The takeaway from today's debate is that the conservative Democratic senators have not budged on a public option. They've been persuaded not to block the bill from going to the floor for debate, but beyond that it doesn't appear any deal has been struck to get their votes on the next and more important cloture vote.

You might attribute that in part to the Dem holdouts wanting to enjoy their moment of maximum leverage for as long as they can, right up until the next vote later this year. But it's wishful thinking to conclude that's the only thing going on here. Blanche Lincoln's floor speech in particular seemed to foreclose her being able to plausibly turn around later and vote for a public option. You can't come out as strongly against it as she did and then vote for it anyway without seriously compounding your political problems back home.

The only reasonable reading of today's developments is that while the Dems will get 60 votes this evening they are still short of the 60 they need to get to a final vote on a bill that includes an opt out public option. Couple that with the fact that there is 100% guaranteed to be a health care reform bill in some shape or form passed by the Senate, and you're left with somebody needing to strike a deal to get this done.

Read more »

Meanwhile, on the other end of the liberal political spectrum, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) remains adamant in a statement issued this evening that his vote for a health care reform bill isn't guaranteed, though he stops short of saying he must have a public option in the final bill.

On a 60-39 party line vote just now, Senate Democrats overcame an attempted Republican filibuster on health care reform.

Determining who the lone senator not voting was. A Republican obviously ... more shortly.

Late Update: Sen. Voinovich did not vote and was not present in the chamber, AFP's Olivier Knox reports.

The only potential monkey wrench in tonight's vote was whether Max Baucus, who was tending to his sick mother in Montana, and Robert Byrd, himself in frail health, would actually be able to be physically present for the vote.

But Baucus is apparently in the building, and Byrd just arrived. So we should be all set for a vote shortly.

Arkansas Sen. Blanche Lincoln just announced her support for bringing the health care reform bill to the floor for debate -- so that makes the Dems united ... on debating the bill. Not a surprise, but an important step. The official vote later today still, but now everyone's put their cards on the table.

Mary Landrieu says Harry Reid will have to make a tough call on the public option at some point very soon, and that Chuck Schumer's at the center of the trigger negotiations.

Mary Landrieu will finally announce her decision on how she'll vote today on cloture on the Senate floor in about 20 minutes.

Hard to imagine she'd go so far as to block the bill from even being debated. Then again, you never know.

Late Update: Landrieu will stick with her party and her President ... for now.

In a statement to TPMDC, Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI) takes issue with that George Washington University study which found that his anti-abortion amendment would ultimately cause insurance companies to stop covering abortions.

On the Senate floor this morning, Majority Leader Harry Reid dismissed David Broder as "a man who has been retired for many years and writes a column once in a while."

The jab came in response to Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's citation of Broder's column set to appear tomorrow.

Broder is 80. Reid is 69.

Sarah Palin tells her 25,000 Twitter followers just now:

Thot I'd stick w tour news on Twitter but can't help digress: Call senators! Tell 'em KILL THE BILL tonite;horrible govt healthcare takeover

A Tea Party group that had planned an event to "converge" on the Capitol for today's crucial test vote on health care clarifies - the event is for those "within driving distance of DC" who "want to be there tomorrow when the Senate votes in the cover of darkness on cloture."

Evan McMorris-Santoro has the story.

It's hard to believe we're coming up on the third annual Golden Duke Awards.

Anybody know what is behind the craze of right-wing journalists and politicians to dub themselves with J-Lo-esque and/or rap-like nicknames? You know what I'm talking about, right? A particularly virulent trend in the Politico newsroom apparently. But not only there.

Meet right-wing rapper (aka, "conservative hip-hop artist") Hi Caliber, the toast of the Tea Party circuit who recently appeared in the FreedomWorks-produced video "Patriotic People."

A Senate Democratic Chief of Staff chimes in ...

There is a lot of misplaced anger coming from many of our fellow progressives about Senate Democrats (which often is just shortened to "The Democrats") inability to pass a robust healthcare reform bill, climate change, etc.

Read more »

Christina Bellantoni catches up with Hi Caliber. Whatever you do, don't call him a Republican rapper.

