Instapundit.com - February 24, 2008 - March 01, 2008 Archives

March 01, 2008

MICKEY KAUS: Running on Blade Runner.

MORE ON THE BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA KERFUFFLE, from TigerHawk:

Does anybody doubt that if a Republican politician's middle name were "Hitler," "Franco," "Mussolini," or even just "Benito" it would come up constantly on Bill Maher's program or "The Daily Show"? Of course it would. Well, what's the difference? Barack Obama is unfortunate insofar as his middle name evokes one of the most revolting, brutal, disgusting sub-human creatures to walk the earth in the late 20th century. Chalk it up to yet another imperfection -- however tiny and trivial -- in the Imperfect Vessel.

Well, nobody's perfect. Meanwhile, Don Surber invites readers to pick a new middle name for Obama. I don't think Milhous will make it, though it might appeal to Simpsons fans . . . .

UPDATE: John Wayne beats John Wilkes.

I'M WATCHING SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, and they're running an amusing parody of the Hillary/Obama debate, absurdly slanted toward Obama. I think this means the Obama wave has broken.

UPDATE: Followed up by the real Hillary. To applause! "Do I really laugh like that?" They must have been listening to Randy Neal. But doesn't everyone?

ANOTHER UPDATE: "You're using the word 'blog' entirely too much."

MORE: Now a cartoon -- The Obama Files -- that's also not especially Obama-friendly. I'm sensing a pattern here. I do like Al Sharpton in the dog-training collar, though. But Bill Clinton as a secret Obama agent?

RANDY NEAL thinks Hillary Clinton deserves more respect. And note the class-condescension from Obama supporters:

Finally, it's frustrating how the news media, liberal talk radio pundits, and Obama bloggers continuously refer to Clinton supporters as "uneducated" (or "hillbillies," "knuckledraggers," etc.).

Must be more of that outreach effort . . . .

CHUTZPAH AT DUKE: "After tarring and feathering and discriminating against the Duke lacrosse members at a critical juncture in their college careers and lives, the Duke Administration has gone to court trying to shut down the players' website, which contains the pleadings in their recently filed case against the university and a compendium of press coverage about the case."

This is consistent with Duke's demonstrated commitment to fairness, openness, and freedom of expression.

DISSECTING THE 60 MINUTES SCANDAL.

HEARTBREAK ON THE LEFT: Rumors of a FISA deal in the House.

THE PAJAMA GAME: Patterico and Tom Maguire comment on that Hillary ad.

THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE, and other nonfiction World War II books for kids.

RECESSION WATCH: No downturn in evidence at West Town Mall today. It was packed, and looked like Christmas. Not sure why -- there were a lot of spring sales, and the new Sephora had opened, but none of that should have accounted for the crowds. Go figure.

UPDATE: Reader Michael Smith emails:

Q. "Not sure why -- there were a lot of spring sales, and the new Sephora had opened, but none of that should have accounted for the crowds. Go figure."

A. Debit cards and the direct deposit of federal tax return refunds.

After the last of the 1099's and W-2's showed up, people finally got around to filing their tax returns and based on this chart, Friday was a direct deposit day (and the paper checks from the previous week had just arrived to be cashed.).

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p2043.pdf

I know, my deposit came in on 2/22 and I spent last Saturday paying off some credit card balances.. When a 'stimulus' check/deposit happens, I'll pay down some more...

So it's just a little dose of Keynesian stimulus. Certainly made it hard to find a parking place.

SHORENSTEIN DECRIES MEDIA BIAS in campaign coverage.

YOUNG STALIN: More support for this theory on murderous dictators as failed artists.

Art kills!

"COWBOY DIPLOMACY" on NAFTA.

THE REAL SPACE RACE.

IT'S PROBABLY FRAME-DRAGGING: "Mysteriously, five spacecraft that flew past the Earth have each displayed unexpected anomalies in their motions." But the story doesn't mention that, which seems odd.

UPDATE: Oh, right: Here's some background on frame-dragging. I'm just guessing, really, but the fact that these are open orbits is suggestive.

REMEMBERING THE HONDA CRX: "Before the CRX eventually morphed into the soft, poseur Del Sol, the CRX was, depending on your viewpoint, either the ultimate economy car or a pocket Lotus." But a twin-engine CRX?

