Obama Readies a Fallback Health-Care Proposal

WSJ "His leading alternate approach would provide health insurance to perhaps 15 million Americans, about half what the comprehensive bill would cover, according to two people familiar with the planning."

America, A Love Story

Atlas Shrugs "U.S. Air Force Nurse, Lucy Lehker, comforts an 'unknown' Canadian soldier after he was badly wounded in Afghanistan."...."Dear Michael Yon, Today we were sent your story of February 14, 2010. The “unknown” Canadian is our son Danny. He is a 23-year-old soldier from Vancouver, Canada. Your photographs were extraordinary and have impacted so many people here in Canada. There has been an outpouring of affection for the Americans who helped Danny in his moment of need. For that, we thank you for recording these acts of kindness into history..." Original story here, by Michael Yon: From Canada: A Thank You to U.S. Service Members

Charles Krauthammer Says Obama Has ‘Given Up the Aura of the Presidency’...

Weasel Zippers Remember if you browse around in this site, the language can get a bit, er,...salty.

"Follow-Up Appointment Needed"; An after-debate symposium

National Review Online "In the wake of the Blair House summit, we asked a few of our health-care experts: Was anything accomplished on Thursday? What is a constructive next step for Republicans?"

"Victimizing blacks," By Dr. Thomas Sowell

JewishWorldReview "Being a race hustler is a very lucrative business for people like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. But such people can extort money and power from white business and political leaders precisely because it is easier to pay off a relative handful of noise makers than to be bothered fighting them." Then there's this article by actor Adam Baldwin: "Racist!’ He cried…: A Thought-Terminating Cliché in Decline"

Obama salutes Ryan (Did he or didn't he?)

Powerline "The remarks of Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan (video above) stole the show in this regard. ....Ryan deconstructs the fairy tale at the heart of Obamacare. Obama was not amused.....Professor Obama seethed as Ryan spoke; he badly wanted to throw Ryan out of the class. Instead, he gives Ryan the evil eye and appears to give Ryan the finger. It's a moment that reveals something of the animus driving the project."

Obamacare supporters told to call talk shows

Screen shot from the Michael Graham blog, The Natural Truth from the Obama site: http://radio.barackobama.com/.

The story: Neal Boortz on the Obamabots "We've been through this before. During Clinton's term the Democrats assigned a man by the name of Bua to conduct seminars for Democrats who wanted to call a talk radio show and promote the Clinton agenda. It didn't work. The Bua callers were trying to present and argue talking points that simply were not their own, and they failed. "

British Pol knees EU prez in the nads

Uncle Jimbo via Blackfive "The EU is doing all it can to socialize all of Europe into the loving, caring arms of unaccountable bureaucrats in Brussels. They want to run it all and want the proles to just shut up and let their betters tell them how to live. Well the new EU President showed up today and Nigel Farage the leader of the UK Independence Party let him know not everyone is impressed. " Nobody can make a speech like an Englishman.

Taliban defectors accept U.S. approach but wait for promises to be kept

WaPo "Interviews with Wahab and other fighters who recently left the Taliban as part of an Afghan government effort to lure them from the battlefield suggest that in many cases, U.S. policymakers may be on to something. Several ex-fighters said they joined the Taliban not out of religious zealotry but for far more mundane reasons: anger at the government in Kabul, revenge for losing a government job, pressure from family or tribe members -- or simply because they were broke." H/t to Heritage.

Exclusive: What happens next in health care

Politico "After a brief period of consultation following the White House health reform summit, congressional Democrats plan to begin making the case next week for a massive, Democrats-only health care plan, party strategists told POLITICO. A Democratic official said the six-hour summit was expected to “give a face to gridlock, in the form of House and Senate Republicans.” " Hat tip to Heritage.

Government Grab of Retirement Accounts a Matter of ‘Social Justice’

Pajamas Media "Uncle Sam wants your retirement money. The Obama administration has just solicited public comment on their proposal to take money from Americans’ private 401(k) retirement accounts and convert it into government-backed annuities. In other words, they want to take your money now to purchase U.S. Treasury bonds, then pay you a monthly sum later after you’ve retired." We had promised to give you more input on this topic. Here it is.

We Have Race on the Brain

Victor Davis Hanson "In contrast, one reason I disliked academia was that in such a dry, bored self-created landscape, pretense trumped action, and one’s tribe, not one’s essence, was the key to career advancement. I never heard a Mexican neighbor say he was Mexican or an Armenian vineyard grower talk of his vaunted heritage or the German claim privilege — they all succeeded or failed on their own ability, or lack of, to grow food at a profit."