A TEA PARTY PROTEST IN SALT LAKE CITY: Reader David Kirkham emails:

Saturday we had the most important Tea Party in Utah to date! We have a delegate system here in Utah. If a candidate wins 60% of the delegate votes at the convention they become the party nominee and there is NO PRIMARY election–the winner immediately advances to the general election. This delegate process levels the playing field and allows for challengers with relative little money to take on an entrenched incumbent like Senator Bennett.

We (Tea Party and 912ers) decided it was time to put down our protest signs and start to organize for the convention. Notice there are no signs in the pictures. This was strictly business. We got all our email lists together and put out a call to action for a Tea Party/912 event to train people how to become delegates. During the event, I asked how many people were currently delegates…no more than 8-10 people raised their hands. There were all NEW people to the political process.

We had the Utah State Capitol people (GREAT guys) set up 500 chairs and it was standing room only. There must have been 600 people at the event–they all drove through a snow storm to be there. Everyone one of them wants to be a delegate. There are only 3,300 delegates in the state. We gathered names and emails and are currently breaking them down into the precincts. We are setting up precinct captains for further training mobilization. A State Representative told me he simply could not believe the turn out. The most telling comment of the day came from another State Representative, “Bennett’s toast.”

No media–oh well. We’ll do it without them.

I guess I’m a community organizer now LOL.

Those are springing up everywhere lately. Pic below.

SWINE FLU UPDATE: In Oakland County, Michigan, “Vaccination Hell.”

Related: Obama declares swine flu a national emergency.

But Mickey Kaus wonders if it’s all trumped-up. I think, though, that the reason they’re not bothering to distinguish between H1N1 and seasonal flu is that at the moment, there isn’t really any seasonal flu yet. If it’s flu, it’s swine flu.

UPDATE: Swine flu cases overestimated?

And more skepticism from Michael Fumento. Plus, several readers think this is a case of Rahm “never let a crisis go to waste” Emanuel at work — declare a health crisis and it makes national health care look somehow more urgent. But while I discount the “Swine Flu Vaccine Is Obama’s Katrina” talk, their handling so far isn’t something I’d put forward as an actual argument for more government involvement in health-care delivery.

More here, including the full text of Obama’s order.

MORE: America In The Midst of Two Major “National Emergencies.” “President Obama’s swine flu declaration is the 33rd national emergency declaration since 1976.”

ALLEN BARTON ISN’T A DOCTOR, but he plays one at the White House.

INSTAVISION: I talk with former Marine Steven Pressfield, author of Gates of Fire, Killing Rommel, and The Afghan Campaign about warrior ethics, fiction, and writing. Plus, how blogging can help writers, and what counterinsurgency in Afghanistan can learn from Alexander The Great!

TRAILER PARK: The trailer for Surrogates.

EZRA LEVANT: Hate Speech Complainant Under Investigation:

Richard Warman, the hate speech complainant who is personally responsible for all but two section 13 censorship prosecutions this decade, is now being investigated by the Canadian Human Rights Commission for hate speech himself.

I know. It sounds crazy. Just like it sounded crazy when it was revealed that Warman and the CHRC were members of neo-Nazi organizations.

Warman is a former CHRC investigator himself; and even after he left the CHRC they continued to pay his expenses to file and prosecute complaint after complaint. All this, despite the fact he’s been under investigation for hate speech for three years.

At the same time as Warman was a complainant, he was a defendant.

At the same time as the CHRC was cutting him cheques to cover his expenses, they were probing his conduct.

At the same time as he held himself out to be an anti-hate crimes activist, his own hateful speech was being probed.

Sounds like they’re running a topflight organization, there . . . .

HMM: Ethics Panel Investigates Waters, Graves and Jackson. Interesting extra bit about Jesse Jackson, Jr. “A statement issued by the ethics committee said each of the investigations is ongoing, but the panel will defer its efforts in Jackson’s case in light of an ongoing Justice Department inquiry.” Hmm. What could Justice be looking at?

READER JODY GREEN WRITES: “We went to the protest in Washington and we walked up and down Pennsylvania Avenue during the march. We saw thousands of signs and 99% were hand made and unique. The one person we saw handing out signs was handing out the pre-printed ‘Bury Obama Care with Kennedy’ sign. He had hundreds of them in packages and was handing them to everyone that passed by. I did not take one because I thought it not a very effective sign and would probably only cause negative coverage. Well that is what it has caused. There have been numerous stories from some big names saying how this was offensive. Rush had a montage today of reporters talking about this sign. I even heard it on a local radio station as top of the hour straight news. Just curious if any of your other readers saw what I saw and maybe learned where this guy came from. I guess I smell a rat.”

Anybody else know anything about this?

UPDATE: Reader Luis Hess writes:

The American Life League is responsible for the “Bury Obamacare with Kennedy” sign: http://americanlifeleague.stores.yahoo.net/index.html

What’s strange is that this sign stands far apart from all their other Pro-Life memorabilia. The Pro-Life movement has nothing to do with Obama or Kennedy insofar as it comes to universal health care (outside of the abortion issue). According to the BBB (http://www.bbb.org/charity-reviews/national/toc/american-life-league-in-stafford-va-2294), the organization has only existed since July 2009. Something smells strange about the entire set-up.

Hmm.

MORE: Hiawatha Bray writes: ‘It’s a real pro-life organization that’s been around since 1979. And Brian Gates writes: “I’m not sure where Mr Hess is getting his information, but here is a 4th Circuit record of a case the American Life League was involved in in 1995.”

CHARLES COOPER: “Again, if this discussion becomes a question of ‘who lied,’ then the Democrats lose. Healthcare reform is their big enchilada. The administration can’t afford to get caught up in a game of liar liar, pants on fire. Been there, done that – thrice so far in 2009. Remember the Henry Louis Gates flap in July?”

THINGS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED THIS WEEKEND:

We have always been at war with EastAsia Obama’s Grandmother.

Bob Dylan, Skip Gates, and the state of policing in America.

Some people never come clean. I think you know what I mean.

In jail for blogging about the police.

Sneering at Town Hall attire.

Despite the scare-mongering, Town Halls not producing more threats.

War? What War? We have never been at war in Central Asia!

Obama’s grassroots effort fizzles again.

They went in without a plan, and now it’s a quagmire. Insurgents are popping up everywhere, even in locations previously thought safe.

“I’m not a white supremacist, but I play one on Facebook.”

DRAWING A CONTRAST BETWEEN BOB DYLAN AND SKIP GATES. On the other hand, there’s this: “I find it pretty depressing. There was a time when we condescendingly used the term ‘your papers, please’ to distinguish ourselves from Eastern Block countries and other authoritarian states. Post-Hiibel, America has become a place where a harmless, 68-year-old man out on a stroll can be stopped, interrogated, detained, and forced to produce proof of identification to state authorities, despite having committed no crime. I guess I just don’t see the punchline.” Nope, but there’s a Ray Bradbury story reference. . . .

