FRONTIER VALUES: I’ve got a review of Bob Zubrin’s new book on Mars in today’s Wall Street Journal.

HEH:

“It’s very ironic that Sen. [Christopher] Dodd [D-Conn.] is the one who called for Rick Wagoner to be removed,” Cole adds. “It was Sen. Dodd who, as chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, has said people who couldn’t afford homes should have homes. So he is one of the primary causes of the nation’s banking and financial meltdown.”

Touche.

Yet, as noted elsewhere, the New York Times managed to write about the mortgage crisis and not even mention Dodd. Or Barney Frank. Are they covering the news there, or just covering?

CHANGE: Inauguration Day Crowd Estimate Reduced by Half.

DR. MELISSA CLOUTHIER: Lose the pointy shoes, guys.

CELEBRATING Christmas in Baghdad.

UPDATE: Rand Simberg emails: “Now that Hope’n’Change are upon us, it’s all right to report good news from Iraq. Also, the number of homeless (or at least the reporting thereof) will decline precipitously, even though we’re in a recession. There are only homeless and failed wars during Republican administrations.”

MORE: Reader Michael Hankamer writes: “Odd, isn’t it? I’m in Baghdad, at Camp Victory, and I read about this on CNN.com via a blog post from you. We live in interesting times ….” Indeed.

WALL STREET JOURNAL: Illinois Scandal Spotlights SEIU’s Use of Political Tactics.

Critics say SEIU’s leaders cut too many deals with politicians and companies, contributing to an atmosphere that lacks transparency.

The Illinois situation fuels a perception that the SEIU has an “inside track” with elected officials, says Gary Chaison, a professor of industrial relations at Clark University, in Worcester, Mass. “Every union will use political influence to make organizing easier,” he said. “They may have gone beyond the usual influence.”

Few places more clearly illustrate this than Illinois. The SEIU contributed about $1.8 million to Mr. Blagojevich’s two campaigns for governor, in 2002 and 2006, and was his top contributor in the second election. Critics have long charged that it is suspicious that several big SEIU contributions to Mr. Blagojevich occurred close to when he acted in ways that benefited the union.

Read the whole thing.

HOLDING RESCUERS liable for injuries. Plus, Why Ohio is better than California. It’s worth noting, of course, that liability for rescuers’ torts is a common-law tradition, along with the lack of any duty to rescue.

DEEP THROAT: Too late the hero? “Felt escaped punishment for his own wrongdoing and avoided any consequences for his betrayal of the very people who stood by him when he was charged with that wrongdoing. So if you’re looking for an Aesop Fable-like moral to this story, as in most real life accounts of double dealing, there isn’t one.”

RICK WARREN UPDATE: “The first openly gay member of Congress said Sunday it was a mistake for President-elect Barack Obama to invite the Rev. Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at his inauguration.”