Politico – In an Ideas piece, Sen. Harkin says health care reform will pass because it isn’t an option to Here is the original post: (Politico)”> (Politico)”>Why health reform will succeed (Politico)

A few days back I posted a YouTube of a Pittsburgh protester being snatch and grabbed by some clowns in BDUs and dismissed it as a poorly-produced hoax: I’d had a few comments and emails claiming it was for real, but I hadn’t been able to find anything derfinitive online until a reader sent Murdoc a heads up : Statement from G-20 Joint Information Center to College Politico : The individuals involved in the 9/24/2009 arrest which has appeared online are law enforcement officers from a multi-agency tactical response team assigned to the security operations for the G20.

During the summer, many on the right claimed that raucus meetings at town halls showed Americans had turned against health care reform. Politico reported, “Democrats lost the month of August — not just in the polls and at town hall events but also within their own caucus.” Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA) said the GOP is “going to keep the nightmare going through the fall.” But today, the Kaiser Family Foundation released its latest poll of public opinion on health care reform that shows that voters are actually more enthusiastic about reforming our broken health care system than ever.

* Doo-doo diligence? Proskauer Rose and Holland & Knight have both been hit with legal malpractice suits. [ Miami Herald via ABA Journal ] * Sometimes ignoring something does make it better. [ Ars Technica ] * From the inane adventures in social networking file: Poll on whether Obama should be killed leads to Facebook suspension and Secret Service investigation. [ CNN ] * No one wants to prosecute this torture porn case. [ Politico ] * The SCOTUS justices will be gazing out toward the Mojave desert this week.

It’s back to the markup table for the Senate Finance Committee, which will resume work on its health care bill on Tuesday. The House also will be working to merge its three bills, according to Carl Hulse, our chief congressional correspondent, who previewed this week’s action.Looming during the debate is one of the hottest button issues still facing Congress — the public insurance option. Lawmakers and outside groups favoring such plans have ratcheted up their pitch of late, with radio and TV ads.

The Senate Finance Committee will be voting on at least three versions of a public option as it reconvenes today . “The Senate floor is more favorable to the public option than the Finance Committee,” admitted Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), adding, “But we certainly want to begin the debate . … The more focus there is on the public option, the better it does.” The New York Times reports on the “ tenthers ” –- “ a small but growing group ” of state lawmakers who are claiming that a federal requirement that nearly everyone buy insurance or pay a penalty is an intrusion on states’ rights .

Politico reports that New York Sen. Chuck Schumer raised $1.65 million in contributions from the financial services industry — nearly twice the amount of any other senator.   »  original news

Politico reports: “Arkansas Sen. Blanche Lincoln has run two successful Senate campaigns on pledges to expand and improve health insurance coverage. Now, as Congress works to deliver on that promise, it threatens to become an issue that could end her career.” Well, to be clear, what could end her career is being forced to support a radical redesign of health care that her constituents don’t want. The “firestorm [that] threatens to engulf Blanche Lincoln,” as Politico describes it, is Obamaism.

If you think Sarah Palin’s bizarre resignation from the Alaska governorship, not to mention the shots she’s taken in the media over her worldliness, has somehow dimmed her popularity among the right, you’re probably an MSNBC-watching coastal elite. The base still loves her, and it’s silly to think Palinism won’t be a factor in the 2012 election.