I WONDER IF HE’LL SAY THAT THE SEIU ACTED “STUPIDLY” in sending thugs who beat up Ken Gladney? Obama to enter town hall fray. I predict more nuance. It’s not like this was Skip Gates. Funny how the story leaves that beating out while playing up some non-issue “incidents with firearms.” Not up to The Hill’s usual standard — seems like a lot of the stuff comes straight from a ThinkProgress press release. Which is a dangerous source of information.

UPDATE: I dropped an email to The HIll’s online editor, Bridget Johnson, and got this reply: “Your point is very valid, Glenn. I’ve just had a talk with staff on the need to carefully balance coverage on this issue. Thanks for sharing your concerns.”

Thanks for listening to them!

WELL, HE WOULDN’T NEED HEALTH INSURANCE if SEIU thugs hadn’t beaten him up. It takes chutzpah to try to turn him into a poster child for ObamaCare. This is close to killing your parents and asking for mercy as an orphan . . . .

UPDATE: By the way, Gateway Pundit is Gladney Central these days.

ANOTHER UPDATE: “Never mind!” Reader Joe O’Rourke writes:

At the bottom of the thinkprogress article, it mentions an update that, in fact, Gladney is insured.

Of course, they left this update at the very bottom instead of mentioning it at the top. It sorta negates the article’s premise….

An army of Emily Litellas. Really, you couldn’t make this kind of thing up. Well, you could, but thanks to ThinkProgress and the Obamacare gang that can’t shoot straight, you don’t have to.

THE WHITE HOUSE SAYS IT’S NOT CONCERNED ABOUT HEALTH CARE PROTESTS. They’re so unconcerned that they’re dispatching surrogates to claim the protests are fake.

For a graphic illustration of the difference between real and contrived protests, see this. Meanwhile, how’s all that “post-partisan” hope-and-change talk going to play into a strategy to call your opponents dumb rednecks who are pawns of Satan insurance companies? Can they do this without hurting their own credibility?

UPDATE: They’re not worried about the protests, but they’re looking for snitches.

ANOTHER UPDATE: From Eugene Volokh, a critical take on the “snitches” angle. Interesting discussion in the comments, too.

TUNKU VARADARAJAN: Why was Biden at the Beer Summit?

ANN ALTHOUSE: Gates’s daughter gets catty about Crowley’s daughter: “she was wearing an appropriately heavy and charmingly untrained amount of green eyeliner.” Class condescension trumps race condescension in Barack Obama’s America.

SO I GUESS THE BEER THING DIDN’T END IT: Black cop in Gates arrest sends letter to Obama about being called an “Uncle Tom”.

UPDATE: Joe Hicks: If this was a “teachable moment,” what did we learn?

MICHAEL BARONE: GatesGate Political Fallout.

UPDATE: Can Obama lead without active assistance of MSM?

ASSOCIATED PRESS: Analysis: White House beers a way to change topic.

UPDATE: Poll: Obama mishandled comments on race. “The president’s approval ratings fell, especially among working-class whites, as the focus of the Gates story shifted from details about the incident to Obama’s remarks, the poll said. Among whites in general, more disapprove than approve of his comments by a two-to-one margin.”

ANOTHER UPDATE: If only it had worked out this way. Instead, from the video, the get-together looked rather strained.

PEW POLL: Obama’s Ratings Slide Across the Board: The Economy, Health Care Reform and Gates Grease the Skids.

THE AUDACITY OF HOPS: “The president, we are told, will be drinking Bud Light, Crowley will have Blue Moon, and Gates will have Red Stripe — Red Light and Blue.”

HARVEY SILVERGLATE: Gates’ Arrest Was Unconstitutional: There’s a First Amendment right to be rude to a cop.

WELCOME TO POSTRACIAL AMERICA: Black female cop who voted for Obama says she won’t do it again. “I supported him, I voted for him. I will not again.” (Via Jules Crittenden, who has more thoughts).

TAXPROF: Henry Louis Gates’ tax problem.

STEPHEN GREEN: Hillary Dances Around North Korea and What Does GatesGate Teach Us About Obama?

SEE THE POWER OF THIS FULLY OPERATIONAL BLOGOSPHERE: Gates Revises Tax Return Based On Blog Post.

GATESGATE TAPES: Out, but inconclusive. Oh good: Nothing to shut down the blathering just yet . . . .

JENNIFER RUBIN: FIVE REASONS WHY GATES-GATE MATTERS.

MOE LANE: Release the Crowley/Gates tapes.

TUNKU VARADARAJAN: The Professor, the Cop, and the President. “This episode, for all its sordidness, confirms the greatness of America. Where else could a humble cop–a Lilliput of a sergeant–stand up so publicly to a president? And not just stand up but invite himself over for a beer with the president? What theater it has been, what entertainment. And yes, a teachable moment–for Professor Gates, and for President Barack Obama. Sgt. Crowley may believe that he had nothing to learn, but I’m certain he has grasped a small truth or two as well.”

UPDATE: Radley Balko: It’s not about race, but about police abuses of power. “The power to forcibly detain a citizen is an extraordinary one. It’s taken far too lightly, and is too often abused. And that abuse certainly occurs against black people, but not only against black people. American cops seem to have increasingly little tolerance for people who talk back, even merely to inquire about their rights. . . . If there’s a teachable moment to extract from Gates’ arrest, it’s that arrest powers should be limited to actual crimes. Instead, the emerging lesson seems to be that you should capitulate to police, all the time, right or wrong. That’s unfortunate, because there are plenty of instances where you shouldn’t. . . . Police officers deserve the same courtesy we afford anyone else we encounter in public life—basic respect and civility. If they’re investigating a crime, they deserve cooperation as required by law, and beyond that only to the extent to which the person with whom they’re speaking is comfortable. Verbally disrespecting a cop may well be rude, but in a free society we can’t allow it to become a crime, any more than we can criminalize criticism of the president, a senator, or the city council.”

More from Tom Maguire.

PROF. JACOBSON ON CROWLEY, GATES, AND OBAMA: We Need The Truth, Not Beer And Apologies. “The best evidence as to the truth will be the recordings of the 911 call which precipitated the police going to Prof. Gates’ house, Sgt. Crowley’s radio calls once on the scene, and the accounts of eyewitnesses, including neighbors, passers-by, and the two other policemen on the scene.”

TOM MAGUIRE: MOVE ON? “If the Cambridge Police Dept had besmirched my behavior and deportment by telling people I was ‘tumultuous’ and acting strangely, I would demand the release of the dispatcher tapes to blow away their lies.”

And Ann Althouse says, “Release the tapes!”

GLENN LOURY: Obama, Gates and the American Black Man. “The Gates arrest is a made-for-cable-TV tempest in a teapot. It is the rough equivalent of a black man being thrown out of a restaurant after having berated an indifferent maître d’ for showing him to a table by the kitchen door, all the while declaring what everybody is supposed to know: this is what happens to a black man in America. . . . It is depressing in the extreme that the president, when it came time for him to expend political capital on the issue of race and the police, did so on behalf of his ‘friend’ rather than stressing policy reforms that might keep the poorly educated, infrequently employed, troubled but still human young black men in America out of prison.”

