Dem healthcare infighting intensifies  —  A House fight among Democrats on overhauling the nation's healthcare system has spread to the Senate, where centrists and liberals are clashing over the direction the legislation should take.  —  Trouble is brewing now that a bipartisan group of senators …

Harvard Prof Gates Is Half-Irish, Related to Cop Who Arrested Him  —  Two Men at Center of Controversy Linked by Irish Heritage  —  Henry Louis Gates Jr., the black professor at the center of the racial story involving his arrest outside his Harvard University-owned house, has spoken proudly of his Irish roots.

NPR Poll Finds Tough Sledding For Obama … text sizeAAA  —  President Obama has hit a rough patch this summer, squeezed between a lingering recession and rising questions about the health care overhaul he has made the centerpiece of his first-year agenda.

Andrew Sullivan is Right  —  It doesn't happen terribly often, but I'm with Andrew Sullivan on the need to lay Obama birther-ism to rest— a subject on which he's been blogging with some energy over the last day.  —  Indeed, it's almost as if birthers have allowed an intense …

Palin tests radio waters.  —  Alaska's now former Governor is coy about her future political plans, but radio is at least one option she's leaving on the table.  While not exactly shopping the GOP's 2008 vice presidential candidate, sources say Palin representatives have been quietly testing …

J'lem assesses: Gestures from the Arab World within a month  —  Article's topics: Binyamin Netanyahu, George Mitchell, Saeb Ereket  —  US Middle East envoy George Mitchell left his Israeli interlocutors with the impression Tuesday that he would be able to extract some normalization gestures towards Israel …

First Madoff Interview: Can't Believe I Got Away with It  —  Bernie Opens Up in Prison to Talk With Lawyers Suing His Family  —  In his first prison interview, a buff-looking Bernie Madoff said he couldn't believe he got away with his massive Ponzi scheme for so long.

Political consultant Jack Shaw found dead in Jersey City  —  JERSEY CITY — Jack Shaw, a Jersey City political consultant who was among 44 people charged in a federal corruption probe, has died.  —  Two officials with knowledge of the investigation said Shaw was found at home with several bottles of pills nearby.

Axelrod's Son Hired by Huffington Post  —  David Axelrod's son is following his father's career path — that is, the one he had before becoming a political strategist.  —  Ethan Axelrod is joining the Huffington Post, the liberal Web site that has been largely supportive of President Obama.

Stocks go up as agenda slides  —  The Democratic agenda in Washington has gone off the rails just as markets are enjoying their best run of the Obama presidency, and there's a school of thought on Wall Street that it's no coincidence.  —  While a string of better-than-expected earnings reports …

LET IT DIE?  —  In light of reports that Senate Dems may strip the public option and the employer mandate from the health-care bill, Steve M. asks a good question: “Is this even worth it?  Is it even worth fighting to pass a compromised, inadequate bill?”  —  I largely agree with his take on the politics.

Dorothy D. Hoft... August 1925 - July 2009  —  Dorothy Hoft loved God and her nine children.  She loved the magnolia tree in the backyard.  —  My dear friend and mother passed away this evening at 10:16 PM.  —  She suffered a devastating heart attack 17 days ago.  We put her on hospice late last week.

Bully boys: A brief history of White House thuggery  —  Just finished up on the Today Show, where I had a quick chance to briefly expose the Culture of Corruption in the age of Obama.  My syndicated column today adds to the dossier with a round-up of fresh Bully Boy moments.  —  It's the Chicago way.

Benefits of Healthcare Reform a Tough Sell for Americans  —  Americans least confident that reform will benefit them personally  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Forty-four percent of Americans believe a new healthcare reform law would improve medical care in the U.S., contrasted with 26% who say it would improve their personal medical care.

Tennessee state Sen. Paul Stanley has resigned  —  Sen. Paul Stanley, R-Germantown sent a letter of resignation to Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey this afternoon after allegations that a Clarksville man had tried to blackmail the senator with nude photos of an intern taken in Stanley's Nashville apartment.

Obama's Science Czar Said a Born Baby ‘Will Ultimately Develop Into a Human Being’  —  (CNSNews.com) - President Obama's top science adviser said in a book he co-authored in 1973 that a newborn child “will ultimately develop into a human being” if he or she is properly fed and socialized.

Military planning for possible H1N1 outbreak  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — The U.S. military wants to establish regional teams of military personnel to assist civilian authorities in the event of a significant outbreak of the H1N1 virus this fall, according to Defense Department officials.

City Aids Homeless With One-Way Tickets Home  —  They are flown to Paris ($6,332), Orlando ($858.40), Johannesburg ($2,550.70), or most frequently, San Juan ($484.20).  —  They are not executives on business trips or couples on honeymoons.  Rather, all are families who have ended up homeless …

Napolitano to Unveil New Antiterror Plans  —  WASHINGTON — Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is expected to outline Wednesday the Obama administration's domestic approach to preventing terrorist attacks — a strategy that will rely in large measure on refining …

Iowa caucuses move to Saturday in '10  —  The Iowa Republican and Democratic parties together announced Tuesday that they will hold the state's 2010 primary caucuses on a Saturday, a move that party leaders say is designed to increase turnout in a non-presidential year.

Plan still $820 billion above target  —  Nearly lost in all of the publicity about the Congressional Budget Office's finding that proposed health care legislation would worsen the current-law deficit by $239 billion over the next 10 years is something far more troubling …