OUT-CLINTONING the Clintons?

OBAMA STARTS TALKING ABOUT NATO AND EUROPE.

UPDATE: From TigerHawk, praise for Obama: "At a time when 'traditional allies' has become almost synonymous with 'free riders,' this is welcome from the candidate of the left." Plus a suggestion that the Obama campaign might actually welcome: "Now we need some principles to build upon. How about this one: We will consult extensively on collective security matters with any power that spends on defense at least 2% of GDP -- half the level of the United States -- and has the lift capacity to deliver at least some fully-equipped and combat ready soldiers anywhere in the world."

INDIA SENDS ENFORCERS to Russia.

LIVEBLOGGING Israel in Gaza.

DREW CAREY: An education revolt in Watts.

UPDATE: Reader Jim Yeomans emails:

Just viewed the Drew Carey Watts School video that you posted. Decided to go full screen with it on my Samsung 24” monitor.

If I were the head of a TV or cable network right now, I would be horrified. If I step back about 5 feet, the clarity of this stinky little streaming video, fed off of your site, is better than I get with my high def cable service.

Progress!

Indeed.

A SETTLEMENT, in the wake of a fatal SWAT raid gone wrong:

The handwritten settlement reached this week that resolved the fallout over the shooting death of 18-year-old Peyton Strickland included just three main points, officials say.

They were: $2.45 million, headed to a scholarship fund; an apology, issued Wednesday; and an audit of the New Hanover County Sheriff's Office's Emergency Response Team. On Thursday, county officials said plans for the review aren't set but they are open to outside advice. . . . Attention turned to the office's Emergency Response Team on Dec. 1, 2006, when Cpl. Christopher M. Long mistook the sound of a battering ram for gunfire during a raid. He fired through a door, killing Strickland, a student at Cape Fear Community College, who was wanted in connection with the robbery of video game equipment. Strickland wasn't armed."

That was wrong, but the real problem was that the circumstances didn't call for door-busting to begin with.

WHY DOES IT BOTHER OTHER PEOPLE when you quit your job? Plus, lessons on self-employment and living below your means.

CHRYSLER CHIEF: All cars will be hybrids.

IN THE MAIL: Superbad, on Blu-Ray. I never saw the movie, but I expect I'll be McLovin' it!

ABC NEWS:

With the corruption trial of one of Sen. Barack Obama's longtime friends and supporters set to begin Monday in Chicago, Ill., reform watchdogs say it will reveal the "cesspool" of Illinois politics in which Obama came of age and has said little about in his campaign for president.

"We have a sick political culture," said Jay Stewart, the executive director of the Chicago Better Government Association, "and that's the environment that Barack Obama came from."

Stewart says he does not understand why Obama has lectured others about corruption in Washington and Kenya but "been noticeably silent on the issue of corruption here in his home state, including at this point, mostly Democratic politicians."

There was no immediate comment from the Obama campaign.

(Via NewsAlert).

HEH: "He Who Must Not Be Middle-Named".

ROGER VON OECH (yes, the Ball of Whacks guy) is photoblogging from North Vietnam, at the places where John McCain was shot down and imprisoned.

FILM PHOTOGRAPHY? I remember that!

Of course, I also remember Thriller.

BATTERYLESS HYBRID CARS, with nano-enhanced ultracapacitors.

MEGAN MCARDLE ON OBAMA ON TRADE: "Well, I certainly hope he's lying, because I think he's going to be the next president of the United States. But of course, as I've said before, I do not like it that politicians seem to feel the need to lie shamelessly to the electorate." Generally, you have to hope that most of what most candidates say is a lie. Fortunately, it usually is . . . .

UPDATE: "Change you can disavow."

FLAMMABLE PAJAMAS. Or subliminal advertising from Hillary? The "G" doesn't really appear, though.

A ROUNDUP OF Apple computer news. "Even more worrying is the rumor circulating from iLounge that Apple will be exerting tight controls over what can be downloaded to your iPhone."

AIRBUS GETS A BIG U.S. AIR FORCE CONTRACT, over Boeing. Abu Muqawama thinks this represents a promising defeat for a big domestic interest. Possibly. I suspect it represents a U.S. payoff to France for . . . well, we'll see.