MARK STEYN: He Said / VIP Said. “Professor Gates is now saying that, if Sergeant Crowley publicly apologizes for his racism, the prof will graciously agree to ‘educate him about the history of racism in America.’ Which is a helluva deal. I mean, Ivy League parents re-mortgage their homes to pay Gates for the privilege of lecturing their kids, and here he is offering to hector it away to some no-name lunkhead for free.”

I’d rather listen to David Hasselhoff sing Hooked On A Feeling. Or even Hoogie-Boogie Land.

CHICAGO’S MAYOR DALEY WEIGHS IN ON GATES CONTROVERSY: “President Obama should have gathered the facts first before commenting on Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr.’s encounter with Cambridge, Mass. police, Mayor Daley said Saturday, wading into the controversy.”

PATTERICO: The Officer Didn’t Stereotype Henry Louis Gates — Henry Louis Gates Stereotyped the Officer.

ROGER SIMON: Gates, and Obama’s nostalgia for racism. “The problem is that this nostalgia not only blames people unfairly, it also increases the very thing it pretends to oppose – racism itself. The unfair or inaccurate imputation of racism promotes racism.” Of course, that increases the power of people who trade on charges of racism . . . .

“I COULD HAVE CALIBRATED THOSE WORDS DIFFERENTLY.” AN OBAMA SORT-OF APOLOGY to Sergeant Crowley.

UPDATE: Black officer at Gates home during arrest said scholar acted strange, supports arrest.

ANN ALTHOUSE: “What’s missing from this NYT article about Henry Louis Gates?”

GOOD GRIEF: Plus, Prez Blames Media for Cops Remark Dustup. Hey, it couldn’t be his fault.

And Tom Maguire is cutting no slack: “With two wars and a faltering health care reform effort, maybe President Stupidly should not be bloviating about local police matters, especially when he does not have the facts.”

HMM: Crowley’s Union Predicts Obama Will Regret Remarks. Still waiting for that post-racial society we were promised during the campaign. . . .

Plus this: “And now we know the name of the woman who called the police. I suppose her life will be ruined now, as she’ll be portrayed as a racist. Lesson learned: If you think you’re witnessing a crime, mind your own business. Somewhere, the new Kitty Genovese walks into the alleyway.”

UPDATE: L.A. Times: Was Barack Obama stupid to call Cambridge police stupid?

Plus, Alan Bock: Did the Cambridge Police Act Stupidly? My take: Bad arrest, but not motivated by racism. The issue was likely “mouthing off” — not a crime, but a frequent cause of disorderly-conduct arrests without regard to race. It was just that Gates had the resources to make it a big national story.

Perhaps, as we view this confrontation between an Harvard Prof who’s a friend of the President and a Cambridge cop, we can also have a national conversation about class?

ANOTHER UPDATE: A WSJ Editorial.

MORE: Reader Kevin Maguire writes:

Have you seen the police report on The Smoking Gun? In it, three things jumped out at me that I haven’t seen reported in any of the coverage I’ve read on the incident:

First, according to Crowley’s writeup, before providing his ID Gates made a call in which he asked someone to “get the chief”. How many people can make a phone call in the sincere expectation that they’ll be able to immediately reach the chief of police, whether Cambridge PD or Harvard’s campus police?

Second, Crowley felt it appropriate to request the presence of the Harvard CPs to help him handle the situation. Would he have done that if Gates had been a Harvard student? When I was at MIT in the late 80s and early 90s, when the Boston police visited us, they certainly didn’t summon the MIT CPs (although we would, if there was a real problem, because the MIT CPs were very much on our side).

Third, Harvard sent someone from the University maintenance department over to secure Gates’ house and/or fix the broken lock on his front
door. How many people have an employer who’ll send maintenance staff over to fix up or watch over their house?

Not me.

And reader Joe Scuderi writes: “If Obama wants to speak out for a Black man who is getting a raw deal, how about this one?” Apparently that’s left to me and Radley Balko.

MORE STILL: On that “national conversation,” a reader emails: “I think you mean ‘class’ in both senses of the word.”

Plus, taking guidance from Eddie Murphy?

And some thoughts from Victor Davis Hanson. “The Gates incident seems to have had little to do with race but a lot to do with the natural human misunderstandings that happen every day in police scenes — and its final twist has everything to do with insider privilege and aristocratic disdain.”

Also: “Mr. Gates lives in a city with a black mayor, a state with a black governor and a country with a black President.” And Obama gets criticism from the Fraternal Order of Police.

MICKEY KAUS: Maybe Henry Louis Gates Has Stereotypes, too.

And apparently, even being one of the diversity police doesn’t get you a pass on those . . . .

DAN RIEHL accuses Obama of premature opining on the Gates case. “As the occupant of the WH, Obama has a responsibility to speak for all Americans. He appears to be showing a pattern of not doing that, but seeing everything through a lens of racial politics, first. It is as unfortunate as it is dumb.”

UPDATE: Politico: At Big Moment, Obama Goes Small.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Andy Borowitz: Obama to Replace Anesthesia with Press Conferences.

Plus, Tim Noah on the resurrection of Neo.

PJTV UNDERCOVER: Steven Crowder investigates the Canadian healthcare system.

MEDICAL NEWS YOU CAN USE: Swearing Mitigates Pain.

STIMULUS! Victor Davis Hanson on The War Against The Producers. “Ponder a simple fact: The Obama administration is dispersing income lavishly to those who do not pay taxes and it will have to be paid for by those who do. For all the talk of that awful percentile who make over $200,000, this administration has not distinguished the hyper-rich 1% that make untold money (e.g., the Buffets, Soroses, Turners, Gateses, Kerrys, Gores, etc), from the much more demonized, larger 5% of the population whose income does not come from investments and insider influence and deal-making, but rather from providing more tangible goods and services–the family doctor, the plumbing contractor, the small lumber company owner, the car dealer, the local family-held insurance company, the airline pilot, the car-leasing firm, the patent attorney, etc.”

I’VE ENJOYED STEVEN PRESSFIELD’S BOOKS like Killing Rommel, and Gates of Fire. But now I discover he’s got a blog.

WELL, GOOD: Gates: US puts more missile defense around Hawaii. “Gates told reporters at the Pentagon he has sent the military’s ground-based mobile missile system to Hawaii, and positioned a radar system nearby. Together the systems theoretically could detect and shoot down a North Korean missile if it came to that.”

HOPE AND CHANGE: Obama fires Americorps Inspector General who investigated friend:

President Barack Obama says he has lost confidence in the inspector general who investigates AmeriCorps and other national service programs and has told Congress he is removing him from the position.

Obama’s move follows an investigation by IG Gerald Walpin of Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, who is an Obama supporter and former NBA basketball star, into the misuse of federal grants by a nonprofit education group that Johnson headed. . . . The IG found that Johnson, a former all-star point guard for the Phoenix Suns, had used AmeriCorps grants to pay volunteers to engage in school-board political activities, run personal errands for Johnson and even wash his car.

Sounds kinda fishy to me. (Via Gateway Pundit).

UPDATE: More from Byron York:

I’ve been trying to discover the real reason for Obama’s move, and it’s still not clear. I’m told that it could be a combination of the normal tensions that surround any inspector general’s office, or the president’s desire to get his own people in IG positions, or a dispute over a particular investigation. “Bottom line,” one source wrote, “getting rid of a tough, Republican-appointed IG who has been aggressively going after waste and fraud gives Obama a chance to replace that IG with a more compliant team player.”