We'll have Brian Beutler on the Hill tomorrow as the full Senate takes up the health care reform bill. This is the first big procedural hurdle: 60 votes to end debate on the motion to bring the bill to the Senate floor. The debate starts at 10 a.m. ET, with the vote expected around 8 p.m. ET. Here's a preview of what to look for. We'll be here through the day with coverage, so as you prep your Thanksgiving feasts you can check in on the latest.

Sarah Palin's roguely interview with Bill O'Reilly condensed to a merciful 200 seconds.

Khalid Sheik Mohammed

"I'm just worried he's going to win this argument for months before he gets executed."

This is Chris Matthews from a few moments ago on Hardball, worrying about the propaganda victories he fears KSM will win spouting jihadist propaganda while on trial in New York City.

As I've said in earlier posts, I simply do not get this. And this from Chris Matthews who's had an improving record of political sanity of late. First, federal trials give defendants precious little opportunity for free-form court room lectures or speeches to the cameras that don't even exist in federal court. I guess I'm in denial about what a propaganda coup the Moussaoui trial was for al Qaeda.

But what do we have to fear? We're going to lose this argument? Really? Why am I so alone in having confidence in this country and what it stands for?

Swift Boat PR firm is representing Gerald Walpin, the fired IG battling the Obama administration over his involuntary ouster.

Dems should have let President Bush create universal health care when he was in office.

John McCain just announced that we can succeed in Afghanistan in a mere 12 to 18 months, if only President Obama would get off his butt and send the 40,000 soldiers.

Sen. Landrieu (D-LA) says she's still undecided on voting for cloture but will decide tonight and put out a statement tomorrow morning.

Not the first Dem I've heard say this. This from TPM Reader EF ...

What you say about Palin is certainly true in general, but her likely endorsee in FL - Marco Rubio - is one of the only Republicans in the country right now who really worried me as a Democrat. He's young, telegenic, polished, Latino in a too-white party, a father of four married to a former Dolphins cheerleader, and politically talented enough to rise to Speaker of the state House before he was term-limited out. Granted, his conservatism is of the '01-'05 W. Bush vintage, but he worries me as much as any Republican in the country this side of John Thune (which says as much about the Republicans as it does about Rubio, but still). If I had to bet my life savings on who would be the Republican VP nominee in 2016, I'd definitely take Rubio.

New developments keep popping through the day in the senate health care bill debate. Check out this page to see all our health care reform debate updates over the course of the day.

I think as long as Sarah Palin remains the King-maker in GOP primary battles across the country, the Dems have something to be happy about.

Defunct Washington Blade relaunches as D.C. Agenda.

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) must have really gotten under Sen. Blanche Lincoln's skin when he told reporters this morning that the Arkansas senator has made up her mind on tomorrow's procedural vote on health care reform because he's already issued a statement walking it back.

Thanksgiving travel tips from the TSA.

Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) announces that he will vote with Dems on cloture to bring health care reform to the Senate floor.

Encouraging mass-casualty terror attacks because the clean up will create a lot of make-work jobs?

One of the four ways Republicans say Obama is going to get you killed.

Senate ethics committee admonishes Sen. Roland Burris over his "inconsistent, incomplete and misleading" testimony about his dealings with Illinois' then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

To provide some helpful context to the news that Obama slipped beneath the symbolically significant 50% mark in today's Gallup poll, this poll, also out today, shows that Obama still beats all potential Republican opponents.

Obama's approval rating has dropped below 50% in the Gallup daily tracking poll for the first time. How does his first foray below 50% approval compare to other post-war presidents?

The pro-Obama Organizing for America is raising money off Sarah Palin.

Cool stuff you get to do as President: Play catch with Drew Brees.

A lot of reformers see ending the health care industry's anti-trust exemption as an extremely important part of reform, perhaps more important than a lot of provisions that are getting more attention. But Sen. Reid (D-NV) seems to have jettisoned that provision in a bid to secure Sen. Nelson's (D-NE) support on key procedural votes.

