Poor Barbra Streisand. Maybe you didn’t know it, given how rich and famous and garlanded she is, but she is an abused victim—a victim of Hollywood. She directed a movie in 1991 called The Prince of Tides; it was nominated for an Academy Award but she was not, and the shock waves sent tremors from Provincetown to the Castro. 

After a year of debate and legislative scheming, President Obama and congressional Democrats are making one last push for their ill-conceived health care plan. Fittingly, the endgame is as unseemly as the various maneuvers and backroom deals that got them this far.