Man's Finger Bitten Off in Scuffle at Health Care Rally  —  THOUSAND OAKS — A 65-year-old man had his finger bitten off Wednesday evening at a health care rally in Thousand Oaks, according to the Ventura County Sheriff's Department.  —  Sheriff's investigators were called to Hillcrest and Lynn Road at 7:26 p.m.

Obama Aides Aim to Simplify and Scale Back Health Bills  —  WASHINGTON — President Obama plans to address a joint session of Congress next week in an effort to rally support for health care legislation as White House officials look for ways to simplify and scale back the major Democratic bills …

Extremism in Media's Glare  —  Health-care reform is said to be in trouble partly because of those raucous August town-hall meetings in which Democratic members of Congress were besieged by shouters opposed to change.  —  But what if our media-created impression of the meetings is wrong?

Rep. Charles Rangel Must Step Aside as Chairman of Ways and Means  —  FOR POLITICIANS with major bad news to release or to make public, there's no time like the dead of August to do it.  The thinking goes that the public won't remember a thing come September.  We hope Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.) will have no such luck.

Schilling ineligible to run as Republican  —  Former Red Sox pitching ace Curt Schilling may be making noises about running for the Senate to succeed the late Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) but, according to Massachusetts election law, he's ineligible to run as a Republican.

Kennedy Memoir Doesn't Ignore Lows  —  In a memoir being published this month, Senator Edward M. Kennedy called his behavior after the 1969 car accident that killed Mary Jo Kopechne “inexcusable” and said the events might have shortened the life of his ailing father, Joseph P. Kennedy.

Fearmongering About Education Speech, Perkins Claims Obama Hasn't ‘Pushed Any Educational Reform Issues’  —  For the past few days, conservatives have been freaking out over President Obama's upcoming speech to schoolchildren on the first day of school.  Though Obama's speech will be about …

A Truther Czar?... Obama's Green Czar Van Jones Believes Bush Government was Behind 9-11  —  It figures.  —  Barack Obama's communist Green Czar Van Jones is a Truther.  —  He believes the Bush Administration was behind 9-11 and signed the official 9-11 Truth Document demanding a further investigation.

PULLING THE ‘TRIGGER’?.... Several months ago, Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), arguably the most important lawmaker in the known universe right now, recommended the idea of a “trigger” in health care reform.  As she saw it, Congress could create a public option, but it wouldn't be implemented …

How Did Economists Get it So Wrong?  —  I. MISTAKING BEAUTY FOR TRUTH  —  It's hard to believe now, but not long ago economists were congratulating themselves over the success of their field.  Those successes — or so they believed — were both theoretical and practical, leading to a golden era for the profession.

Accountability, but at What Cost?  —  My friend and fellow columnist Eugene Robinson has written a characteristically passionate and well-reasoned piece commending Attorney General Eric Holder's decision to name a special counsel to examine possible law-breaking by interrogators of terrorist subjects during the last administration.

Long-Term Implication of the Public Option Fight  —  Progressive Caucus Co-Chair Raul Grijalva  —  Josh Marshall ponders: “What if the version of the public option that emerged in the House (which has to be seen as the maximal version of what's possible) is so constrained and anemic that it wouldn't really accomplish anything anyway?”

SPITZER'S BABE SLAPS THE SNOBS  —  TELLS WOMEN: YOU'RE NO BETTER THAN ME!  —  The high-paid escort who notoriously romped with disgraced ex-Gov. Eliot Spitzer has a message to New York ladies: You're no better than me!  —  “Get real and get over yourself,” Ashley Dupre bluntly tells all the women out there who “just love to judge.”

Why Senator Chuck Grassley Turned on Health-Care Reform  —  If there had ever been any hope for a truly bipartisan health-care bill this year, it came in the person of one cantankerous and quirky Iowan.  For months, much to the consternation of many of his fellow Republicans, Charles Grassley …

Video: Rep. Pete Stark tells interviewer, “Get the f**k out of here or I'll throw you out the window”  —  Longtime readers of this blog are well aware of California Democrat Rep. Pete Stark (Raving Mad)'s unhingedness.  —  He has called a Republican opponent a “c**ksucker” …

The Revenge of Levi  —  For the first time in my life, I feel sympathy for Sarah Palin.  —  Levi Johnston — you will remember him from his featured role as the father of Bristol's baby at the Republican convention — has written an article for the new issue of Vanity Fair.

I have been abducted by aliens, says Japan's first lady  —  Move over Michelle, watch your backs, Carla and Sarah.  There's a new kid on the first lady block, and she looks like upstaging the lot of you.  —  Miyuki Hatoyama, wife of Japan's Prime Minister-elect, Yukio Hatoyama …

Roosevelt: The Great Divider  —  PRESIDENT OBAMA'S apparent readiness to backtrack on the public insurance option in his health care package is not just a concession to his political opponents — this fixation on securing bipartisan support for health care reform suggests that the Democratic Party …

The Revolt of the Masses  —  Electorates are casting a global no-confidence vote in their leaderships.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  When the political world arrives at the point where even the Japanese rise up to toss a party from office after almost 54 years in power, it's time to see something's happening here, Mr. Jones.

MSNBC's Schultz: ‘I Believe Jesus Would Vote Yes for a Public Option’  —  What would Jesus do?  Well, Ed Schultz thinks he knows - that is on health care reform at least.  —  Schultz, on his Sept. 2 MSNBC program, “The ED Show” told viewers he believed Jesus would vote for a government public option.