I'm not trying to be ungenerous but at what point do we see Sen. Specter showing up at the next WTO protest with a black t-shirt and a bandana around his head? Maybe he hits Copenhagen.

Jon Stewart warns about two scary men plotting al Qaeda terrorist attacks on the floor of the House of Reps. Alas, they're GOP reps from Texas and Arizona.

Robert Gates says troops are poised to start flowing quickly to Afghanistan once President Obama makes his decision on strategy. That and the day's other political news in the TPMDC Morning Roundup.

And not just with Sarah Palin ...

I have a pretty hard time imagining he'd actually lose a race for reelection. But a new poll has him running neck and neck with professional bombast and former Rep. J.D. Hayworth in a potential 2010 Republican primary.

Jim Comey and Jack Goldsmith defend Holder's decision to have KSM & Co. tried in civilian courts in New York City -- make many of the now standard arguments and make factual points about the overselling of military commissions/tribunals that a lot of people are ignoring.

Some key points -- the Bush administration used civilian courts to secure numerous convictions of al Qaeda terrorists since 2001 and the record of military commissions has actually been rather poor, not simply on constitutional or civil liberties grounds, but by the concrete measure of actually convicting people and securing long sentences. What's difficult to question is that convictions in civilian courts would be vastly more durable and secure against second-guessing than any from military commissions, given how uncertain their status is in US and international law.

A close observer from up on the Hill shares some history and insights about filibusters and sundry delaying tactics ...

Reams could be and have been written on the origins, history, evolution and current relevance of the filibuster, but on DC's point, the answer is pretty simple - any debatable motion can be filibustered. The motion to proceed to a bill or nomination has always been debatable. That's why it will ultimately take two cloture votes to cut off debate and get a vote on the final bill. Several other motions to move the bill to conference are debatable too. Most of those motions are usually adopted by unanimous consent, but they may not be in this case. Passing a bill when there is passionate opposition to it is hard. That's just the way it is. It may seem silly to endlessly debate a motion that only starts the debate, but that's Senate procedure, and it has little to do with the filibuster rule itself.

Read more »

TPM Reader DC is perplexed ...

I'm genuinely puzzled at this. The filibuster, as we know, is rooted in the old Senate tradition of unlimited debate, which can only be waived by an extraordinary supermajority. Some twenty years or so ago, in the interest of keeping the Senate from being utterly tied up, the body changed the rules to permit a sort of virtual filibuster, which still can only be quelled with a supermajority. But here we have a situation in which the threat of unlimited debate is being used to prevent--what? Debate???? Something does not compute. Why can the filibuster rule be used to prevent debate. Even if you like filibusters, it seems an absurd use of the rule.

I'm not sure DC's chronology is right. I thought the evolution was more complex and over a longer period. But it's not a bad global point.

Actually, of course, going into this on the health care front. We're talking about a series of 60 procedural hurdles. 60 votes to start debate. 60 votes to end debate and move to a vote. And probably a bunch of other 60 vote votes for things like emptying the garbage and okaying Orrin Hatch declaring a holy war against health care reform.

Looks like the cloture vote on bringing the health care reform bill to the Senate floor will be held at 8 p.m. Saturday (much to the delight of aides and reporters across the DC metro area).

Fox News did a poll of what Americans think of an American president bowing to the Japanese Emperor.

You'll remember, this is when Obama shamed America and sent a signal of weakness to emperors worldwide by bowing to the Emperor Akihito, as is the custom in that country.

Oddly enough, Fox phrased the question in a pretty fair way. And Americans answered overwhelmingly that it was fine: 67% to 26%.

Giuliani not running for governor, but he is running for U.S. Senate, reportedly. Oh happy day!

Disappointing Late Update: Not true! says Rudy spox.

After meeting with Sen. Reid (D-NV) yesterday, Sen. Nelson (D-NE) told TPM that Sen. Reid was still floating the possibility of using budget reconciliation for the health care reform bill if he had no other option. But just earlier this afternoon, Brian Beutler asked Sen. Reid what he'd said and he answered pretty categorically.

"I'm not using reconciliation," Reid told TPM.

That would mean that getting the votes of every Democrat on every procedural vote going forward is the only way reform will pass -- all 60 votes.