NOW THAT HE'S HOME, British Islamists threaten Prince Harry. Not long ago, people like that would have been afraid of being lynched for making such a threat.

A.C. KLEINHEIDER: "Could the risk of an ugly convention and the fact that the superdelegates may decide the contest lead Al Gore to step up as a candidate for President at the convention and then choose Barack Obama as his runningmate?"

MARIE REILLY: Commerce is not a cuss word.

JOHN BIRMINGHAM: "Sometimes, even blowing stuff up gets a bit wearying, I guess, and you just have to go home for a bit."

JOLIE 1, OBAMA 0.

February 29, 2008

SOMETHING YOU CAN'T SAY ABOUT CUBA: "Our worst critics prefer to stay." Heh.

THE CANADA/NAFTA STORY continues. I predict, however, that the term "Goolsbee Gate" won't catch on.

MORE THOUGHTS HERE. And a reader suggests "Naftaquiddick" in place of "Goolsbee Gate." Er, no.

THE INSTAWIFE HAS A SHOW ON FUSE TV, with and about Motley Crue's Nikki Sixx. It will air again on Sunday at 2 pm. There's a bit of video at the link, too.

VOTING WITH THEIR ~~FEET~~ RAISED RIGHT HANDS: Army recruiting exceeds goals again.

JOHN SCALZI released Old Man's War as a free eBook, and it turns out to have boosted his sales substantially.

JOURNEY TO the bottom of the Moon.

Plus, lunar off-roading.

OBAMA'S shifting positions on gun rights. Boy, I predicted a while back that his positions would get more scrutiny, and they certainly are.

AHEAD OF the opposition.

THE IPHONE GOES TO WAR.

ANN ALTHOUSE: The crafty Obama finds a way to look magnanimous while actually casting aspersions on McCain. She continues: "Actually, Obama found the only possible low ground and made it look like high ground."

A LOOK AT THE all-important white male swing vote.

JOSH LEVIN: I'm the idiot who bought an HD-DVD player.

THOUGHTS ON life extension and the longevity dividend.

MORE ON THAT LAS VEGAS RICIN STORY, from Popular Science.

UPDATE: National Guard team activated. (Thanks to Chuck Simmins for the link).

MICHAEL TOTTEN on the Muslim world's moderate supermajority.

DUMB: Air Force blocking blogs.

DO WE WANT A FULL-IMMUNITY PRESIDENT?

"DON'T GO INTO CORPORATE AMERICA:" Well, the nonprofit world does pay pretty well too, these days.

SO THEY'RE BATTING .500: Sex Toys Still Illegal in Texas and Alabama; Guns OK.

Here in Tennessee, they're both legal: we don't care how you choose to fill your hand. There was an effort to ban dildos and vibrators about ten years ago, but it was laughed out of existence following a campaign by a group called "Well Endowed Tennesseans" who accused the legislator sponsoring the bill of phallic insecurity.

CAR LUST: Loving the Dodge Magnum SRT-8. Everybody I know who has one loves it -- especially the Hemi -- though with higher gas prices that may change . . . . Video at the link.

PERRY DEHAVILLAND: Not Matt Drudge's finest hour.

APPARENTLY, THERE ARE RACIAL QUOTAS FOR COMEDY, with some roles off-limits based on race.

Related thoughts here.

THE NEW YORK TIMES GOES LOOKING FOR MEDIA BIAS.

MORE THOUGHTS on that new Hillary commercial.

UPDATE: An amusing response from the Obama camp.

ANOTHER UPDATE: John Dickerson: "The Bush campaign never ran an ad like this when it was accused of scare-mongering during the 2004 campaign."

OBAMA in '02!

Sounds like the politics of the past. "Interesting that the old codger is looking forward while the youthful dynamist is looking back. But is it surprising? . . . Obama is successfully riding the Democratic Party's ongoing 60's flashback in a way that, for example, Mr. Reporting For Duty did not."

THE LATEST PEW POLL ON IRAQ has J.D. Johannes saying "I told you so!"