I’m also told that a number of inspectors general around the government have been expressing concerns to Congress recently about threats to their independence. . . . Bottom line: The AmeriCorps IG accuses prominent Obama supporter of misusing AmeriCorps grant money. Prominent Obama supporter has to pay back more than $400,000 of that grant money. Obama fires AmeriCorps IG.

Under a Republican President, this would be a huge scandal.

FROM GATES TO GALT: Microsoft will move jobs overseas if Obama tax plan passes. “We’re better off taking lots of people and moving them out of the U.S. as opposed to keeping them inside the U.S.”

MICHAEL YON meets Defense Secretary Robert Gates in Singapore. “Secretary Gates has made it clear that we have no intention of rewarding bad behavior, as we have done in the past with North Korea. Many readers seem to hold a special disdain for President Obama, and I actively campaigned for McCain, but I get the feeling that Obama is tougher and proving wiser than many people seem to think. I do not detect that we are slinking away from North Korea. “

TEA PARTY POLITICS: A battle from the right is brewing for Bennett: Tax protesters target him for backing $350B bailout for banks.

In his third term in the Senate, Bob Bennett finds himself in unfamiliar and unfriendly waters, roiled by public frustration with Washington and with at least two sharks circling, believing the Republican senator might be vulnerable.

Attorney General Mark Shurtleff is expected to announce his Senate bid today and Tim Bridgewater abandoned his bid for state party chairman last week, saying he heard all over the state that delegates wanted a more conservative choice for senator.

Bennett was a prime target of tax protesters at “Tea Party” rallies last month, who booed the junior senator for supporting a bank bailout last year; conservative state legislators are breaking with Bennett and lining up with his challengers; and Shurtleff’s internal polling shows Bennett might have cause for concern.

Read the whole thing. Related item here.

MICHAEL YON: Gates, Petraeus, McKiernan, McChrystal and Rodriguez.

A VILLAGE CAN’T RAISE A CHILD WITH NUCLEAR ARMS, OR SOMETHING: Obama Breaks With Gates, Cancels Nuke Program. “Obama’s new budget plan includes a little-noted sea change in U.S. nuclear policy, and a step towards his vision of a denuclearized world. It provides no funding for the Reliable Replacement Warhead program, created to design a new generation of long-lasting nuclear weapons that don’t need to be tested. (The military is worried that a nuclear test moratorium in effect since 1992 might endanger the reliability of an aging US arsenal.) But this spring Obama issued a bold call for a world free of nuclear weapons, and part of that vision entails leading by example. . . . Obama’s budget kills the National Nuclear Security Administration program once and for all.”

So, a question: If Obama were trying to wreck America as a superpower, what would he be doing differently?

HMM: US replaces top general in Afghanistan. And not very nicely: “Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he asked for the resignation of Gen. David McKiernan. Gates said new leadership is needed as the Obama administration launches its strategy in the seven-year-old campaign.”

UPDATE: That’s interesting: A 3:22 pm edit took out the line about resignation above. Perhaps that means it was in error. Stay tuned.

On the other hand, this UPI report says he was asked to resign.

RAISING BILL GATES: A “headstrong” child, he required correction that a few would probably call abuse today. And he benefited from growing up with a strong father. So what’s happening to this generation’s Bill Gates?

POPULAR MECHANICS: 7 Military Tech Winners and Losers Under Gates’s Proposed Defense Budget.

POLITICIZING THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT: Jennifer Rubin investigates. “Under the Bush administration, Sens. Patrick Leahy and Chuck Schumer would be certain to drag the attorney general in front of the cameras and start hammering away at the first hint that he had given insufficient attention to career attorneys’ legal research or neglected legal restrictions on the government’s policy objectives. But now they have zero interest in quizzing the Democratic administration’s top lawyer. Some public pressure might be brought to bear on them, but they are unlikely to be swayed by pleas for them to fulfill their Constitutional obligations. So where are the Republicans?. . . . For now, we are left to ponder whether Holder is serving up just what the administration wants to hear (as was alleged in his role in controversial Clinton-era pardons) or whether he really is the man of integrity his supporters claimed him to be. Right now the available evidence suggests he is a compliant figure uninterested in providing objective legal advice and constitutional discipline for an administration badly in need of both.”

MURTHA UPDATE: Rep. Murtha Wants $134M In Earmarks: Pennsylvania Democrat Asks for $20 Million for Clients of Firm Under Investigation.

THE COUNTRY’S IN THE VERY BEST OF HANDS: U.S. Not Prepared to Respond to North Korea Missile Launch.

MORE ORLANDO TEA PARTY PICS HERE: Also, Rachel Pereira has posted over 100 pictures. Note the appearance of John Galt:

Here’s a news report from the event. And reader Freddy Clayton sends this report from Orlando: “I am an enthusiastic reader who has checked in with Instapundit nearly daily for almost six years. I thoroughly enjoy your perceptive comments and your quirky and often witty selection of stories and links, and I have cited you to my two sons often. One of them, Walker, is home for Spring Break from Stanford, where he is a junior. He is a libertarian, and he often finds himself philosophically isolated and lonely in Palo Alto. He and I attended the Orlando Tea Party this afternoon, and I have attached a photo of Walker there. While I am an inveterate issues nerd, always eager to read about and discuss political/economic/social issues, I have not been very active politically, so today was a rare treat for Walker and me. The crowd at the rally was friendly, enthusiastic, and good-natured, and we heard few comments directed towards the President or Congress that were nasty or personally derogatory.” Here’s a picture. And there are plenty of libertarians in Palo Alto, Walker, though you may have to get off campus to meet most of them . . . .

Here’s another Orlando gallery from Gabe Chapman. As you can see the crowd was very large.

And reader Brian Gates reports from the scene: “Nice crowd. Lots of Reagan fans wearing this or this. There were also quite a few references to John Galt. I’ve been thinking of sending my representative copies of Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead. Sure, it’s 1800 pages, but the geniuses in Congress can read a thousand pages overnight….”

Plus, reader Laurie Lane has pics from the Ridgefield, CT protest and reports: “Here are some pix I took of this awesome event of approximately 300 enthusiastic, good humored and very concerned citizens. More pix (taken with my Nikon D300) are in my gallery, link below.” Follow the link to see ‘em. I note another appearance by The Debt Star! It’s everywhere! Reader Patrick Courtney also reports from Ridgefield: “I attended this event today. Beautiful weather, good sized crowd (100 expected, 200-300 in attendance).” Here’s a news report from Ridgefield.

Meanwhile, reader Peter Matthews reports from Lexington, Kentucky: “Here are some pics from the Lexington, KY Tea Party held today from noon to 2pm at the Fayette County Courthouse. At least a thousand in attendance – maybe more.” He sends this picture, among others. And there’s lots more Lexington coverage here — just keep scrolling.

And here’s another from the Raleigh protest, mentioned earlier, from reader David Moore:

What’s most striking about all of these, of course, is that these are people who don’t usually go in for protests.