I would say that no one should treat anything anyone says as definitive in this story, as the final word. You can read into what Reid says, I'm not using it today, I'm not using it, I won't use it ever. For my part, I like I said, nothing's final in this story until it's final. But that's what he said today.

Like Sarah Palin, another prominent GOPer prefers being a talking head to being governor: The NYT is reporting that Rudy Giuliani has decided not to run for governor of New York.

We just had that new daily segment on Fox News where they apologize for getting caught using phony video to inflate GOP crowd sizes the previous day.

Fun new segment.

Straight from House Minority Leader John Boehner's office:

"Sen. Reid's Government-Run Health Plan Requires a Monthly Abortion Fee"

Why did Ken Starr, Ed Meese and right-wing legal organization, The American Civil Rights Union come to the defense of a John Edwards backer charged with reimbursing employees who donated to the Edwards campaign?

A majority of Republicans think ACORN stole the election for Barack Obama, according to a new poll.

Jon Stewart to Lou Dobbs: Your views are "abhorrent and wrong."

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT): Republicans are about to launch a "holy war" to derail health care reform.

Nancy Pelosi: Stupak amendment goes too far in restricting abortion and we'll work something out with the Senate.

Fox News says a "production error" caused it to air 2008 campaign rally footage yesterday during a segment on the crowds greeting Sarah Palin on her book tour. And today the network apologized for mistakenly showing the cover of the Going Rouge, a collection of essays mocking the former governor, rather than the cover of her book, Going Rogue.

Accused Ponzi schemer Hassan Nemazee, the big Democratic donor, is part-owner of an investment firm that manages money for a New Mexico state agency. And, yeah, the firm got the state contract after Nemazee and an associate contributed to Gov. Bill Richardon's campaign fund.

So this seems to bring together two separate muckraker stories: Nemazee's alleged multi-hundred-million-dollar-fraud and whether you had to pay to play to get state money management contracts in New Mexico, which involved many of the same players involved in the pay-to-play scandal in New York state pension funds.

So many falsehoods and half-truths in Going Rogue and so little time -- so we hit the highlights in "Sarah: Plain and Lying."

Sarah Palin announces plan to crack down on Ahmadinejad by imposing sanctions on "Iraq."

Today's the day when we should start to get our first read on the health care debate end game. The key hold-outs have pegged their willingness to allow the bill to come to a final vote on the scoring from the CBO -- and specifically how the bill affects short and long-term deficit numbers. That scoring is out now. So the ball is in their collective court.

Read more »

As you may have heard, Conservative party candidate Doug Hoffman ended up making up some post-election day ground in NY-23 special election after some election day errors were discovered and absentee ballots -- at least so far -- allowed him to make up some further ground against victor Bill Owens. But it seems clear that it won't be enough to change the outcome. Now, though, Hoffman has announced to supporters that he believes the election was stolen by ACORN.

Colbert reviews Palin's Going Rogue: A steaming pile of bullcrap.

Karl Rove accuses the Obama White House of being in permanent campaign mode, as evidenced by Friday "bad news" dumps. That and the other overnight political news in the TPMDC Morning Roundup.

He's not hollering about it or making threats. But in his meeting today with the key Democratic hold-outs, Sen. Reid (D-NV) made it clear that if they shut him down on one of the procedural votes, he's still got reconciliation (i.e., pushing the bill through with simple, 51 vote majorities) as an option.

National Right to Life Committee not so happy with Senate health care bill.

We've got more details on the CBO's read of the senate health bill -- one point of which is that they estimate that 1/3 of the population will be from states that choose to opt-out of Public Option eligibility.

In case you missed it, definitely take a moment to read our report on a new study from George Washington University School of Public Health which explains why the Stupak Amendment will eventually eliminate abortion coverage for all women, not just those purchasing subsidized insurance through one of the new insurance exchanges. A must read.

Rep. John Shadegg (R-AZ) decides taunting NYC Mayor Bloomberg with the possibility that 9/11 trials might lead to his daughter getting kidnapped by al Qaeda wasn't such a hot idea after all.

