus, when they talk about a public option they're talking about another entitlement program …

Congressional Favorability at 24-Year Low  —  Midterm Voting Intentions Evenly Divided  —  Americans are extremely displeased with Congress, and there are already some signs that this could take a toll on the Democrats in the 2010 midterm elections.  Currently, 37% express a favorable opinion …

Florida GOP: Keep Obama Out of Our Schools!  —  I just spoke with Florida Republican Party press secretary Katie Gordon, regarding state party chairman Jim Greer's denunciation of President Obama's upcoming national address to schoolchildren on Tuesday.  Gordon stood by the party's press release …

Sanford, invoking Palin, vows to fight on  —  Shaken by absence of GOP support  —  Embattled South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford acknowledged Tuesday that he has been shaken by the failure of a single fellow Republican to back him in his fight to save his job, but vowed to fight …

Election 2009: Virginia Governor Election  —  Virginia Governor: McDonnell 51% Deeds 42%  —  In the race to become the next Governor of Virginia, Republican Robert F. McDonnell retains a steady lead over Democrat R. Creigh Deeds.  —  The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey …

Justice Stevens slows his hiring at high court  —  WASHINGTON — Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens has hired fewer law clerks than usual, generating speculation that the leader of the court's liberals will retire next year.  —  If Stevens does step down, he would give President Barack Obama …

U.S. Economy Gets Lift From Stimulus  —  WASHINGTON — Government efforts to funnel hundreds of billions of dollars into the U.S. economy appear to be helping the U.S. climb out of the worst recession in decades.  —  But there's little agreement about which programs are having the biggest impact.

Deleting the Bush Personality Cult from history  —  National Review's Jay Nordlinger — and others at that magazine — are upset that a school is showing a year-old video in which various celebrities spout feel-good platitudes about public service, and — for a fleeting second …

The Obama Administration: MIA on Afghanistan?  —  So I was on the Newshour last night debating Afghanistan with a favorite of this blog and its readers, Andrew Bacevich.  As readers of this blog know, I am uncomfortable when placed in the position of being expected to lustily defend the war.

Democratic Advantage in Party Affiliation Shrinks  —  Gap now 5 points, down from 17 in January  —  PRINCETON, NJ — In August, an average of 45% of Americans identified as Democrats or leaned to the Democratic Party, while 40% identified as Republicans or leaned to the Republican Party.

How Fast Does Approval Fall?  —  David Brooks commented in his column yesterday “All presidents fall from their honeymoon highs, but in the history of polling, no newly elected American president has fallen this far this fast.”  Mostly right, sort of.  But some context would help.

Hate speech law unconstitutional: rights tribunal  —  The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal has ruled that Section 13, Canada's much maligned human rights hate speech law, is an unconstitutional violation of the Charter right to free expression because of its penalty provisions.

A Real Fairy-Tale Wedding  —  WASHINGTON - Here's a newsflash: Chelsea Clinton did not get married last month in a swank, celebrity-laden wedding on Martha's Vineyard attended by the president of the United States.  —  For four months, the Clintons have told anyone who would listen …