Democrats Seem Set to Go Alone on a Health Bill  —  WASHINGTON — Given hardening Republican opposition to Congressional health care proposals, Democrats now say they see little chance of the minority's cooperation in approving any overhaul, and are increasingly focused on drawing support for a final plan from within their own ranks.

Barney Frank goes toe to toe at health care town hall  —  (CNN) — Most Congress members conducting town hall meetings this month have chosen a noncombative posture to deal with angry participants who disrupt the proceedings.  Not Rep. Barney Frank.  —  At a lively two-hour meeting Tuesday night …

Axelrod's ties targeted in health fight  —  Critics of President Obama's health-care overhaul are zeroing in on his senior adviser David Axelrod, whose former partners at a Chicago-based firm are the beneficiaries of huge ad buys—now at $24 million and counting—by White House allies in the reform fight.

A Conservative's Road to Same-Sex Marriage Advocacy  —  Theodore B. Olson's office is a testament to his iconic status in the conservative legal movement.  A framed photograph of Ronald Reagan, the first of two Republican presidents Mr. Olson served, is warmly inscribed with “heartfelt thanks.”

Baucus, and the Debate on Health Care, Go West  —  BOZEMAN, Mont. — Senator Max Baucus can be hard to decipher at times, and not just because he talks fast and is prone to mumbling.  He was trying to discuss health care in an interview, but kept having to compete with a loud TV set …

ObamaCare Is All About Rationing  —  Overspending is far preferable to artificially limiting the availability of new procedures and technologies.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  Although administration officials are eager to deny it, rationing health care is central to President Barack Obama's health plan.

CNN Fails to Report Woman Comparing Obama to Hitler is a Lyndon LaRouche Democrat  —  CNN's Larry King showed the above video of Barney Frank laying the smack down on a woman at a townhall meeting who compared Obama to Hitler.  CNN left out the fact that this woman is a Lyndon LaRouche Democrat.

In Appraisal Shift, Lenders Gain Power and Critics  —  Mike Kennedy, a real estate appraiser in Monroe, N.Y., was examining a suburban house a few years ago when he discovered five feet of water in the basement.  The mortgage broker arranging the owner's refinancing asked him to pretend it was not there.

Sweden newspaper: Israel kills Palestinians, harvests their organs  —  A leading Swedish newspaper reported this week that Israeli soldiers are abducting Palestinians in order to steal their organs, a claim that prompted furious condemnation and accusations of anti-Semitic blood libel from a rival publication.

At Least 95 Killed in Series of Attacks in Baghdad  —  BAGHDAD — At least 95 people were killed and 563 wounded in a series of truck bombings and other attacks on Wednesday that rocked areas around official buildings in central Baghdad, the Interior Ministry said.

Keep Off the Astroturf  —  WITH the “public option” part of President Obama's health care reform plan looking dead in the water, many of its supporters are taking issue with the legitimacy of its opposition.  “We call it ‘Astroturf,’ ” Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said of the protesters at town-hall meetings.

Assault Rifle Interview Outside Obama Event In Phoenix Was Planned  —  Ernest Hancock, the online radio host who interviewed the man with the assault rifle outside yesterday's Obama event in Arizona, today stated that the whole event was actually planned in advance.  Watch the video below.

Science proves zombies could annihilate humans  —  If zombies actually existed, an attack by them would lead to the collapse of civilisation unless dealt with quickly and aggressively.  —  That is the conclusion of a mathematical exercise carried out by researchers in Canada.

Novak's public service: Exposing the power game  —  Bob Novak wrote columns because it was the only vocation he ever had.  Though he never would have called his work “public service” — he laughed at the idea — he undoubtedly served his country by exposing the machinations of power and showing how government actually operated.

FIRST THOUGHTS: OBAMA'S GOOD, BAD NEWS  —  From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Ali Weinberg  —  *** Good news and bad news: The (relatively) good news for the Obama White House in the new NBC News poll is that the contours of the health-care debate haven't really changed …