Obama: Legalize illegals to get them health care  —  Republicans see a backdoor move toward ‘amnesty’  —  President Obama said this week that his health care plan won't cover illegal immigrants, but argued that's all the more reason to legalize them and ensure they eventually do get coverage.

Irving Kristol, 1920-2009  —  Irving Kristol, writer, editor, and social philosopher, has died in Washington at the age of 89.  His wisdom, wit, good humor, and generosity of spirit made him a friend and mentor to several generations of thinkers and public servants.  —The Editors

What's Wrong With the Finance Bill?  An Interview With Sen. Jay Rockefeller.  —  Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) chairs the Finance Committee's Health Care Subcommittee.  His support will be crucial — maybe even decisive - in getting health-care reform out of the Finance Committee.

Miss California Wows Conservatives  —  ABC News' Teddy Davis and Brittany Crockett Report:  —  The Value Voters Summit heard from potential Republican presidential candidates and GOP congressional leaders on Friday morning.  —  But it was Carrie Prejean—former Miss California—who stole the show.

No, It's Not About Race  —  You wouldn't know it to look at me, but I go running several times a week.  My favorite route, because it's so flat, is from the Lincoln Memorial to the U.S. Capitol and back.  I was there last Saturday and found myself plodding through tens of thousands of anti-government “tea party” protesters.

ABC NEWS: Zazi Admits Al-Qaeda Ties, May Plead Guilty  —  3-Day FBI Interrogation Reveals Denver Man Had Received Explosives Training  —  DENVER — The Aurora man under FBI investigation for alleged ties to a New York bomb plot has admitted he has ties to al-Qaida and is in negotiations …

Former CIA Directors Urge Torture Prosecution Reversal  —  The Justice Department investigation into CIA torture allegations may have already jeopardized American intelligence capabilities, seven former CIA directors told President Obama.  In a letter, the spy chiefs urge …

Tapper calls Fox ad ‘demonstrably untrue’  —  Jake Tapper, on Twitter this morning, took issue with a Fox News ad in today's Washington Post, that he says is “asserting that every other channel ‘missed’ the story of the 912 march.  Demonstrably untrue.”  —  He pointed out that Yunji de Nies …

Sixty-Five Views of HC Reform, One Big Trend  —  The trend in opinion on health care reform has been a bit tricky of late.  After a long and substantial rise of opposition, and an equally long but less sizable decline in support, we came to August, the month for the strange in politics.

MEDIA MATTERS: 'On Fox, Breitbart bashes CNN's ACORN coverage'  —  “The behavior of Jonathan Klein, the president of CNN, has been despicable during this.”  —  MEGYN KELLY (co-host): Joining me now is Andrew Breitbart.  He's the founder of the website the video first appeared on.

Amid Large Protests, Iran Leader Calls Holocaust a Lie  —  BEIRUT, Lebanon — Tens of thousands of green-clad protesters chanted and carried banners through the heart of Tehran and other Iranian cities on Friday, defying tear gas and truncheons as they turned large swaths …

Michelle Obama Says Women Are “Crushed” by Health-Care System  —  Sept. 18 (Bloomberg) — First lady Michelle Obama sought support for the administration's health-care plans from family advocacy groups and health-care professionals, saying the treatment of women under the current system is “unacceptable.”

The real ACORN scandal: Its enablers  —  It's hard to know who should be more embarrassed by the revelations about the radical group ACORN, the mainstream media or the politicians who have funneled taxpayer dollars to the group for years.  —  It took two amateur twentysomething filmmakers to do what ABC …

Conservatives use liberal playbook  —  Conservatives are coming for the Democrats on their blind side — the left.  —  The evidence is everywhere.  —  At tea parties and town halls, conservative demonstrators oppose health care reform with signs bearing the abortion-rights slogan …

Washington Sketch: Michelle Obama Gets Her Farmers Market  —  Let's say you're preparing dinner and you realize with dismay that you don't have any certified organic Tuscan kale.  What to do?  —  Here's how Michelle Obama handled this very predicament Thursday afternoon:

DNC promises ‘rain of hellfire’  —  The increasingly aggressive Democratic National Committee on Friday launched a new “Call 'Em Out” website targeting prominent Republicans for statements they have made about President Barack Obama's health reform plans.  —  “Help debunk the outrageous lies …

Massachusetts G.O.P. Delays Bill on Senate Succession  —  BOSTON — Republicans in the Massachusetts State Senate on Friday temporarily blocked the chamber from taking up legislation that would allow Gov. Deval Patrick to appoint an interim successor to Senator Edward M. Kennedy.

We Can't Cut Spending  —  Why?  Because the votes aren't there.  —  Every time I write about the need to raise revenues to pay for federal spending, some nitwit always demands to know why we don't just cut spending.  That is not a viable option to deal with our fiscal problem.

A REGIONAL PARTY.... I was looking over the new results from the weekly Research 2000 poll conducted for Daily Kos.  Most of the results are about what we've come to expect — President Obama's ratings are more favorable than unfavorable (55% to 38%); neither congressional caucus is popular …