Yes, I know there's little to be gained by reading or discussing Ann Coulter. Truly appreciated, she's less columnist than performance artist. But like every other big website we get all her columns blasted to us. And sometimes I see something that so captures brainstem conservatism that I have to share it with you. In this column, Coulter announces that the Hasan massacre at Fort Hood is the moment when "diversity ... jumped the shark."

Diversity, which she compares to cancer and pollution.

Okay, I'm done.

Former staffers of the now-defunct Washington Blade plan to bring the paper back to life as an as-yet-unnamed online venture.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal will give campaign contributions from accused Florida fraudster to victim's compensation fund.

In case you missed it, here's Justin Elliott's initial report revealing those contributions earlier today.

Harry Reid and several fellow Democratic senators just appeared before cameras after the caucus meeting where they unveiled the health care reform bill.

Plus details of what went down in the meeting itself.

The Washington Times' acting publisher addresses the turmoil at his paper in a statement to readers set to run in tomorrow's paper. We have an advance copy.

I think these two sentences from Marc Ambinder are in a certain tension with each other ...

If Palin gets smarter and more serious, if she embraces reality, then she can probably change the perception that many Americans have of her. Palin can be formidable and a real player in American politics, if she wants to.

What a pity that so many pixels have to die a meaningless death just to spin out narratives about how this ignoramus can cease to be who she is.

(ed.note: This post has been revised since first publication. Though I had originally used the word 'moron', I decided this was too ungenerous, harsh and perhaps even inaccurate and opted for the more descriptive and I think appropriate 'ignoramus'.)

Who is such a coward or so craven that they can't agree with this statement?

Attorney General Eric Holder: "I'm not scared of what Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has to say at trial. And no one else needs to be afraid either."

So with a merged Senate bill finally on the table (note that it's now Nov. 18), leadership is considering filing for cloture on the motion to proceed tomorrow, Brian Beutler reports. That sets up a weekend vote, requiring 60 votes, on whether to end debate on the motion to proceed and probably a vote early next week, requiring a simple majority vote, on the motion itself to bring the bill to the Senate floor.

Ed. note: The post has been edited from the original.

Fox caught splicing in 2008 campaign footage to make Sarah Palin book tour crowd look enormous.

The CBO scoring of the Dems' senate health care bill are out and they're scoring it at $849 Billion.

For those keeping score at home, that's a "good" number for the Dems.

By the time you clear away the hedging, the throat-clearing, and the self-serving rationalizations, it looks like a new statement just issued by Sen. Ben Nelson signals that he will vote with Democrats to bring the health care reform bill to the Senate floor.

If this were international diplomacy, you might say Nelson has finally agreed to the shape and size of the table at which the peace talks will be held. Bold move.

Sen. Mary Landrieu's campaign turned over $25,300 in campaign contributions to the U.S. Treasury last year, a move that appears to have been intended to disgorge contributions that were legally questionable. But at the same time the campaign calls the move "routine" -- a description one campaign finance expert calls "bullshit" -- and refuses to provide any details about who the contributor was or why the campaign coughed up the money. CREW is now filing an FEC complaint. What gives?

We've been documenting the reach alleged Florida Ponzi schemer Scott Rothstein had into Florida political circles. But it wasn't just Florida. He held a couple of fundraisers for Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) last year, including one in connection with the LSU-Florida football game in Gainesville.

Sen. Reid is currently meeting with Sens. Nelson, Landrieu and Lincoln -- the three key health care reform hold outs -- apparently to give them a special preview of the briefing on the bill and the much-anticipated report from CBO.

Interestingly, Biden's up at the senate today to try to nail things down on behalf of the White House. But he's not in the meeting.

Fmr. Gov. Sarah Palin

I'm not sure it's really right to call Sarah Palin a politician. She's more like a new breed of non-office-holding politico-celebrity. Or maybe not a new breed. However that may be, we've got more evidence of why Sarah Palin is crack for the GOP: gives a real jolt, is fun and addictive, and is really, really bad for your health.

