That’s really where this battle will be won — on our knees in prayer and fasting.
— Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-MN), quoted by the Minnesota Independent, on how Republicans will stop health care reform.

Nearly 8 in 10 Americans support a federal health insurance plan, but only 37 percent define “public option” correctly.

Sen. Grassley stood silently by while a town-hall tea-bagger said this: “The president of the United States, that’s who you should be concerned about. Because he’s acting like a little Hitler. I’d take a gun to Washington if enough of you would go with me.”

I’d much rather know if I’m secure in my job. But if I can’t know that, at least I can know the status of my pizza.
— Barry Glassner, sociology professor at the University of California, on the national obsession with tracking, quoted in USAToday.

as Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh a “great American?” How about Olympic Park bomber Eric Rudolph?
In light of his statements during a town hall on Aug. 18, it would be good to hear whether Rep. Wally Herger, a Republican representing a rural district near the California-Oregon border, agrees that these killers are “great Americans.”
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You know, make my day.
— Sen. Joe Lieberman, interviewed on CNN, about reports that actor Alec Baldwin could challenge him in 2012.

David Frum: “The thing that is so wacky about this debate, of course, is that it is already true that everybody, or virtually everybody over 65, is enrolled in a public plan. The government could kill them all now if it wanted to.”

“Dreams, they seem to cost money but money costs some dreams.”
—The Hold Steady, from their song, “Yeah Sapphire” on the CD, “Stay Positive”

Everyone’s favorite pandering, self-loathing homosexual, soulless sell-out who will say or do anything to get elected, including marrying a woman to appear straight, gutting Florida’s environmental laws to appear pro-growth, and hugging Obama to appear progressive before denouncing him to appear partisan, is at it again. Now Charlie Crist is playing the God card.

If you thought your representatives in Washington were going to spend their summer recess back home, hearing how you feel about the problems with American health care…well, you’re a sucker. In fact, many of them will have been as far from your district as it’s possible to be without space flight. Here’s a rundown of where your senator or congressperson (and their spouses — well, not Lindsey Graham — and staff members) spent summer vacation.