Well, that and the fact that — unlike the AIG media event — the press doesn’t outnumber the protesters. Heck, it barely shows up at all.

UPDATE: Much more from Michelle Malkin. Her comment: “Maybe if the Tea Party protesters burned the American flag instead of waving it proudly, the AP would send out reporters…” And, of course, all of this is just a warmup for April 15.

ANOTHER UPDATE: More from Ridgefield, via reader Andrew Bunger: “About 200 – 300 people showed up in the historic (and very Democratic) town of Ridgefield, CT. Very polite, well organized, and very much against Dodd. I would guess it is the first protest for about 95% of us (myself included). It takes a lot to get a bunch of conservatives to stand on Main Street and shout slogans at passing cars. We have a way to go before we catch up to the professional protests of the Dems but this was the most encouraging event I have witnessed in the last year. Dodd is sinking fast in CT.”

I like the “Dump Dodd” and “Dodd Man Walking” signs.

MORE: Another Orlando pic, courtesy of reader Jay Stannard:

Plus, WRAL on the Raleigh Tea Party. Lots more Raleigh pictures here: Just keep scrolling.

STILL MORE: Reader Dan Steele writes: “Long time reader, first time commenter. Two things I think worth noting about the photos from the tea parties on Saturday: All of the signs (some made me lol) looked to be homemade by the people who were carrying them, in contrast to the pre-printed signs common at the ANSWER organized hatefests. Also, I couldn’t identify a single uniformed police office in any of the photos. Apparently, fiscal conservatives are better able to exercise their First Amendment rights without shedding their clothes, breaking stuff or lighting things on fire. Let’s HOPE that doesn’t CHANGE.”

MORE STILL: Okay, one more Orlando pic, courtesy of reader David Reid.

CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER:

That’s $165 million in bonus money handed out to AIG debt manipulators who may be the only ones who know how to defuse the bomb they themselves built. Now, in the scheme of things, $165 million is a rounding error. It amounts to less than 1/18,500 of the $3.1 trillion federal budget. It’s less than one-tenth of 1 percent of the bailout money given to AIG alone. If Bill Gates were to pay these AIG bonuses every year for the next 100 years, he’d still be left with more than half his personal fortune.

For this we are going to poison the well for any further financial rescues, face the prospect of letting AIG go under (which would make the Lehman Brothers collapse look trivial) and risk a run on the entire world financial system? . . . If you thought the AIG hysteria was a display of populist cynicism directed at a relative triviality, consider this: There are more than 6.5 million trucks in the United States. The program Congress terminated allowed 97 Mexican trucks to roam among them. Ninety-seven! Shutting them out not only undermines NAFTA. It caused Mexico to retaliate with tariffs on 90 goods affecting $2.4 billion in U.S. trade coming out of 40 states.

Of course we are. Because to our governing class, polls are more real than reality. And consequences, like taxes, are for the little people.

JERRY POURNELLE: “If the Gates Foundation decided to take mankind to space they could permanently end problems caused by shortages of energy and mineral resources. Wealth is generally the answer to many problems, including over-population.”

ANOTHER BUSTED APPOINTMENT: Sanjay Gupta withdraws name for Sugeon General.

But wait, there’s more: Geithner’s choice for deputy secretary withdraws.

UPDATE: Ouch: “That makes … how many appointments to fail in the Greatest Transition Evah?” I’ve lost count. This morning, I forgot Zinni. It’s gotten so you can’t remember all the transition screw-ups without a cheatsheet.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Reader Thomas Prewitt writes: “I am struggling to identify any area in which Obama has demonstrated competence since he became president. Seriously can you name one? Hell, he can’t even speak without using a teleprompter.” Hmm. Ending the medical marijuana raids was a good idea, but that’s not really about competence. Anybody got a suggestion?

MORE: Reader Fred Butzen writes:

Normally, I’d rather damn Obama than praise him. But since you ask, I think he’s shown a degree of competence in managing the war in Iraq. Retaining Gates, and maintaining continuity with the Bush administration policies that were working. He had to make a show of setting a deadline, I guess to keep his supporters happy, but he eased under the bus the “mad dash for the exits” strategy that he had trumpeted during the campaign.

Obama could have shown just a smidgen of grace and made a nod in the direction of his predecessor, who, despite the unwavering opposition of people like Senator Barack Obama, managed to pull victory from the jaws of defeat; but Barry doesn’t do magnanimity.

Nope, that’s the “graciousness deficit.” Born of insecurity, I’d say. But, yeah, he’s been better than I expected on Iraq.

A TEA PARTY IN GREENVILLE, SOUTH CAROLINA: “Mike Miller brought his young daughter downtown Friday night to the “Greenville Tea Party” rally at the RiverPlace complex, as the Upstate Young Republicans and others protested the government spending in President Barack Obama’s stimulus plan. They weren’t alone. A crowd estimated at 800 to 2,000 people took part in a loud hourlong rally, one of an estimated 60 around the country.”

Plus, a roundup from around the country.

Despite terrible weather in many cases, citizens braved the wind, cold, and rain to exercise their Constitutional right to protest the current direction of the country under Barack Obama and the Democrats.
In St. Louis, over 1500 attended the Tea Party at the famous arch.

In Chicago, between 800 and 1000 braved the bad weather to gather to protest the massive spending of taxpayers’ money by the federal government.

Atlanta was the site of another well-attended Tea Party.

Many smaller towns and cities participated in the semi-simultaneous events around the country, such as Shelby, Alabama, Asheville, North Carolina, and Greenville, South Carolina.

Stay tuned.

UPDATE: Reader Kaye Evans writes:

You have posted pictures of the Nashville Tea Party gathering at the Legislative Plaza on February 26, and there was much to be learned from the folks who came out on that rainy day.

I was there and spent more time studying the assembled crowd than listening to the speakers. I was struck by how the crowd grew throughout the lunch hour. Many I spoke with had traveled to be a part of the protest.

It was glaringly obvious that these folks were not the $250+K fat cats whom Obama castigates. These people represented the middle class who, ostensibly, will be “helped” by the stimulus spending bills. They clearly were not convinced; they were angered by the class warfare components of his economic policies and the awareness that the burden of his ruinous spending will eventually become theirs to bear.

On a related note, may I suggest an appropriate coda for the New American Tea Party?

In 1835 Alexis de Tocqueville cautioned, “The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public’s money.”

I think we’ll see more people upset about this as time passes.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Here are a couple of pictures from the Sarasota Tea Party. More on that here.

And here’s TV coverage from Neil Cavuto.

And reader Miles Wilson says don’t give Rick Santelli too much credit: “Just wanted to remind you that the Rick Santelli ‘rant’ was not the genesis of this movement – in fact, at least four events (Seattle, Denver, Mesa, Overland Park) occurred before the coining of the term ‘tea party’. So credit where credit is due – to the grassroots organizers far from the madding media crowd.”

(Had it as “Mike” Wilson earlier; sorry for the error.}

JOE WURZELBACHER TALKS TO DEMINT, COBURN, BROWN ABOUT THE STIMULUS. Video, 5 minutes; free w/no registration. “Do you think it would be smart for the government to start cutting things instead of spending more?”

UPDATE: Blue Dogs Push Back Against Stimulus.