THE INCANDESCENT BAN IS STUPID, and I say that as someone who likes compact fluorescents. But here's a bit on the future of LED lights. A "wireless lighting revolution?" I've been hoping to try some LED bulbs out, but haven't gotten around to it yet.

WELL, PHOOEY: Obama doesn't read blogs.

TREATING CANCER WITH NANOTECHNOLOGY:

Researchers are increasingly turning to new, innovative therapies, based on particles measuring less than 200 nanometers. At that scale, particles passively target weaker-walled cancer cells and help localize treatment, increasing its effectiveness while minimizing damage to healthy tissue. . . .

Developments in this field have accelerated since then, according to Piotr Grodzinski, Director of the NCI's Alliance. "If you look at where we were five years ago, there was nothing mature enough that the FDA would even consider [it]. Today, there are 20 to 30 small companies in both diagnostics and therapeutics. A handful of those are in clinical trials, and we expect another three or four will file applications this year."

Bring it on! (Via Nanodot).

Plus, at the Los Angeles Times, a nanotechnology debate. Some related thoughts of mine can be found here.

February 28, 2008

HAROLD ICKES: Blame Mark Penn. “Besides Hillary Clinton, he is the single most responsible person for this campaign."

INTERESTING NEW POLL: Pew: Majority now believe U.S. effort in Iraq will succeed, 53-39.

Yes we can!

EVEN HARD DRIVES ARE going green.

EUGENE VOLOKH ON enjoining a mosque as a harmful public nuisance.

It's less of a stretch than he might think -- the Tennessee Supreme Court upheld an injunction against a church that practiced snake handling, despite no evidence of risk to third parties, in Tennessee ex rel. Swann v. Pack, 527 S. W. 2d 99 (Tenn. 1975) and the Supreme Court denied cert. I think that Swann was wrongly decided, but hey, I think a lot of cases are wrongly decided . . . .

FRANK J. SCORES A famous guestblogger.

POLITICO:

African-American superdelegates said Thursday that they’ll stand up against threats, intimidation and “Uncle Tom” smears rather than switch their support from Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton to Sen. Barack Obama.

“African-American superdelegates are being targeted, harassed and threatened,” said Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II (D-Mo.), a superdelegate who has supported Clinton since August. Cleaver said black superdelegates are receiving “nasty letters, phone calls, threats they’ll get an opponent, being called an Uncle Tom.

“This is the politics of the 1950s,” he complained. “A lot of members are experiencing a lot of ugly stuff. They’re not going to talk about it, but it’s happening.”

Interestingly, the original Politico headline was Black superdelegates stand up against "Uncle Tom" smears, but it now reads Black backers steadfast for Clinton.

VROOM, VROOM: Remembering the Chevy Cavalier Z24: "I fully expect to get hammered for this choice, but I sincerely can't help it."

UPDATE: Mike Krempasky emails: "That kicks a surprising amount of ass. Thanks for linking to carlust so much. What a great blog. Z-24? My first car. Hell yes."

ROYAL NAVY TRAINS Russian yacht crews.

AT LAST, A CHE POSTER I CAN feel good about!

BOB GELDOF TO George W. Bush. "'It's called marketing. Something you obviously have no clue about or else I wouldn't have to be here telling people your Africa story'. . . . You forget that Bush has an M.B.A. He thinks like a businessman in terms of the bottom line. Results. Profit and loss. There is an empiricism to a lot of his furthest-reaching policies on Africa. Correctly, he's big on trade."

MAYBE THERE'S NO REAL CONTRADICTION HERE:

The Obama campaign is rife with academic economists, according to the latest issue of The New Republic . . . . Meanwhile, according to a new L.A. Times/Bloomberg poll, people think McCain will do a better job handling the economy than Obama.

No, that's not a knock on Obama's economists -- just on the fact that he doesn't seem to be listening to them. When it comes to things like NAFTA, there seem to be only two possibilities. Either Obama's anti-NAFTA talk is a ruse to fool the rubes, or his coterie of distinguished economic experts is a ruse to fool a different batch of rubes.

UPDATE: More on the NAFTA front: "The Canadian television station that reported that Obama's campaign had assured the Canadian ambassdor that their anti-NAFTA rhetoric wasn't serious stands by its story in the face of denials from Team Obama and the Canadian Embassy. Obama's in a tough spot here."

