Senate Committee's Bipartisan Health-Care Reform Talks Move Toward Center  —  Bipartisan Talks On Reform Move Toward Center  —  Senate negotiators are inching toward bipartisan agreement on a health-care plan that seeks middle ground on some of the thorniest issues facing Congress …

Obama as The Joker: Racial Fear's Ugly Face  —  ‘Political’ Poster Turns On Violent Symbolism  —  Between Jack Nicholson's 1989 portrayal of the Joker in “Batman” and Heath Ledger's 2008 characterization in “The Dark Knight,” something sinister happened to the villain's iconic makeup.

Poll: Obama approval drops 7 points over last 100 days  —  CNN Deputy Political Director  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — As President Obama approaches 200 days in the White House, a new national poll shows his approval rating has dropped seven points since the 100-day mark in April.

Dear Huffington Post, About That Headline  —  Yesterday was a pretty big day.  The lives of two amazing journalists were saved, their families spared more emotional agony.  It all started, as the New York Times reported it, after being arrested on March 17 near the North Korean border …

Christina Romer Makes the Case for ARRA  —  Via Tim Fernholz, a speech by Council of Economic Advisors Chair Christina Romer in which she vigorously makes the case that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is having a positive impact on the economy.  I think the clearest way of making …

No More Perks: Coffee Shops Pull the Plug on Laptop Users  —  They Sit for Hours and Don't Spend Much; Getting the Bum's Rush in the Big Apple  —  A sign at Naidre's, a small neighborhood coffee shop in Brooklyn, N.Y., begins warmly: “Dear customers, we are absolutely thrilled that you like us …

Obama birth doc update: Kenya sources weigh in  —  Comparison with similar certificates suggests fakery, WND probe reveals  —  NEW YORK - The Kenyan birth document released by California attorney Orly Taitz is probably not authentic, according to WND's investigative operatives in Africa …

Crowd laughs and applauds at Rep. Akin's comment about lawmakers almost being ‘lynched’ at town halls.  —  At a “Freedom Conference” meeting earlier this week, Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO) mentioned that some Democratic lawmakers were almost “lynched” by angry protesters around the country at town hall meetings.

Furor Over an Obama Puff Piece  —  Student Barack Obama in a 1980 photo shoot at Occidental College.  (Lisa Jack/Getty Images)  —  It was only a matter of time before someone combined a certain memorable image of a young future president with a jokey twist on his campaign slogan …

U.S. Considers Remaking Mortgage Giants  —  ‘Bad Bank’ Would Wipe the Slate Clean for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac by Taking Their Toxic Loans  —  The Obama administration is considering an overhaul of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that would strip the mortgage finance giants of hundreds of billions …

White House Affirms Deal on Drug Cost  —  WASHINGTON — Pressed by industry lobbyists, White House officials on Wednesday assured drug makers that the administration stood by a behind-the-scenes deal to block any Congressional effort to extract cost savings from them beyond an agreed-upon $80 billion.

Obama's dissident database could be secret — and permanent  —  The White House request that members of the public report anyone who is spreading “disinformation” about the proposed national health care makeover could lead to a White House database of political opponents that will be both secret …

Reid: GOP ‘run by a talk show host’  —  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid launched his harshest attack on the Republican Party in months, claiming the GOP is “being run by a talk show host.”  —  Reid, armed with a patch of Astroturf, slammed Republicans for sponsoring town hall attacks …

Many Fault Media Coverage of Health Care Debate  —  Partisan Divide Over Coverage of “Birther” Allegations  —  As the fight in Washington over health care reform continues to dominate public attention and media coverage, most Americans are critical of the way news organizations are explaining key elements of the debate.

Lynette ‘Squeaky’ Fromme to be released  —  (CNN) — The president she once pointed a gun at has been dead for nearly three years, and her longtime idol and leader, Charles Manson, remains in prison.  —  However, Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme is about to get her first taste of real freedom in more than three decades.

Barack Obama's Golf Game  —  Presidents, like normal people, tend to seek in others what they admire about themselves.  Which brings us to the par-5 12th hole at Woodlawn golf course in Fort Belvoir, Va., on Father's Day.  Vice President Joe Biden, an 8 handicap, has leaked a 3-wood into the trees near the green.

The Guns of August  —  Jon Cohn says he's “been obsessing over the lack of passion and organization on the left,” though now feeling slightly better.  I agree, but it is worth saying that this is almost 100 percent the fault of Max Baucus.  —  There's a reason, after all …

Krugman Disses Rasmussen Poll - But Forgets to Fact-Check  —  In a blog posting yesterday, New York Times columnist Paul Krugman raises questions about a recent Rasmussen Reports poll of Massachusetts voters.  The poll shows that Bay State voters are less than enthusiastic about the state's experiment in health care reform.

You can never say, “Y'know, that's a good point, maybe I'm wrong”  —  Marc Ambinder marches on past his intellect  —  And it isn't just people trying to rationalize why the hell they were all for invading Iraq six and a half years ago.  It applies to just about every villager when they get called …

Healthcare debate gets uglier  —  Special interests are accused of organizing disruptive outbursts as Democrats try to answer voter concerns.  —  Reporting from Washington — An effigy of Rep. Frank Kratovil Jr. was hung outside his office on the eastern shore of Maryland.

Ongoing denial-of-service attack  —  We are defending against a denial-of-service attack, and will update status again shortly.  —  Update: the site is back up, but we are continuing to defend against and recover from this attack.  —  Update (9:46a): As we recover, users will experience some longer load times and slowness.