In an interview she just did with the National Review, in the process of explaining why "death panel" was just a figure of speech, she managed to insult (or at least showed she misunderstood the meaning of) the Sainted Ronald Reagan and then called for a Hoffmanite primary challenge to Sen. Lindsey Graham.

Last week I facetiously congratulated Rudy Giuliani for realizing that the most important thing about fighting terrorism is the catch-phrase we use to describe it. Remember, last year during his failed presidential campaign, Rudy got so obsessed with phraseology that at one point he even rebelled against "war on terror", spending the latter part of the campaign obsessing about the need to call it "The Terrorists War on Us."

So today, with Attorney General Holder heading to the Hill and on-going controversy about the administration's decision to try the 9/11 plotters in New York City, one of the main things Rudy focused on in his conference call with reporters was his relief that Holder used the word "war" about al Qaeda and challenged the White House to show the fortitude to keep using "war" and "terror" in the same sentence.

Obama at the Great Wall:

Biz lobbyist tells TPMmuckraker that if a Chamber of Commerce-sponsored study meant to show that heath care reform will harm the economy ends up reaching a different result, the Chamber should bury the study.

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) joins campaign against Muslim interest group.

Rudy Giuliani, on a RNC conference call with reporters just now: "I was glad to see Holder say 'we're at war.' I had thought we had virtually stopped being at war with the terrorists."

A new study by the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services evaluates the long-term impact of the Stupak amendment on insurance coverage for abortions.

There are so many layers of local intrigue and dynastic politics, plus national political currents, involved in the Missouri Senate race next year to fill the seat of the retiring Kit Bond that it'll be worth watching very closely. The latest polling of a hypothetical (but pretty likely) general election match-up between Robin Carnahan and Roy Blunt has them in a virtual tie at 43%-42%.

TPM Reader DV: "How is it that it will take 'decades' for history to judge the Bush administration yet we know already that the Obama administration is a failure?"

Sen. Leahy rubs Sen. Sessions' nose in South's Civil War defeat. Watch.

Eric Holder: "I'm not scared of what Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has to say at trial. And no one else needs to be afraid either."

Former Gov. Palin says she's "all for" religious profiling of American Muslims.

We've got more on the discrimination complaint filed against the Washington Times by its top opinion page editor, including a copy of the complaint he filed with the EEOC and a scan of yesterday's Times masthead, which still lists him even though he claims he was fired last month.

Logic, taste and political decency weren't enough. Now it appears Michele Bachmann's Capitol Hill Tea Party may have violated House Ethics rules too.

Biden heads to the Hill this morning to meet with Sen. Reid on health care.

Late Update: Majority Leader Harry Reid will unveil the draft of the Senate health care reform bill to his caucus today at 5 p.m. ET, and CBO numbers on the bill will likely arrive sometime before the unveiling.--dk

Fireworks expected as Attorney General Eric Holder testifies this morning before the Senate Judiciary Committee about trying Gitmo detainees in federal courts. That and the day's other political news in the TPMDC Morning Roundup.

Biden humiliates America with deep bow to Jon Stewart.

Why was the Stimulus Bill called the 'stimulus bill' and not a 'jobs bill'?

It's easy to mock the media for the excesses of Sarah Palin Week, but Andrew Sullivan correctly observes that our scorn is better directed at John McCain -- who deserves the blame for foisting Palin on the country -- and at the media for not holding him accountable for wanting to put her one 72-year-old's heartbeat from the Presidency.

Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI), and candidate for governor of Michigan: Ft. Hood shooting shows Obama is soft on terror.

Obama administration to oppose former Gov. Siegelman's Supreme Court appeal.

Rep. John Shadegg (R-AZ) is now apologizing for his remarks about a terrorist trial in NYC leading to Mayor Michael Bloomberg's daughter being kidnapped: "I apologize for the insensitivity of my remarks with respect to the mayor or his family; however, I think it is important to note that this decision involves potential risk to innocent people."

TPM Reader CN:

Let me get this straight: we kept KSM and his buddies in Gitmo for eight years, no trial, no process, under harsh conditions including torture -- and now that we're finally giving them a trial in civilian court, NOW Al-Qaeda wants to retaliate? NOW they're going to kidnap the mayor's daughter and demand that KSM be released? It doesn't even make sense on its own terms.