OH, GOODY: Treasury in plans for record debt sale. “The US Treasury on Wednesday opened the floodgates of government bond issuance, revealing plans for a record debt sale in February and more frequent auctions in the months to come. The announcement came amid growing fears about US government deficits and sent the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rising to 2.95 per cent, up from just over 2 per cent at the end of December. The rise in Treasury yields has been pushing mortgage rates higher, complicating efforts to revive the economy.” So the “stimulus” is now a drag on the housing market. . . .

VIDEO: Joe “the Plumber” Wurzelbacher on Capitol Hill.

WE’D ALL LOVE TO SEE THE PLAN: Gates faces Congress eager for Obama’s war plans.

SOME READERS THINK I’VE BEEN TOO EASY ON GEITHNER: Ila Peralta writes:

I beg to differ with you regarding the importance of Geithner’s tax “lapse”. Why would anyone neglect to pay taxes? Forgot? Not a good sign. Procrastination? Not good. Didn’t know about it? Maybe o.k. for a plumber, but… Above it all? Won’t get caught? Didn’t have the money? (I’m self-employed, too, and I make sure I have the money). Doesn’t believe in taxes? Can you think of one good reason for not paying taxes that portends well for a Secretary of the Treasury? I’d feel better.

And reader Jeff Carlson emails:

I’m sorry but if you do your own taxes and don’t use one of simple, cheap and easy programs available then you are too ignorant to be the Treasury Secretary. And if you did use one it would have prompted you to calculate those SS and Medicare contributions. Only by ignoring them could you have “forgotten” to pay them … for 4 years in a row. Doesn’t pass the smell test. These are not complicated calculations like actual income tax, they are straight percentages.

Yeah, he could have saved himself a world of embarrassment for a mere $42.99. And Jim Treacher is right to note the discrepancy between the press’s ho-hum treatment of Geithner’s unpaid tax problems and its very different treatment of Joe The Plumber’s. But, see, Geithner’s not showing the press up.

Now that said, if we had a Treasury Secretary under Obama who “doesn’t believe in taxes,” well, I could live with that — as long as the hostility extended to taxes paid by other people, too . . . . Meanwhile, here’s a roundup of reactions.

UPDATE: Reader Brian Gates emails: “I’m not questioning Geithner’s taxes . . . but isn’t Joe Biden concerned about Geithner’s patriotism?”

And Donald Hertzmark writes: “I know a lot of yanks working at the Bank/Fund. The personnel department makes a VERY BIG DEAL about making sure that you understand to pay your FICA. This does not wash. Just another chiseler, like Rangel.”

Speaking of Rangel, reader Bob Beales emails: “Maybe we should be nominating Tim Geithner and Charlie Rangel to head up the Internal Revenue Service. They may have a little more compassion for us ‘little guys.’” You’d think so, but it seldom seems to work out that way . . . .

ANOTHER UPDATE: Reader Chris Carolan writes:

Yes – “they” are all crooks – but only one crook gets his name on the dollar bill – and in these days of handing out $trillion$ of dollars, the U.S. govt is going to need to borrow those and many more $trillions from foreigners. And that ability to borrow is directly linked to the govt’s ability to get money from the people via the tax code. Anything that encourages people to think that there are two sets of rules, one for us and one for them, erodes the government’s ability to gain tax compliance from the populace. The fact is, this issue and this office are both at the nexus of the ability to fund the future of this country through the tax and borrowing mechanism. For that simple reason, should Mr. Geithner take office, he will do grave harm to our nation.

It does look rather bad that way, and certainly some people will see it as a reason to be less scrupulous regarding their own taxes.

RICH PEOPLE VS. POLITICIANS:

Warren Buffett and Bill Gates, with about $60 billion in assets each, are America’s richest men. With all that money, what can they force us to do? Can they take our house to make room so that another person can build an auto dealership or a casino parking lot? Can they force us to pay money into the government-run retirement Ponzi scheme called Social Security? Can Buffett and Gates force us to bus our children to schools out of our neighborhood in the name of diversity? Unless they are granted power by politicians, rich people have little power to force us to do anything.

A GS-9, or a lowly municipal clerk, has far more life-and-death power over us. It’s they to whom we must turn to for permission to build a house, ply a trade, open a restaurant and myriad other activities. It’s government people, not rich people, who have the power to coerce and make our lives miserable. Coercive power goes a long way toward explaining political corruption.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s hawking of Barack Obama’s vacated U.S. Senate seat; Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charlie Rangel’s alleged tax-writing favors; former Rep. William Jefferson’s business bribes; and the Jack Abramoff scandal are mere pimples on the government corruption landscape. We can think of these and similar acts as jailable illegal corruption. They pale in comparison to what’s for all practical purposes the same thing, but simply legal corruption.

Read the whole thing.

THE ALBANY TIMES-UNION ON MONEY IN POLITICS:

There’s Rep. Charles Rangel, a New York Democrat who, despite heading the Ways and Means Committee that writes tax law, can’t seem to pay his own taxes. Nor does he see an ethical problem with using his congressional stationery to solicit contributions for a school that City College of New York was building in his honor, a matter that last year became grist for the House ethics committee.

Among those Mr. Rangel hit up for money were officials of insurance giant American International Group. Shortly after their April 2008 meeting, a senior AIG executive who had attended it asked Mr. Rangel to support legislation that would save the company millions. That doesn’t square with Mr. Rangel’s public assertion last summer that he couldn’t recall any issues concerning AIG that came before his committee, or that AIG raised any legislation with him.

Then there’s the matter of New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, President-elect Barack Obama’s nominee for commerce secretary. Mr. Richardson withdrew his name from consideration amid a grand jury investigation into $100,000 in donations to his political action companies from a company, CDR Financial Products. In 2004, around the time of the donations, the company won a state contract worth almost $1.5 million.

And finally there’s Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Mr. Obama’s choice for secretary of state. As part of his wife’s vetting process, former President Bill Clinton agreed to lift the veil of secrecy surrounding the donors to his foundation. Among them was Syracuse (and Crossgates)mall developer Robert Congel, who gave $100,000 in 2004, around the same time that Mrs. Clinton was helping to secure millions of dollars in federal support for Mr. Congel’s Destiny USA project. The help for the project, supported by many New York politicians, included tax-exempt bonds for the complex, and $5 million in a highway bill for road construction.

Yeah, it could almost make you kind of cynical. And they don’t even mention Chris Dodd!

IS BILL FRIST HEADED FOR a job at the Gates Foundation?

DEFEAT MALARIA? Yes we can.

Last week, two studies published in the New England Journal of Medicine reported promising news about a malaria vaccine candidate that our company, GlaxoSmithKline, is developing in collaboration with the Malaria Vaccine Initiative, a program of the nonprofit organization PATH, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and scientists from across Europe, North America and Africa.

The studies focused on the most vulnerable populations in Kenya and Tanzania. One study reported that the vaccine candidate was 53% effective in preventing episodes of clinical malaria in children five to 17 months old. The second study demonstrated that the vaccine candidate can be administered alongside the standard set of vaccines used in national immunization programs for young infants.