YANKEE go home.

TOM MAGUIRE ON Josh Marshall and new media standards.

OBAMA AND WITHDRAWAL: Thoughts from IraqPundit.

BOB OWENS NOTES something smelly in Iraq.

HEH: "When Hillary tells you that she has lots of experience, she doesn’t really tell you what the experience is, but you’re supposed to imagine what it must have been. She must have been sitting in the Situation Room when the Joint Chiefs of Staff were making their judgments about how to proceed in Iraq and elsewhere. . . . she’s talking about sleeping with the president for eight years as if that’s prepared her to run the country."

PRINCE HARRY, FIGHTING IN AFGHANISTAN? Good for him, but it would have been better for him if Drudge hadn't broken the story.

RICH KARLGAARD: Stagflation's supply-side cure. "Is stagflation a greater concern to you than recession?"

THOUGHTS ON OBAMA, WHITE SUPREMACISTS, and the "Bradley Effect," with a bonus report on David Duke.

LEFTY SKEPTICISM about Obama's record.

IS THERE ANY OTHER KIND? How to set up a politicized ethnic studies department.

PROFESSOR BAINBRIDGE: "For somebody who taught Constitutional law for years, Barack Obama has an awfully odd conception of the judicial role."

JONAH GOLDBERG'S Liberal Fascism hits number one on the New York Times bestseller list.

MEGAN MCARDLE: "I'm fascinated by the comment section to this Brad DeLong post, in which many of the commenters struggle to redefine poverty so that it excludes Cuba."

REBUILDING AMERICA'S IMAGE IN THE WORLD (CONT'D): "Mexico and Canada yesterday voiced concerns about calls by Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, as the Democratic presidential hopefuls compete to adopt the most sceptical stance towards free trade before next week's Ohio primary."

Related item from Cafe Hayek: "Also distressing is the fact that Austan Goolsbee, the fine economist who is a close adviser to Obama, apparently is ignored by the would-be President of the USA on this front. Of course, I have no knowledge of what Goolsbee says and doesn't say to Obama, but I presume that Goolsbee isn't in the anti-trade camp."

UPDATE: More here. "Team Obama and the Canadian Embassy are denying the report that Obama had privately assured Canada's ambassador that his comments on NAFTA were not to be taken seriously."

ANOTHER UPDATE: More here.

A VICTOR DAVIS HANSON INTERVIEW that's worth reading.

STEVE CHAPMAN: Why Are These People So Ashamed of NAFTA?

THOSE LAYERS OF FACT-CHECKERS AND EDITORS AT WORK: "Maxim magazine has apologized for publishing a negative review of the Black Crowes' new album by a writer who hadn't listened to the whole CD. . . . A spokeswoman for the magazine contacted by The Associated Press declined to say whether the writer would face disciplinary action." (Via Daring Fireball).

POLITICAL FEATHERBEDDING in Congress.

RALPH NADER CHOOSES A RUNNING MATE.

COMPLETE WITH GIANT PIG: A report, with photos, from the Murtha pork bash crash.

NEITHER GODS NOR GOO: Todd Seavey reports on the state of nanotechnology.

IN THE MAIL: Greg Bear's Anvil of Stars, sequel to The Forge of God. Republished in a fancy new edition, and worth your time if you haven't read 'em.

JONAH GOLDBERG: "In the next few days, there will be a wave of liberals — Frank Rich comes particularly to mind — who will use WFB's memory to beat up on today's conservatives. . . . That said, I'm delighted to have conservative heroes become simply American heroes. But it's at least worth pointing out that Goldwater, Reagan and, of course William F. Buckley were subjected to vicious criticism from the left in their day. That they belong to all Americans now is no small testament to their success in the face of often unrelenting opposition."

HOW CAN WE TRUST THEM WITH ANY OF OUR TAX DOLLARS, when they can't even build a freaking 28-mile fence?

A QUIZ, from Arnold Kling.

THE DEMOCRATS' SOUTHERN OUTREACH PROGRAM CONTINUES, as illustrated in this email:

no shit Mccain leads democrats in TN. Like that is even a question.

Its a fucking southern red neck state. Obama or Hilary would never win that backwater hole.

we in nyc laugh at the south and think you people are pathetic.

