Fear Strikes Out  —  The day before Sunday's health care vote, President Obama gave an unscripted talk to House Democrats.  Near the end, he spoke about why his party should pass reform: “Every once in a while a moment comes where you have a chance to vindicate all those best hopes …

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.

Health Care Reform's Winners and Losers  —  It doesn't take a rocket scientist—or even an alleged expert such as this reporter —to see that the big political winner in tonight's House vote is the president of the United States.  After a year and a half of fitful but increasingly focused effort …

Stupak called ‘baby killer’ in House  —  A health care debate marked by episodes of ugly rhetoric took another turn for the worse late Sunday night when a voice on the Republican side of the House shouted “baby killer” at Rep. Bart Stupak.  —  Stupak - a leader among anti-abortion Democrats …

McCain: Don't expect GOP cooperation on legislation for the rest of this year  —  Democrats shouldn't expect much cooperation from Republicans the rest of this year, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) warned Monday.  —  McCain and another Republican senator decried the effect health reform legislation …

Romney: ‘Unconscionable abuse of power’  —  Extremely strong language from Mitt Romney, who the administration and his Republican rivals love to note gets some credit for the shape of the health care plan.  —  Now, Romney is positioning himself as a leader of the charge to repeal it:

Rev. Jesse Jackson confronts Tea Partiers  —  Rev. Jesse Jackson confronted an angry crowd of approximately 200 Tea Party protesters outside the Capitol on Sunday evening while his son, Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-Ill.), filmed the encounter on his cell phone.

Conservative Blogger Calls For Obama's Assassination On Twitter (Updated)  —  Earlier today, self-described conservative blogger Solomon “Solly” Forell posted a tweet that included a call for assassination, as well as this line: “We'll surely get over a bullet 2 Barack Obama's head!”  It gets worse:

Obama's Share Determined Dems' Votes on ObamaCare  —  What was the single biggest determinant of whether a Democrat voted yea or nay on the health care bill yesterday?  Actually, it isn't too hard to figure out:  —  This reflects the breakdown in the roll call based on the percentage …

Silver Linings  —  With Stupak's collapse, passage of the Democrats' government medicine bill is assured.  This is a dark day in American history; one of the darkest.  But there are many reasons for optimism.  Here are a few:  —  * The health care battle is just beginning.

How To Say It?  —  Well, here goes.  I really resent the term, but I use it because it's recognized and accepted.  —  I'm gay.  —  From some seventy years of personal experience, I can tell you that there's not much “gay” about being homosexual.  For the first twenty years of my life …

Attorneys general in 12 states poised to challenge healthcare bill  —  As soon as President Obama signs the healthcare bill into law, the attorneys general say they will challenge its constitutionality.  The mandate to buy insurance is at the center of the controversy.

Florida Senate: Rubio 45%, Meek 25%, Crist 22%  —  Former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio for now runs well ahead in a three-way race for the U.S. Senate in Florida, should Governor Charlie Crist decide to run as an independent.  —  The first Rasmussen Repots telephone survey …

Famous Last Words  —  Fred Barnes, January 20: … As someone who makes a lot of bad predictions, I'm going to offer everyone advice that you want to try to make sure your predictions aren't totally categorical.  ObamaCare looks dead, for example.  Heck, if you're feeling super-confident, just go ahead and say ObamaCare is dead.

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 …