I mentioned this in passing earlier, but this is potentially huge. Most westerners have no idea what a burden malaria is on large parts of the world, but just imagine how economically productive you would be if you had the flu most of the time and you’ll get some sense. I hope it pans out.

JULES CRITTENDEN ON BUSH’S VICTORY LAP: “Mission Accomplished? Well, since you ask, yes. Just like last time, when the mission of knocking out Saddam was accomplished. Don’t believe me, just ask Obama. Or his guy Gates.”

GOOD NEWS: Malaria Vaccine Effective in Latest Trials. If this pans out, it will be a huge boon to humanity. Thank GlaxoSmithKline, and the Gates Foundation, if so.

MICKEY KAUS: You have to wonder, can the good Bill Gates is doing with his Foundation ever match the suffering caused by Vista?

NOW THEY TELL US: Obama’s “Not Black,” according to a piece in the Washington Post. Hmm. Gates reappointed at Defense, an Iraq-Hawk Secretary of State, keeping the tax cuts, and now the next President turns out not to be black — hey, they told me if I voted for McCain we’d get a third term for Bush, and I guess they were right!

FRED KAPLAN: “Keeping Robert Gates as secretary of defense is a great idea.”

IT’S OKAY WITH ME, BUT NOT THAT CHANGEY: Obama Picks Graybeards As Wartime Cabinet. “Obama has assembled a national security brain trust populated by graybeard establishment figures with decades of combined experience and even a few medals. He is entrusting critical wartime management to people with unassailable credentials and low buzz factor.”

AT THE MUDVILLE GAZETTE, a look at the U.S./Iraq Status of Forces Agreement, and some thoughts on the Gates retention.

SUCKERS!

Barack Obama’s signature issue in the primaries was his “good judgment” to oppose the Iraq war. He invoked this more than any other qualification in his early battles with Hillary Clinton. She may have experience, he’d charge, but she lacked the wisdom to oppose the war. Indeed, the whole Democratic establishment was somehow corrupt or out of touch for not opposing the war, according to the Obamaphiles. So now Barack Obama is going to appoint Hillary Clinton to be the chief architect of his foreign policy. Moreover, he picked Joe Biden to be his running mate and “partner” in the White House explicitly because of his foreign policy experience and judgment. But wait: Joe Biden, too, supported the war. Meanwhile, at Defense, it looks like he will keep George W. Bush’s man, Robert Gates. Admittedly, Gates has always been more nuanced about the war than, say, Don Rumsfeld. But surely keeping Bush’s SecDef is not exactly what the anti-war Dems had in mind as “change we can believe in.” Heck, Joe Lieberman’s sitting pretty and he endorsed McCain. It will be interesting to see how long Obama’s charisma can paper over reality.

Heh. Plus, Tom Maguire on the National Security Advisor choice. More on that here.

UPDATE: Reader C.J. Burch emails: “The right bloggers should study all this. Should they form their own Kos contingent they can pretty much count on the same sort of treatment from a future Republican President.” I think that’s probably right and it’s one reason — one of several — why I think the Kos path isn’t the way to go.

ANOTHER UPDATE: So how’s this prediction looking now?

MORE: Bill Quick comments: “On the other hand, without a conservative version of the Kossacks, there may never be another Republican President.”

THE COUNTRYWIDE SCANDAL: It’s not just Chris Dodd! Postal Service investigates boss’s VIP mortgage.

The Postal Service is investigating whether the nation’s postmaster general improperly received a sweetheart deal on a mortgage from Countrywide Financial Corp., the chairman of the service’s governing board said.

Postmaster General John E. Potter is one of several prominent current and former U.S. officials who received discounts and other benefits from the mortgage giant. The Postal Service has hired an outside investigator to review the deal, which reportedly included one shaved point and waived fees for Potter’s $322,700 loan. . . .

Sens. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., and Kent Conrad, D-N.D., have acknowledged receiving mortgages through the VIP program but have said they were unaware of any favorable treatment. Dodd was instrumental in crafting a $700 billion bailout for the financial industry.

Stay tuned — there are more “friends of Angelo” out there, I suspect.

A NUCLEAR ARSENAL IN DECLINE? “Defense Secretary Robert Gates wants the next president to think about what nuclear middle-age and decline means for national security. Gates joins a growing debate about the reliability and future credibility of the American arsenal.”

UPDATE: What Obama thinks.

CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: “Contrarian that I am, I’m voting for John McCain. I’m not talking about bucking the polls or the media consensus that it’s over before it’s over. I’m talking about bucking the rush of wet-fingered conservatives leaping to Barack Obama before they’re left out in the cold without a single state dinner for the next four years. . . . Today’s economic crisis, like every other in our history, will in time pass. But the barbarians will still be at the gates.”

UPDATE: A Fred Thompson election message: Thompson sounds a similar theme.

AP: FBI investigates ACORN for voter fraud.

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON on squishy Republicans abandoning McCain: ” A great many moderates and conservatives are worn out and tired of Bush and Bush hatred, the European furor, serial charges of racism and illiberalism, and finally, in their weariness, think that Obama will, in a variety of ways, just make all the ickiness go away. . . . Obama, as I have said ad nauseam, has brilliantly prepped the battlefield to such a degree that a Farrakhan endorsement or surrogates calling Palin a quasi-Nazi or a bimbo, or smearing McCain as near senile is irrelevant; yet one screamer in a crowd of tens of thousands is proof of McCain’s and Palin’s racism and hatred.” The folks Hanson is talking about seem mostly to be in the Republican commentariat. It’s been hard for them these past years, and they’re tired. But, of course, their capitulation only inflames the grassroots anger they affect to be upset by.

CBS: More Bogus Obama Donors Surface. “CBS News has learned that two donors to the Obama campaign that gave a total of $7,722 appear to have made their contributions under fake names that look like they were written by a mouse running across a keyboard: Dahsudhu Hdusahfd of Df, Hawaii with the following employer CZXVC/ZXVZXV and Uadhshgu Hduadh listed as living in Dhff, Florida listed their employer as DASADA/SAFASF.”

Since it’s CBS, though, should I ask for a second opinion?

BILL WHITTLE: “When all is said and done, Civilizations do not fall because of the barbarians at the gates. Nor does a great city fall from the death wish of bored and morally bankrupt stewards presumably sworn to its defense. Civilizations fall only because each citizen of the city comes to accept that nothing can be done to rally and rebuild broken walls; that ground lost may never be recovered; and that greatness lived in our grandparents but not our grandchildren. Yes, our betters tell us these things daily. But that doesn’t mean we have to believe it.”

HMM. HERE’S INTRADE’S CONTRACT on whether Joe Biden will withdraw from the Democratic VP slot. Don’t see it happening myself, but obviously some people do.

UPDATE: Reader James Beam writes:

Get ready for Obama to pull a Torrecelii/Lautenberg switcheroo. There are waaay too many rumors, trial balloons, and headfakes going around for this to not have substance behind it.

Have your responses prepared. Whatever “narrative” they concoct for the switch, it’s obvious that they’re doing it only because The Anointed One is behind in the polls. It destroys Obama’s claim of judgment being his prime qualification, trust of the voters and convention delegates, and his claim to experience in running a successful campaign.

