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.

Elementary School Students Taught to Sing Praises of President Obama  —  Nearly 20 young children are captured in an online video as they sing songs that overflow with campaign slogans and praise for “Barack Hussein Obama,” as they repeatedly chant the president's name and celebrate his accomplishments.

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.

Netanuyahu to UN: “Have you no shame?”  —  The Wall Street Journal report on Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's speech at the UN General Assembly today caught my attention: … The Jerusalem Post report on Netanyahu's dramatic speech is here.  The full text of the speech is here …

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 …

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.

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 …

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.

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.

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.

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

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 …

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 …

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.

Think Again: Falling for the Far Right's ACORN Agenda  —  One night last week, Jon Stewart asked his audience, “Where were the real reporters on this story?”  He meant the exposure of several ACORN employees giving tax advice to a young man and woman pretending to be a pimp and prostitute.

White House Regroups on Guantanamo  —  Counsel Craig Replaced as Point Man on Issue as Deadline for Closing Looms  —  Washington Post Staff Writer and ProPublica  —  With four months left to meet its self-imposed deadline for closing the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba …

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 …

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 …

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”.

Justice Ginsburg hospitalized  —  WASHINGTON - Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has been hospitalized after becoming ill in her office at the court.  —  A statement from the court said the 76-year-old justice was taken to Washington Hospital Center at 7:45 p.m. EDT as a precaution.

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.

“Top Line” — Weiner on Bloomberg: ‘I Would Have Beaten Him Like a Rented Mule’  —  ABC News' Teddy Davis reports:  —  Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., joked Thursday that he would have given billionaire Mike Bloomberg a real run for his money if he had gone forward with plans to run for mayor of New York.

The Beauty Parlor Bomb Plan; Massive Terror Plot Alleged  —  Denver Man, Others Accused of Stockpiling Chemicals, Building Bombs  —  The accused al Qaeda bomb maker from Denver planned to use chemicals and hair care products he bought at beauty parlor supply stores to build a series of devastating bombs …