It must be tough to think of yourself as so cosmo and still live in hell.

And when you visit NYC we sense your backwaterness. We can smell it a mile away.

With supporters like these, how can they fail to carry the south?

UPDATE: Reader Joseph Beaulieu emails: "Well, it was nice of Gov Dean to take some time out of his busy day to write to you." Heh.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Reader Ted Siegel emails: "Lots of us here in NYC thank the south for keeping us safe and prosperous (i.e. low taxes). Unfortunately, with all of these Liberals, there's a lot of bigotry in the city."

Yeah, but what are you gonna do?

LIBERTARIAN NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS for Obama.

HELLER UPDATE: "Nearly three out of four Americans — 73% — believe the Second Amendment spells out an individual right to own a firearm, according to a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll of 1,016 adults taken Feb. 8-10. Yet for decades, federal judges have seen the Constitution differently, allowing a range of gun-control measures imposed by governments seeking to curb gun violence."

As Brannon Denning and I have noted, this suggests that finding no individual right to arms would be a blow to the Supreme Court's legitimacy.

THE NEWSPEAK VERSION OF "Human Rights Activists."

THIS WAS REALLY STUPID: "An armed man who burst into a classroom at Elizabeth City State University was role-playing in an emergency response drill, but neither the students nor assistant professor Jingbin Wang knew that." The guy's lucky that nobody shot him, or cold-cocked him. Which would have been an appropriate response to what seemed to be going on.

MORE ON THE TONY REZKO STORY and Barack Obama.

IMPORTANT THOUGHTS ON National Grammar Day. (Via Volokh).

"SAFE HOMES" IN BOSTON: It's not about safety.

ANOTHER CBS SCANDAL? Well, it's an election year.

JACK JACOBS, MSNBC: Obama needs a lesson in military history.

UPDATE: On the other hand, reader Paul Collacchi sends this. On the third hand, it's from The New Republic . . . .

ROBO-DOGS: Offering the same benefits as real dogs?

DAVE KOPEL AND HOWARD NEMEROV: Is There a Relationship between Guns and Freedom? Comparative Results from 59 Nations. "The data show that (although exceptions can be found) the nations with the highest rates of gun ownership tend to have greater political and civil freedom, greater economic freedom and prosperity, and much less corruption than other nations."

IT'S A BAD IDEA TO BREAK INTO A GUN-OWNER'S HOME: Or even a gunowner's parent's home, sometimes. "Dallas police were at the scene of a fatal shooting Wednesday morning in which a homeowner’s son apparently killed a suspected burglar."

GIVING PROPER CREDIT to William Howard Taft.

A SHOCKER: Clinton’s Efforts on Ethanol Overlap Her Husband’s Interests. "Because Mr. Burkle’s Yucaipa funds are private, and the Clintons have refused to release their tax returns, details of Yucaipa’s investments and Mr. Clinton’s potential to profit from them are not publicly available."

NEW IMAGES OF the Moon's south polar region.

HEH:

Having the middle name Hussein doesn’t make Obama any more a Muslim than having the middle name Jefferson made Clinton a strict constructionist.

Indeed.

UPDATE: I guess Andrew Sullivan would regard this post as a "passive aggressive" defense of Obama. Actually, of course, he's just as clueless as ever.

February 27, 2008

UH OH: Imam From Va. Mosque Now Thought to Have Aided Al-Qaeda.

A TEEN ENTREPRENEUR with a Rock Band drum mod. "Yet another example of why kids should play video games." With video.

INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY: NAFTA Nonsense Insults Our Allies. "Threatening to renege on a permanent treaty — as Clinton and Obama are doing through their identical vows to 'opt out' of the deal — signals loudly that America's word is no longer its bond. A permanent pact with the U.S., it turns out, isn't so permanent."

It does seem odd that two candidates who claim they're going to "repair America's world image" want to do so by ditching a treaty and starting trade wars.

OBAMA RESPONDS TO MCCAIN: “There was no such thing as Al Qaeda in Iraq until George Bush and John McCain decided to invade Iraq.”