I still doubt it. But hey, “Jim Beam” has never steered me wrong before. And I’ll be he’s sick of that line . . . . .

THIN GRUEL: I got an email yesterday with this heading: CBSNEWS.COM EXCLUSIVE: CBS NEWS INVESTIGATIVE UNIT OBTAINS AN EXCLUSIVE EMAIL PALIN WROTE JUSTIFYING THE INCREASE IN TAXES TO FUND THE SPORTS COMPLEX.

Oh, the scandal! Good work, CBS Investigative Unit! Only here’s the story, and it’s about . . . a mayor funding a sports complex. I’m against cities funding sports complexes — though this one is actually for people to use, rather than for overpaid professional athletes to make money in, so maybe not — but if this is what the crack CBS Investigative Unit has “obtained,” then, well, they don’t have anything: A document so innocuous that, even though it comes from CBS, I doubt it was faked . . . .

UPDATE: Meanwhile, the folks at the New York Times have forgotten about YouTube: “But the thing is I know that the crowd laughed — and Obama paused to encourage the crowd to laugh — after he said “You can put lipstick on a pig,” and before he said, “but it’s still a pig.” So it’s obvious to me that the NYT is not playing it straight. Does it make a whole lot of difference? Obama’s position is still defensible, but I hate to see the NYT helping him defend himself. Play it straight. Tell the truth. We have the video. We don’t have to trust you anymore.”

And they’re not exactly bending over backwards to earn that trust, either.

WELL, GOOD: “Iraq is poised to receive a flood of foreign investment, thanks to improved security. More than $74 billion in projects have been submitted for government approval in just the past five months, according to Iraq’s state investment regulator. The investors include companies from the U.S., Europe, and Gulf Arab states. Their proposals all involve sectors other than oil, including a $13 billion new port for the southern city of Basra, several hotels and thousands of housing units nationwide, says Ahmed Ridha, the chairman of Iraq’s National Investment Commission.”

But there’s also this: Pentagon chief cites caution on U.S. troop pullout. “Secretary of Defense Robert Gates told Congress Wednesday that the United States has entered the ‘end game’ in Iraq, but cautioned that the next president should expect to be in Iraq ‘for years to come.’” This is more troubling, though: “Mullen told the panel that while he is not convinced the coalition is winning in Afghanistan, ‘I am convinced we can.’”

The upside, I guess, is that he’s sounding like Michael Yon, meaning that the message has been received. The downside is that . . . the message is, we’re not winning now.

MARC AMBINDER: Obama Surrogates Urged to Mention Eagleton. If this is really their strategy, they may want to rethink. I’m just taking a guess here, but I’ll bet that if Eagleton had polled as the most popular national-ticket politician in 1972, McGovern would have kept him.

Of course, McGovern later said he should have kept him anyway. And Ann Althouse comments:

I remember the McGovern campaign. I was a big supporter of McGovern’s, and I hated Nixon, as did all of my friends. And the scenario then was completely different from what you are seeing now. We were never excited about Eagleton in the first place. We just wanted McGovern to win. Eagleton didn’t infuse new energy into the McGovern campaign or jazz up am important subset of voters. He was just some boring Senator that got slotted in. . . .

The Palin candidacy has virtually nothing in common with the Eagleton scenario, and the people who are saying it does are displaying their desperation. Obviously — I’m not the first to say this — if you want McCain to lose and you think she’s so terrible, you should be happy to see Palin as the VP nominee. It will help defeat McCain.

Yes.

So I wandered down to the floor — where it’s freezing cold — and it’s pretty busy with preparations in their final stages and a lot of delegates and press people milling around. (Okay, I could actually see that from the PJTV booth, but not up-close.) I’d heard some complaints about where the Tennessee delegation is seated, and it is a bit far from the stage.

It’s pretty far from the stage — about as far as you can get — but the view isn’t too bad. And right across the aisle is Hawaii, which has decorated its standard in a regionally appropriate way.

Those little touches are nice; I’d like to see more like that.

THOSE RADICAL, GAY-LOVING REPUBLICANS: “This morning’s New York Times has the fascinating results of a poll of the views of Republican National Convention delegates on a variety of issues. The poll reveals that 49% of the GOP delegates support either gay marriage (6%) or civil unions (43%). Only 46% of the delegates believe there should be no legal recognition whatsoever of same-sex couples.” Follow the link for Dale Carpenter’ take on how revolutionary this is. “I consider this poll of party activists quite surprising, and for a supporter of same-sex marriage, quite encouraging.”

Well, what can you expect from a bunch of “extreme libertarians?”

POLITICO: McCain: I may postpone convention.

Instead of doing that, how about having delegates on the floor putting together relief packages, and sending a group of volunteers down afterward, with Sarah Palin in charge?

UPDATE: Reader Brian Gates emails:

Make it a telethon. Show up on Tuesday and say, “The normal festive atmosphere certainly isn’t appropriate right now, but we wanted to take this opportunity to demonstrate how people can work together to solve problems without government. We think there’s too much money in politics anyway, so for convention week we’re not accepting donations. If you find yourself agreeing with the kinds of things we talk about on this stage, call in and make a donation to one of these fine, nonpartisan charitable organizations.”

Intersperse the political speeches with little how-tos on disaster preparedness. Have live feeds from civic groups throughout the South who are hosting people fleeing the storm, saying what they need. By the end of the week, the storm should be past, and McCain’s speech can be a celebration not of his candidacy, but of what people accomplished to help each other without a single dime being shuffled through Washington (and getting transmuted into a nickel en route).

If the Democrats are smart, they’ll take the same approach, and immediately distance themselves from Michael Moore’s comments.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Apparently, McCain’s way ahead on this: “John McCain and the GOP are considering scrapping political speeches and turning their St. Paul/Minneapolis convention into a ’service’ program to help victims of Storm Gustav, The Post has learned. . . . The contingency plan – a worst case scenario if the storm devastates coastal areas – would turn Republicans into Red Cross-type volunteers who would help collect donations, food and goods to help storm victims.”

A SHOUTING MATCH among Tennessee delegates in Denver. Michael Silence observes: “Geez. They’re sounding like Knox County Republicans.” Ouch.

THAT’S NOT VERY GRACIOUS: Clinton Advisers Skipping Obama Speech.

UPDATE: Hillary won’t instruct her delegates to vote for Obama.

THE GANG THAT CAN’T GOOGLE STRAIGHT: HuffPo “investigates” Ed Morrissey. Hilarity ensues.

THE MILITARIZATION OF FOREIGN POLICY:

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates warned yesterday against the risk of a “creeping militarization” of U.S. foreign policy, saying the State Department should lead U.S. engagement with other countries, with the military playing a supporting role.

The problem, of course, is that the State Department hasn’t been up to the job. Given its abject failure in Iraq, and its — to put it charitably — very limited success in the Middle East generally, it’s no surprise that State has lost influence, while Defense, which has been far more successful, has picked up some of the slack. But if the State Department is to wield its traditional influence, it needs to start doing a better job. Otherwise its decline in influence is inevitable. The same is true for other agencies — like the CIA — that have dropped the ball repeatedly in recent years.