Blue Dog Opposition To Public Option Fades In Whip Count  —  Blocking a public health insurance option is a relatively low priority for conservative Blue Dog Democrats, according to an ongoing survey of its members.  The fading House opposition could clear the way for the public option to move through the chamber.

Yosi Sergant Resigns  —  ABC News' Yunji de Nies Reports:  —  Embattled former National Endowment for the Arts communications director Yosi Sergant is out of a job.  Late this afternoon, the NEA released a short statement saying, “This afternoon Yosi Sergant submitted his resignation from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Prez comes across as a gullible sap  —  President Obama yesterday did his best impression of a high-school soph omore participating in his first Model UN meeting, retailing pious clichés he learned from his pony-tailed social studies teacher.  —  Even Woodrow Wilson might have blanched …

Exclusive: Poll shows Deeds within 4  —  Creigh Deeds, the Democratic nominee for governor in Virginia, has pulled to within four percentage points of Republican Bob McDonnell, according to a new InsiderAdvantage/Majority Opinion Research poll out Thursday.  —  The poll, conducted Wednesday evening …

Man arrested in alleged attempt to bomb Dallas skyscraper  —  Staff reports  —  Federal authorities arrested a 19-year-old Jordanian citizen whom they said placed an inactive car bomb today at Fountain Place, a 60-story skyscraper in downtown Dallas.

Why France's Health Care Is So Good, The Public Option So Bad and the Co-Ops So Incomplete: An Interview With Kent Conrad.  —  Sen. Kent Conrad chairs the Budget Committee, serves on the Finance Committee and was a member of the Gang of Six.  I spoke to Conrad today about what Americans …

Classified McChrystal Report: 500,000 Troops Will Be Required Over Five Years in Afghanistan  —  Congress Should Hold Hearings on Alternatives to Major Escalation  —  Embedded in General Stanley McChrystal's classified assessment of the war in Afghanistan is his conclusion …

Is Obama Naïve?  — By: Michael Ledeen  —  I don't think so.  I think that he rather likes tyrants and dislikes America.  I think he'd like to be more powerful, I think he is trying to get control over as much of our lives as he can, so that he can put an end to the annoying tumult of our public life.

“What a Disgrace”  —  Bibi kills at the UN.

Public Wary of Obama on War and Health Care, Poll Finds  —  President Obama is confronting declining support for his handling of the war in Afghanistan and an electorate confused and anxious about the proposed health care overhaul as he prepares for pivotal battles over both issues, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.

GOP files suit to block Kirk  —  After failing in their bid to stop the Massachusetts legislature from giving Democratic Governor Deval Patrick the power to fill a United States Senate vacancy, Republicans are going to court on Friday to try to prevent the governor's interim pick from taking office.

An apology to Sarah Palin  —  The Daily News-Miner has had its agreements and disagreements with now-former Gov. Sarah Palin at various points during her time serving the state of Alaska.  We have tried to maintain respect for the office of governor and to be generally civil when discussing Mrs. Palin …

They're torturing me, Honduras' Manuel Zelaya claims  —  Honduras' fallen leader told The Miami Herald he is being subjected to mind-altering gas and radiation — and that ‘Israeli mercenaries’ are planning to assassinate him.  —  FROBLES@MIAMIHERALD.COM  —  TEGUCIGALPA — It's been 89 days since Manuel Zelaya was booted from power.

Environmentalists Seek to Wipe Out Plush Toilet Paper  —  Soft Toilet Paper's Hard on the Earth, But Will We Sit for the Alternative?  —  By David A. Fahrenthold, Page A01  —  ELMWOOD PARK, N.J. — There is a battle for America's behinds.

“Mmm mmm mmm:” New details about the Dear Leader song video; Update: School responds  —  Scroll for updates...  Photoshop: Leo Alberti  —  In case you were wondering which school taught kids that “Barack Hussein Obama mmm mmm mmm” rap that I posted yesterday afternoon, here are some new details.

Huge Anglo-Saxon gold hoard found … The UK's largest haul of Anglo-Saxon treasure has been discovered buried beneath a field in Staffordshire.  —  Experts say the collection of 1,500 gold and silver pieces, which may date to the 7th Century, is unparalleled in size and worth “a seven figure sum”.

Census Worker Found Dead In Kentucky — What Do We Know?  —  Over the last 24 hours, we've been tracking a gruesome story developing involving the death of a Kentucky Census Bureau worker.  The potential political implications of what happened are already generating a lot of attention around the internet …

Meg Whitman's voting record short, sparse  —  Almost 9 million Californians cast ballots in the 2003 special election that swept movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger into the Governor's Office.  —  Meg Whitman wasn't among them.  —  The billionaire businesswoman now running for governor herself …

After being chastized by Cantor's ‘PR flack,’ Ed Schultz challenges the congressman to a one-hour debate.  —  At a forum this past Monday, Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) fielded questions from his constituents about health care reform.  As ThinkProgress first reported, Cantor told a woman whose relative …

2010 State Business Tax Climate Index  —  The Tax Foundation has published its 2010 State Business Tax Climate Index, which ranks the fifty states according to five indices: corporate tax, individual income tax, sales tax, unemployment insurance tax, and property tax.

Rockefeller: The ‘insurance industry is not running this markup, but it is running certain people in this markup.’  —  Yesterday, ThinkProgress reported that Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS) argued that the Senate Finance Committee should put off a vote on health care legislation until the bill is put …