The problem with this statement is that, although it's an article of leftie faith, it's not true. (Remember how Richard Clarke was worried that Osama would "boogie to Baghdad" if we invaded Afghanistan? It's not really Obama's fault though -- as an Illinois State Senator when these events transpired, he probably wasn't paying much attention.) Meanwhile, McCain hits back.

UPDATE: A reader emails:

As a preface, I agree with you on the "not true" part: there were terrorists in Iraq prior to 9/11 and prior to the invasion, and there are terrorists there now; that's not really at issue for me.

However, this post is at issue: "[t]he problem with this statement is that, although [the belief that '[t]here was no such thing as Al Qaeda in Iraq' is] an article of leftie faith, it's not true. ( . . . It's not really Obama's fault though -- *as an Illinois State Senator* *when these events transpired*, he probably wasn't paying much attention.)"

Obama, in addition to being a state senator, was a law professor at the University of Chicago during the run-up to the war. It's intellectually dishonest for you to leave out this information and instead belittle a candidate and his views on Iraq by saying that he was just a meager State Senator at the time of the events listed. It's also somewhat amusing, since you are also a law professor and thus at the time you both had similar credentials - neither of you were serving as U.S. Senators at that time, both of you were law professors.

The difference is that I was paying attention. I promise, however, that a position as a professor of Constitutional Law -- or, as Obama actually was, a non-tenure-track lecturer -- provides no special insight into antiterrorism. however, I'm including Mr. Hawkins' email on the off-chance that others think this is as important an omission as he does.

SPOILER ALERT: Diebold Accidentally Leaks Results Of 2008 Election Early.

Diebold Accidentally Leaks Results Of 2008 Election Early

MISSISSIPPI LAW:

A lawyer accused of trying to bribe a judge also paid two associates $500,000 to convince Attorney General Jim Hood not to file criminal charges against an insurance company over its handling of Hurricane Katrina claims, according to an FBI report in court records.

Plaintiffs lawyer Richard "Dickie" Scruggs, who sued State Farm Fire and Casualty Cos. soon after the 2005 storm, was afraid the company "was not going to settle the civil cases" if the attorney general's office filed criminal charges, according to an FBI report filed Monday in the bribery case. . . . Scruggs agreed to pay New Albany attorney Timothy Balducci and former State Auditor Steve Patterson "if they could get Hood to relent on indicting" State Farm, according to a report written by FBI Agent William Delaney on Nov. 2, 2007. . . . Scruggs, the brother-in-law of former Republican U.S. Sen. Trent Lott, donated $33,000 to Hood's campaign last July. He also gave tens of thousands of dollars to the Democratic Attorneys General Association, which in turn contributed to Hood's campaign. Hood, a Democrat, was easily re-elected to a second term in November 2007.

It just gets worse.

A PLAGIARISM SCANDAL AT THE NEW YORK TIMES? It's real, but it seems pretty small-bore to me.

SEAN WILENTZ: How Obama played the race card. (Via Taylor Marsh, who thinks closer media scrutiny of Obama is beginning).

IT'S LIKE A DENIAL-OF-SERVICE ATTACK IN MEATSPACE: Comcast packs FCC meeting with hired chair-warmers, keeping interested parties out.

WELL, IT'S PROGRESS: Hillary picks up half a delegate.

POTENTIAL DEMOCRATIC SUPREME COURT NOMINEES: Doug Berman takes a broader look than some have done.

JOHN STOSSEL: Guns save lives.

MORE REZKO SCANDAL NEWS: "In their strongest language yet, federal prosecutors said Tuesday that Gov. Rod Blagojevich's administration granted access and influence to Antoin 'Tony' Rezko because of his prowess as a fundraiser for the governor. Rezko's role as a key Blagojevich insider is essential to understanding how he was able to extort illegal payments and a campaign contribution from firms seeking state business, prosecutors said in a motion filed a week before Rezko's corruption trial is set to begin." (Via NewsAlert.)

YUM: Texas Barbecue and Monster Potatoes.

IN LIGHT OF MY EARLIER FLASHLIGHT-BLOGGING, which generated a lot of email, there's this: Test-driving the world's most dangerous flashlight.

BOB COTTROL AND RAY DIAMOND: Public Safety and the Right to Bear Arms.

TAKING A "TRADE TIMEOUT"? TigerHawk is not amused.