New from Bon Jovi, Work for The Working Man.

Who's got the day off tomorrow? Who's got something to say? This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

Alex Pareen at Gawker documents the Van Jones resignation story, with some facts. One of his many achievements: He founded the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, which combats over-incarceration, police brutality, and urban poverty and violence. And,

... for both his activism and his charm he was rewarded with a White House job with the Council on Environmental Quality. He was tasked with making sure stimulus money for green jobs actually went to green jobs. And he's a great person to have in this administration—he is a genuine environmentalist and the only special interest he's beholden to is poor people. He is the sort of person we were all praying Obama would bring with him to DC, instead of Larry Summers. And that is one of the reasons he is now being ritually and savagely demonized.

How did the radical right force him out? Read the rest of Alex' post for "...how a smear becomes a meme. Schoolhouse Rock, 2009 style." [More...]

My copy of Max Blumenthal's new book, Republican Gomorrah: Inside the Movement that Shattered the Party , arrived Friday. It's an expose of the Radical Right -- detailing how the fundamentalist Christian movement infiltrated the Republican party, transformed it, and now dominates it.

Max spends a lot of time on James Dobson and Sarah Palin. But there are others too, from Tom DeLay to GW Bush, Ted Haggard, Larry Craig and Newt Gingrich. He explains how the leaders of the radical right "use authoritarian religion to excuse their personal hypocrisies." Max presents Sarah Palin not as a fringe player, but as one who represents the core of the GOP.

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[This is not a post about Afghanistan.]

Politics is the art of the possible. We all understand that. So on health care reform, what are we (as opposed to the pols) fighting for? In my view, we are now fighting for the most progressive health care bill that can get 218 votes in the House and 50 votes in the Senate (a later separate bill can be fashioned that gets 60 votes in the Senate to take care of Ezra Klein's concerns.) To get that, we have to demand much more than that now. And our "negotiators," the Progressive Block, have to be tactically extreme in this process.

But pols, even the Progressive Block pols, are not fighting for that. They fight for their own personal agendas - getting reelected, expanding their political power, etc. John Aravosis writes about the political skin the President has in the game now:

Via Media Matters, after of course saying the preference is for a "bipartisan bill," Tom Daschle said that health care reform can not be held hostage to the process and endorsed the use of reconciliation for health care reform:

Daschle is not nobody in the Obama circle. To me this is a message to Ben Nelson in particular. I think he got it too. On CNN, Nelson was talking about a public option trigger. Of course, to me the Progressive Block should continue their "tactical extremism" on a robust public option. It is working. Maybe they can save Ezra Klein's deal breakers along the way.

Speaking for me only

I say this with all due respect to the President of the United States - the Progressive Block made President Obama plan to argue for the public option in his speech before a joint session of Congress Wednesday night:

I had a pretty spirited go around with White House Press Secretary Roberts Gibbs and the latest on this dilemma over the public option. The bottom line: Gibbs says the President will make the case for a public option in his speech to Congress on Wednesday but he won't issue a veto threat if it isn't in the final package.

Of course, this is only a first step. The President is clearly willing to jettison a robust public option if he can. The Progressive Block still needs to make the President do it through a House-Senate conference and the Villagers' insistence in beating up the DFHs (all 77% of the American People.) But this is a good first step.

Speaking for me only

Given that Monday is Labor Day, I thought I'd take a look at my last Social Security/Medicare statment to see how much I've paid in taxes for both over my working life. The statement says I began paying into to Social Secuirty in 1965 (a part time job during high school) and continued up through the present. Given what I've paid in, and that I won't retire until 65 at the earliest, there's no way I'll get all that money back -- I won't live that long.I wonder how many people, like me, won't get their money back, either because they die, or they end up with reduced benfits due to the meme the Government is pushing that in 2014, SS will begin paying out more than it takes in, and by 2041 will not have enough to cover everyone? Why doesn't the excess paid in go back to our heirs if we die early?

I've also paid a bundle into Medicare, which I'm years away from collecting on. If I die, Medicare too keeps the money it collected from me. Do they use it to pay medical care for someone else?

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Super filly Rachel Alexandra won the Woodward Stakes this afternoon at Saratoga.

Spartacus (Fabian Cancellara) won the time trial Stage 7 of the Vuelta de Espana.

The USA national soccer team plays El Salvador tonight in a World Cup qualifying match.

And in a man bites dog story, Michigan won a football game today.

This is an Open Thread.

Recognizing that few Americans have adequate savings for retirement, President Obama today announced four plans that do not require Congressional approval.

“The fact is, even before this recession hit, the savings rate was essentially zero, while borrowing had risen and credit card debt had increased,” Mr. Obama said in his weekly radio address. “Half of America’s work force doesn’t have access to a retirement plan at work. And fewer than 10 percent of those without workplace retirement plans have one of their own.”

Will any of the plans help you? If not, what would you have recommended instead? Here is the transcript of his weekly address and here is the factsheet on the four plans.

Digby gets it right:

According to Mike Viqueira on MSNBC, Obama told the progressives in congress on a conference call this morning that on health care, they need to worry about their fellow members in districts that voted with McCain in '08. I guess he figures that those conservative districts are going to be appeased by some sort of "trigger" or a plan without the public option and that those guys in tough districts will be rewarded for making that happen.

I think that's about as delusional as the teabaggers, frankly. If those McCain voters are upset about health care reform, the only thing that will appease them is total defeat. . . .

Yep. This is obvious. The strategy actually requires letting those Blue Dogs run as Republicans who can brag about stopping "death panels." Personally, I think this is disastrous for the Blue Dogs politically (and coincidentally Obama) also. For some reason, base intensity is a political concept not understood in the Beltway.

Speaking for me only

First Saturday in September means college football. The Florida Gators are 73 point favorites over Charleston Southern. It is embarrassing that Florida is playing this game, but at least Charleston Southern is getting a good paycheck. Alabama-Virginia Tech looks to be the best game of the weekend.

Other sporting events to follow this weekend include the Woodward Stakes at Saratoga (where super filly Rachel Alexandra runs against older colts), and the US Open in Flushing Meadow. The Yankees lead the Red Sox by 7.5 games. A topsy turvy race for the NL wild card slot looks to be the most compelling ongoing storyline in baseball. The US national soccer team plays El Salvador tonight in Utah. Jozy Altidore may become a household nmae in the US if the national team does well in South Africa at the 2010 World Cup. But first, the US has to qualify. They have to win tonight to feel comfortable about their position. Finally, the Vuelta de Espana cycling race continues with Stage 7 today being a time trial in Valencia.

This is an Open Thread.

The DNC is going to run the above ad on cable stations and in Washington, DC, pointing out that it's Republicans who are opposed to Medicare -- and always have been.