Reid tells Dems he expects to hold first procedural votes on the health care reform bill later this week or possibly this weekend. But no promises.

DC city government partially revokes property tax exemption for C Street crashpad used by philandering (and some non-philandering) conservative congressmen.

The White House has just responded to the news of new settlement activity in East Jerusalem ...

We are dismayed at the Jerusalem Planning Committee's decision to move forward on the approval process for the expansion of Gilo in Jerusalem. At a time when we are working to re-launch negotiations, these actions make it more difficult for our efforts to succeed. Neither party should engage in efforts or take actions that could unilaterally pre-empt, or appear to pre-empt, negotiations. The U.S. also objects to other Israeli practices in Jerusalem related to housing, including the continuing pattern of evictions and demolitions of Palestinian homes. Our position is clear: the status of Jerusalem is a permanent status issue that must be resolved through negotiations between the parties.

The 140 Army suicides so far this year equal the total from all of 2008 -- and almost equal the 142 U.S. troops from all the services killed in Iraq so far this year.

It's starting to seem like everything we've reported so far about the implosion at Washington's conservative paper, The Washington Times, was only the pre-implosion. The OpEd page editor is now filing complaint with EEOC alleging religious discrimination -- one of the allegations contained in which was being forced to attend a Moon mass wedding. And it seems like this may only be the beginning of the fireworks. More soon.

How do you sway conservative Democrats in the Senate to unite in voting for health care reform? Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) tells TPMDC:

There's potentially a dynamic that works in all of this that as you get closer and closer to the vote, you say--you really do say--we're going to make or we're not going to make history, and it takes on another dimension, psychologically. I mean I've been through that myself. I've gone downstairs thinking maybe I'm not going to vote for that, and then suddenly I see its dimension, think of it in large terms, and then vote for it.

More here.

By a razor thin margin New Yorkers think it's a good idea to try the 9/11 plotters in our city.

Rep. John Shadegg (R-AZ) is so upset with Mayor Bloomberg saying that New York City is up the challenge of trying the 9/11 plotters that he's basically taunting the mayor with the prospect of his daughter being kidnapped by al Qaeda.

Seems the AP got it wrong reporting that the Bureau of Prisons is still considering the Hardin, MT jail as a potential site to house the Gitmo prisoners.

Glenn Beck says the Dems are raping the American people with health care like Roman Polanski.

Just to give you the flavor of this interview, Bill O'Reilly wraps it up with this question of Lou Dobbs: "Barack Obama -- is he the devil?" Watch.

We knew accused Florida fraudster/attorney Scott Rothstein was a big Charlie Crist contributor and spread it around to other Republicans and Democrats alike, but we didn't know, until now, that he'd given a whopping $200,000 to the Republican Governors Association. The group is not commenting.

Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR), on health care reform vote: "You're going to have detractors on either side, no matter what you do. So I think in the end you have to what you think is right." That and the day's other political news in the TPMDC Morning Roundup.

Senate progressives held a meeting last night with Sen. Reid (D-NV) in which they told him they weren't willing to compromise any more on the Public Option. Meanwhile, it looks like the CBO will probably (though no guarantee) release its scoring of the senate health care bill today. That's what the six centrist and conservative Dems have been waiting on to show their hand. So that should kick off the next round of health care reform politicking.

Sarah Palin and Barbara Walters. Don't say you weren't warned. Watch.

Jon Stewart: Spare us a show trial -- can't we just wrap Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in bacon and deep fry him at a state fair while Lee Greenwood stabs him in the face with a fork? Watch.

Images from Obama's initial stops on his tour of Asia:

Gov. Paterson says he doesn't think the 9/11 plotters should be tried in New York City either.

And according to a new CNN poll, most Americans seem to agree. Most think they should be tried in military courts; but most also say it should happen in the US, not in a US facility overseas.

In his new book, Obama campaign manager David Plouffe reveals that as John Edwards' campaign was fading heading into the South Carolina primary, a top Edwards adviser went to both the Obama and Clinton campaigns offering up the Edwards endorsement in return for the veep slot on the Democratic ticket.

