Here's Markos of Daily Kos with a message to President Obama on the public option and health care legislation:

We're not talking what we really wanted - we really wanted single payer - so we already compromised from our position. I think the public option at this point is sort of our Waterloo, This is where we stand and fight.

I'm watching Big Brother 11 (seems all but certain Michelle will be leaving tonight) and America's Got Talent. What's got your attention, on TV or elsewhere? This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

Your turn.

This is an Open Thread.

I am in a NFL fantasy football league. After the draft, I have tried to acquire Percy Harvin. Regular readers know that Harvin was a Gator and I love him. Apparently, the person I am trying to deal with knows this also as he asked for Andre Johnson in return. Well, I love Percy Harvin, but I can't do that deal.

Similarly, no matter how much Progressives want to do health care reform, there is no way they can do a deal that hands over a huge giveaway to the insurance industry through mandates without a public option. The price is just too high for what the insurance industry will get. Like my desire to have Percy Harvin on my team, there has to be a limit to the price progressives will pay for "health care reform."

This is an Open Thread.

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.

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.

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 eagle flies on a Friday.

Happy Labor Day Weekend everyone.

The Rolling Stones and Guns 'N Roses singing "Salt of the Earth."

Here's one of my favorite statue/sculptures, in downtown Omaha, at the Lewis & Clark landing, along Omaha's Missouri River Walkway. If you're ever there, it's well worth a visit. It's the second-largest labor monument in the U.S. Two-hundred-fifty tons of cement and 39,000 pounds of steel were used in its construction. It's by Matthew Placzek.

Larger version here. I'm not starting my weekend until after a visit to the gym and then the jail. What are your plans?

To get this out of the way, I do not know how Hillary Clinton would have handled health care reform if she had become President. I DO know Barack Obama had much more of a mandate than Bill Clinton (or George W. Bush, Ezra) ever had. There was a reason I was talking him up as a potential FDR for our time (something I do not believe Hillary could have been, the Media hated her too much.)

So now, back to the actual reality we are living, Obama has done a poor job of playing a strong political hand so far. Let's all of us (ObamaBots, PUMAs and the rest of us) hope that changes.

This is an Open Thread.

If you could go to the U.S. Open tennis tournament in Flushing Meadow, NYC or go watch the Woodward Stakes, featuring super filly Rachel Alexandra, at Saratoga in upstate New York this weekend, which would you choose?

Here was Rachel Alexandra destroying Belmont and Travers winner Summer Bird in the Haskell:

This is an Open Thread.

I'd probably rather be almost anywhere than the dentist, but that's where I'm headed for the rest of the day. At least the drive to his office in Boulder will be pleasant.

How long have you had the same doctor or dentist? I've had the same doctor for 28 years and the same dentist for 25 years. (Which is not as long as I've had the same auto insurance policy -- 38 years.)

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

The Obama Adminstration says enough to disclosure of CIA-detainee documents in the ACLU's FOIA lawsuit. The ACLU is not pleased.

Susan Atkins, paralyzed and dying, is up for parole again. She wanted to appear in person:

Atkins, 61, is riddled with cancer, paralyzed over most of her body and has had her left leg amputated. "She is kind of poor condition -- poor, but stable condition." Atkins is able to speak, but is not capable of entering the hearing room on her own....

Enough already. It's been 40 years. Let her out. Update: She was denied parole today.

The SEC's Inspector General has a report saying the SEC bungled the Bernie Madoff probe for years. [More...]