I PLAY A DOCTOR ON TV: Kate Walsh of Gray’s Anatomy makes an antigun video for the Brady Campaign, only to have her statements fact-checked in the YouTube comments.

RAY NAGIN held in contempt. And this time, it’s by a court.

CHARGING FRONTLINE with misrepresentation.

HEH:

In Congress, they are debating a meaningless resolution.
Down the street, they are trying a guy for lying about a leak.
A House subcommittee had to cancel a hearing on global warming because of snow.
Just another day in Washington.
Happy Valentine’s Day.

It’s almost a Haiku.

UPDATE: And another heh.

HAROLD FORD, JR. LANDS ON HIS FEET: “Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. today announced that Harold E. Ford, Jr., former congressman, Ninth District of Tennessee, will join the company as vice chairman and senior policy advisor, effective March 5.” I kind of figured that he would.

DAVE HARDY’S SECOND AMENDMENT DOCUMENTARY gets a favorable review at Hot Air, which also shows the trailer.

IN THE MAIL: John Scalzi’s new book, The Last Colony, the sequel to Old Man’s War and Ghost Brigades. Started reading it last night, and so far, so good!

TWO (ALLEGED) RAPES IN DURHAM: Two different standards.

Thanks to the numerous readers who emailed to remind me to add the “alleged.” It’s a reminder I shouldn’t have needed.

WE’LL CALL IT “SURRENDER WITHOUT RESPONSIBILITY!” No, wait — get me rewrite!

Top House Democrats, working in concert with anti-war groups, have decided against using congressional power to force a quick end to U.S. involvement in Iraq, and instead will pursue a slow-bleed strategy designed to gradually limit the administration’s options.

Led by Rep. John P. Murtha, D-Pa., and supported by several well-funded anti-war groups, the coalition’s goal is to limit or sharply reduce the number of U.S. troops available for the Iraq conflict, rather than to openly cut off funding for the war itself.

How brave of them.

UPDATE: A simple question: “What will the left fight for?”

I believe the answer is “power.”

CLAYTON CRAMER’S NEW BOOK, Armed America, gets a rather nice review in the Washington Times. Excerpt:

The only problem with “Armed America” is its framing as a refutation to Mr. Bellesiles. Nevertheless, what makes Mr. Cramer’s work important is not that it debunks Mr. Bellesiles yet again, but that it explores the entire process Mr. Bellesiles ignored.

The introduction extensively documents Mr. Bellesiles’ fraud, and in the final chapters Mr. Cramer distractingly bolds references to documents that Mr. Bellesiles misused. But through most of the book, Mr. Cramer mercifully stays away from the now-waning controversy.

All considered, “Armed America” proves a must-read. The author sets aside his beliefs to explore history, conceding evidence against his thesis, noting when the available records are unclear and admitting that guns have done bad as well as good things for America. He dedicates an entire chapter to post-Revolution gun violence. As a result the book is readable, believable and fair.

Sounds like this will get excerpted on the paperback edition!

MICHAEL SILENCE IDENTIFIES A DUMB BIG-GOVERNMENT INITIATIVE from Tennessee Republicans:

Knoxville state Rep. Stacey Campfield, who allegedly supports less government, wants “certificates for aborted fetuses,” and some records would be public.

The party is hellbent on going down in flames. Are Republicans happy that the phrase attached to the GOP, “less government,” is now the political joke of the nation?

Dumb idea. But Democratic fundraisers will love it! Makes me glad I voted for Bredesen . . . .

A BOMBING in Iran.

IS YOUTUBE LOSING ITS SHEEN? “Some observers hoped when the subpoenas came to light that Google’s history of resisting US government subpoenas would lead to non-cooperation in this case. The moral high ground is clearly far smaller in this case, though.” Yes, this isn’t about national security, it’s about power for the entertainment industry. No moral high ground in resisting that.

FOLLOWING UP ON VIRGINIA POSTREL, some thoughts on beauty at The Speculist.

AT POPULAR MECHANICS, the best of green design.

JULES CRITTENDEN: A botched apology. The Obama honeymoon seems to be over . . . .

WORRIES THAT A BIRD FLU OUTBREAK could choke the Internet.

STEPHEN SPRUIELL on Libby trial contradictions.

MICHAEL TOTTEN interviews Walid Jumblatt.

THE “GORE EFFECT” HAS STRUCK AGAIN: “HOUSE HEARING ON ‘WARMING OF THE PLANET’ CANCELED AFTER SNOW/ICE STORM.” And I’m not even sure Al was scheduled to be there. How does he do it?

“AND THEN THERE WERE NONE:” The Edwards blogger fiasco draws to a close.

AL SADR FLEES TO TEHRAN. Captain Ed is happy: “This couldn’t have come at a better time. Congress has tied itself in knots trying to opine on what a disaster the surge will be, and before they can vote on a resolution scolding George Bush for wasting resources, he’s already chased one of the worst actors out of Baghdad. Nancy Pelosi will be holding a debate to disapprove of a strategy that has already demonstrated success.”

Gateway Pundit has more, and Iraq will be closing its borders with Syria and Iran, which it seems to me it should have done a long time ago.

PRISON RAPE UPDATE: Barry Deutsch at Alas! A Blog has posted a roundup of commentary from blogs both left and right. This seems to be an issue on which there’s a lot of cross-blogosphere agreement.

BRIAN DOHERTY’S Radicals for Capitalism: A Freewheeling History of the Modern American Libertarian Movement is now out. Helen and I both read the advance copy and liked it.

RUDY GIULIANI on global warming.