After inexplicably getting a lot of flack for planning to burn their local congressman and Speaker Nancy Pelosi in effigy, disappointed tea partiers in Virginia have reluctantly called off their weekend bonfire.

You couldn't make this up in a million years. As part of his one-man effort to combat the looming Islamo-imperial threat from the likes of the Muslim Brotherhood, Dave Gaubatz, author of Muslim Mafia, is planning a one-month "investigative counterterrorism project in the Sunni mosques of North Carolina," as our Justin Elliott aptly puts it.

To fund the project, Gaubatz is soliciting private donations, including two motorcycles and a "Class A" RV. As a bonus, the most generous donor to the project gets to tag along as the team tootles around North Carolina investigating Muslims.

The motorcycles, Gaubatz explains to us, are for investigative work in the bigger cities where the RV might be unwieldy. Makes perfect sense.

Chuck DeVore

California state Assemblymen Chuck DeVore is shaping up to be the Marco Rubio / Doug Hoffman of the upcoming California senate race. And in an interview with TPM earlier today his spokesman sought to explain earlier comments which suggested he might be if not a birther, at least birther-curious.

Down and Out in the GOP fundraising world.

Blurb in the feature well on the CNN homepage ...

The Michigan Militia is part of a growing movement. Members say they are not enemies of the state -- but are prepared in case the state becomes the enemy. They call themselves patriots, but some observers call them extremists.

Haven't we been through this movie before? About 15 years ago?

Harkin: If the GOP obstructs moving the health care bill to debate and vote, we will make them stay there 24/7: "We are planning to do something that would require Republicans to be there 24 hours a day, and if they leave the floor, we'll ask unanimous consent to dispense with the reading, and that'll be the end of it."

Washington Blade is shutting down, as are four other gay and lesbian urban newspapers, after the publisher goes out of business.

A lot of people -- mainly but by no means exclusively Republicans -- were on the Sunday shows yesterday denouncing the administration's decision to jail and try KSM and four accused 9/11 plotters in New York City. And most of the criticism comes under three distinct but related arguments: 1) civilian trials give the defendants too many rights and protections and thus create too big a risk they'll get acquitted and set free, 2) holding the prisoners and trial in New York City puts the city's civilian population at unnecessary risk of new terror attacks, and 3) holding public, civilian trials will give the defendants an opportunity to mock the victims, have a platform to issue propaganda or gain public sympathy.

The first two arguments strike me as understandable but basically wrong on the facts. The third I find difficult in some ways even to understand and seems grounded in bad political values or even ideological cowardice.

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Tea partiers in Virginia have second thoughts on whether to burn Democratic congressmen in effigy, according to the local chairman:

I still would like to do it, but it's still up in the air at this point. We've already started stacking firewood and building the effigy...we will have a bonfire. Burning someone in effigy was just gonna be part of it.

The local guy concedes they've been getting a "lot of flack" since they announced the effigy-burning party.

Both during the campaign and now with her book there seems to be ample evidence that Sarah Palin is a serial liar. I've yet to see much discussion of whether this is a factor in her future political viability.

Details continue to emerge about the rarefied Florida political circles that alleged fraudster Scott Rothstein traveled in, including this autographed pic of Rothstein and Gov. Charlie Crist:

It sounds like a reality show: Grover Norquist says GOP presidential wannabes will have to complete certain "assignments" from the conservative movement in 2010 in order to make the cut in 2012. That and the day's other political news in the TPMDC Morning Roundup.

Appearing as a guest panelist on Fox News Sunday today, Liz Cheney dropped her father's name into the 2012 presidential conversation.

It's not clear how serious she was -- several members of the Fox News gang were in the middle of having a good laugh over video of President Obama's slight bow to the Japanese emperor and Bill Kristol's subsequent cracks about it. But when host Chris Wallace compared Obama's bow to video of a stiff-backed Dick Cheney meeting the emperor in 2007, daughter Liz said, "You could also look at the comparison and think, Cheney 2012."

See for yourself: here's the video.