Opposition to Obama's Health-Reform Plan Is High, but Easing  —  President Obama continues to face significant public resistance to his drive to initiate far-reaching changes to the country's health-care system, with widespread skepticism about central tenets of his plan, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

CLEAN Conservatives vs FILTHY Liberals— A Photographic Essay  —  After the 2 million strong conservative freedom rally on 9-12:  —  And, here is the filth left for someone else to clean up after the Inauguration of Barack Obama:  —  Via Prisca  —  The democrats were obviously waiting for Big Government to clean up for them.

New Message Reported From bin Laden  —  Two days after the eighth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington, Osama bin Laden apparently released a new audiotape, entitled “An Address to the American People,” news agencies reported Monday.

ACORN Video: Prostitution Scandal in New York, NY … So, we headed up to New York...  [There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed.  Visit the blog entry to see the video.]  —  [There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed.  Visit the blog entry to see the video.]

Unamplified, Beck's Voice Still Carries  —  Establishment Outlets Missed Van Jones Story  —  It has become a familiar chain reaction: Talk-show hosts whip up a noisy controversy, which hits higher decibels as it spreads to the establishment media, which costs some unfortunate soul his job.

Joyce Purnick: Mayor Bloomberg spent big exploring a run for president — Obama: Wall Street must take responsibility — Sen. Kennedy: what Sen. Byrd said during a private gays-in-the-military meeting  —  BIRTHDAYS: Will Nichols, who turns 2 today, celebrated in style last night with dinner at Sushiko …

Kanye West Storms the VMAs Stage During Taylor Swift's Speech  —  Leave it to Kanye West to produce one of the most infamous moments in VMAs history before the 2009 show was even an hour old.  It happened after Taylor Swift's victory in the Best Female Video category for “You Belong With Me …

Press Accuracy Rating Hits Two Decade Low  —  Public Evaluations of the News Media: 1985-2009  —  The public's assessment of the accuracy of news stories is now at its lowest level in more than two decades of Pew Research surveys, and Americans' views of media bias and independence now match previous lows.

Ex-Mayor of Memphis Starts Bid for Congress, Invoking Race in Campaign  —  MEMPHIS — A Congressional race in Tennessee has become freighted with racial overtones almost a year before the election, with a prominent black politician saying the white incumbent cannot properly represent black voters.

Some fear GOP is being carried to the extreme  —  The Republican establishment hopes cooler heads will prevail over strongly anti-Obama parts of the conservative base.  —  Reporting from Washington - Amid a rebirth of conservative activism that could help Republicans win elections next year …

Blago mourns friend's death, compares himself to Gov. Crist  —  Embattled former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) said Monday he was mourning the loss of his close friend and fundraiser Christopher Kelly, who reportedly committed suicide this weekend — a death Blagojevich seemed to blame on federal investigators.

Democrats Need to Stop the Umbrage Game on Rep. Joe Wilson  —  Rep. Joe Wilson, the Republican from South Carolina who shouted “You lie” during President Obama's health-care address to Congress, has already apologized at least twice: once in a statement issued by his office and once in a phone call to the White House.

Stiglitz Says Banking Problems Are Now Bigger Than Pre-Lehman  —  Sept. 13 (Bloomberg) — Joseph Stiglitz, the Nobel Prize- winning economist, said the U.S. has failed to fix the underlying problems of its banking system after the credit crunch and the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.

China Strikes Back on Trade  —  Beijing Threatens U.S. Chicken, Car Parts After Washington Slaps Stiff Tariffs on Tires  —  BEIJING — China on Monday called for talks over the China-U.S. trade dispute in a sign the disagreement may be containable, as evidence emerged that the economic value …

Media barred from Palin speech  —  Hong Kong - The first keynote speech outside North America by former US vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin will be closed to the media, organisers of the Hong Kong event said on Monday.  —  Palin, mocked during last year's presidential campaign for her lack …

Dissent Of The Day  —  A reader writes: … Well, count me in, then.  Unlike many of these tea-partiers and their supporters, I actually took on the Bush administration's big government tendencies, fiscal recklessness and massive expansion of executive power at the time …

WaPost Op-Ed Page Once Again Misleading Its Readers  —  Peter the Great, Czar of all the Russias  —  If Kay Bailey Hutchison wants to claim that “A few of them have formal titles, but most are simply known as ‘czars’” then fine.  Maybe she's ignorant, or maybe she's a huge liar.

Federal health care will mimic IRS  —  I find it hard to accept that so many intelligent people are adamant in their support for a federally owned health insurance company.  It seems they completely put out of their minds how the government can mess up any type of organization serving the public that it runs.

Key Senate Dem: There will be a public option  —  INDIANOLA, Iowa (CNN) — Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin, a Democrat who recently filled the late Sen. Ted Kennedy's seat as chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, said Sunday that a Senate health-care reform bill would include a …

Traficant mulling another run for Congress  —  (CNN) — Former Democratic Rep. James Traficant, who only days ago was released from a federal prison after serving seven years on a bribery and racketeering conviction, told CNN Monday he may make a bid to return to Congress.

Only Decisive Force Can Prevail in Afghanistan  —  A middle path of muddling through is the real recipe for quagmire and loss of public support.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  Growing numbers of Americans are starting to doubt whether we should have troops in Afghanistan and whether the war there is even winnable.