A reporter finds that being operated on without general anesthesia has its benefits, but that her surgeon’s taste in music is not one of them.

The health bill’s defeat leaves the president facing a wrenching choice: ceding power to his party’s anti-establishment wing, or seeking other pathways to successful governing.

More people are rejecting general anesthesia for procedures, prompting doctors to narrate their steps as they deal with alert patients asking questions.

He is now tasked with defending not just his leadership abilities but his very brand of conservatism in a party fitfully searching for a coherent policy identity.