Krauthammer's Take  —  From last night's All-Stars: On North Korea releasing U.S. journalists to President Clinton: Well, it's the return of hostages in exchange for stuff.  And we will learn about that stuff.  It's clear that this was wired in advance.  There probably was an apology [offered by President Clinton in Pyongyang].

CNN Poll: Americans split on Obama's health care proposals  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) - Americans appear split over President Barack Obama's health care reform proposals, according to a new national poll.  —  Fifty percent of those questioned in CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Wednesday morning …

Obama: ‘Left-wing groups’ should back off.  —  OBAMA WAVES OFF LIBERALS: On the same day that MoveOn.org announced a new wave of ads to pressure centrist ...  ... Democrats on health care reform, President Obama told Senate Democrats he wished “left-wing groups” would back off.

Liasson: ‘Cash for Clunkers’ program ‘is like a mini-Katrina.’  —  Last night, Fox News aired a clip of a woman at a Philadelphia town hall meeting over the weekend berating Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA) about health care reform.  “What I see is a bureaucratic nightmare, senator. ...

GOP turns tables on Democrats  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — National Republicans turned the tables on their political counterparts Wednesday by redirecting angry telephone calls coming into their switchboard to the Democratic National Committee.  —  The DNC released a Web video early …

House Orders Up Three Elite Jets  —  Last year, lawmakers excoriated the CEOs of the Big Three automakers for traveling to Washington, D.C., by private jet to attend a hearing about a possible bailout of their companies.  —  But apparently Congress is not philosophically averse to private air travel …

Obama's Domestic Policies Are Having Immediate Effects on Race for Va. Governor  —  Some Voters Who Backed President Disillusioned Over Economic Pledges  —  The coffee was still brewing when Chris Ann Cleland got her first reminder of the day that voting for Barack Obama might have been a mistake.

The Other  —  While I'm generally on the other side of the issue, Josh Marshall is one of several left-of-center bloggers I read because he's interesting, thoughtful, and generally fair.  But even he falls for a rather common trope: The belief that your opponents are crazy. … Now, none of that is wrong.

Mass. bashers take note: Health reform is working  —  PUNDITS and politicians who oppose universal healthcare for the nation have a new straw man to kick around - the Massachusetts reform plan that covers more than 97 percent of the state's residents.  In the myth that these critics have manufactured …

Shepard Fairey-designed Obama portrait on cover of upcoming Rolling Stone  —  Artist Shepard Fairey, whose iconic HOPE campaign poster of Barack Obama was a global sensation, is back with a new image that both questions and deifies the President.  —  Appearing on the cover of the Aug. 20 Rolling Stone …

Jamie Kirchick: Pervasive Republican Birtherism is the Fault of Liberal Blogs  —  Jamie Kirchick is very upset about this terribly unfair birther rap that's dogging Republicans, and in today's Daily News, argues that it's mostly FDL's fault. … Jamie forgot to mention the ones …

Palin calls divorce report ‘made up’  —  Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin tells POLITICO that widespread blogosphere reports about a possible divorce from her husband, Todd, are “made up.”  —  In a brief telephone interview on Tuesday night, Palin quipped that she loves finding out “what's goin' on in my life from the news.”

Sen. George Voinovich and the GOP as a Party of the South  —  Southern writer Walker Percy liked to poke fun at Ohioans in his novels, just to even things out a bit.  —  “Usually Mississippians and Georgians are getting it from everybody, and Alabamians,” he once explained to an interviewer.

Joker Obama Flyers Show Up At George Washington University & Sioux Falls, South Dakota (Updated)  —  Supposedly, prior to yesterday, the Joker Obama posters had only shown up in LA and Atlanta.  Well, now a few hundred have shown up at George Washington University.  Here are a few pics I was emailed yesterday.

Buffett's Betrayal  —  When I was 14, Warren Buffett wrote me a letter.  —  It was a response to one I'd sent him, pitching an investment idea.  For a kid interested in learning stocks, Buffett was a great role model.  His investing style — diligent security analysis, finding competent management …

Boxer: Protesters too well dressed to be sincere  —  Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) appeared on Hardball last night in support of the Left's attempt to discredit the people showing up to townhalls in protest of ObamaCare.  Boxer says she can tell that they're fakes, because they're too well dressed.

Obama Needed This Like a Hole in the Head  —  I give him the benefit of a doubt.  He may not himself have made the decision to honor the contemptible Mary Robinson, arguably a real bigot, with the Medal of Freedom.  But, then, there is someone in his entourage who is leading him astray, gravely astray.

Peace Talks  —  Hey Obama, don't waste your time giving a speech in Israel.  —  Two Israeli writers caused a stir last week by calling on President Obama to speak directly to Israelis, similar to the way he has addressed populations from Cairo to Moscow.  “Simply stated, take your campaign directly …

Washington Post Kills ‘Mouthpiece’ Video Series  —  The Washington Post has brought down the curtain on “Mouthpiece Theater.”  —  Executive Editor Marcus Brauchli killed the satirical video series Wednesday after harsh criticism of a joke about Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton …