Happy Dependence Day!  — By: Mark Steyn  —  Well, it seems to be in the bag now.  I try to be a sunny the-glass-is-one-sixteenth-full kinda guy, but it's hard to overestimate the magnitude of what the Democrats have accomplished.  Whatever is in the bill is an intermediate stage …

Waterloo  —  Conservatives and Republicans today suffered their most crushing legislative defeat since the 1960s.  —  It's hard to exaggerate the magnitude of the disaster.  Conservatives may cheer themselves that they'll compensate for today's expected vote with a big win in the November 2010 elections.

Ten immediate benefits of HCR  —  Here are ten benefits which come online within six months of the President's signature on the health care bill:  — Adult children may remain as dependents on their parents' policy until their 27th birthday  — Children under age 19 may not be excluded for pre-existing conditions

The Future After Health Care  —  Regardless of what you think about health care, tomorrow we wake up in a different political world.  —  Parties have passed legislation before that wasn't broadly publicly supported.  But the only substantial instances I can think of in America are budget bills and TARP …

The Eighteenth Brumaire of Barack Obama  —  First time tragedy, second time farce.  —  After his 1851 coup d'état, Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte, nephew of the real Napoleon, pronounced himself Napoleon III.  It was the rise to power of this great-man-wannabe that prompted the famous opening …

The Stupak deal  —  The Stupak negotiations have been vaguely farcical from the beginning, as the bill is already very restrictive on abortion.  But the upside of the farce is that the deal they've reached isn't particularly objectionable: Barack Obama will sign an executive order stating, essentially, that the law will follow the law.

Done  —  OK, nothing is sure in this world.  Intrade is still giving Obamacare a 2.2% chance of failing, and I suppose Bart Stupak might have a Bwahahaha moment on the House floor.  But it looks as if health reform has been achieved.  —  There is, as always, a tunnel at the end of the tunnel …

Perspective  —  Now that it's done, Barack Obama will go down in history as one of America's finest presidents.  It's always possible of course that, like LBJ, he'll get involved in some unrelated fiasco that mars his reputation.  But fundamentally, he's reshaped the policy landscape …

Legal and Political Fights Loom for Democrats  —  WASHINGTON — The battle over health care is poised to move swiftly from Congress back to the country as Democrats, Republicans and a battery of interest groups race to define the legislation and dig in for long-term political and legal fights.

Frank: ‘Mass hysteria’ on the Hill  —  Tea Party protesters disrupted Speaker Nancy Pelosi's press stakeout at a House Office Building, yelling “you're a disgrace to your office” and one protester yelled a gay epithet at Rep. Barney Frank again on Sunday, adding yet another layer of chaos to an already tense afternoon on Capitol Hill.

Why This Moment Matters  —  We'll talk some other time about the political consequences, in 2010 and 2012 and beyond, of the health-care reform vote.  (My guess: this will not seem anywhere near as poisonous seven months from now as it does today.  Jobs jobs jobs is what will matter most then.