TEARING AMERICA APART.

A DEBATE WRAPUP: “My take? NBC stinks. Tim Russert stinks. Brian Williams stinks. Keith Olbermann stinks. Chris Matthews stinks. Who won the debate? No one. Who lost? Everyone. NBC’s coverage of its coverage? We are fair. We are great. How could anyone complain? What a joke.”

UPDATE: Another bad review: “As of tonight’s debate, I can’t stand Clinton or Obama.”

WOMEN’S SKI-JUMPING AND THE 2010 OLYMPICS: A report here. Plus, billboards in Vancouver. Perhaps someone should file suit for discrimination in the Canadian courts . . . .

SAY IT AIN’T SO: “Both Democratic presidential candidates, who promise to curb the influence of corporate lobbyists in Washington, helped enact narrowly tailored tax breaks sought by major campaign contributors.”

It’s as if the whole thing is just a game to fool the rubes.

THAT WON’T LAST: A humbler Bill Clinton.

BRENDAN LOY IS pleased with John McCain. “John McCain already seems intent on running a more honorable campaign against Barack Obama than Hillary Clinton has.”

NEW YORK TIMES CORPORATE WARFARE and its impact on news coverage. “So it’s not a coincidence that the McCain-Iseman story was published the same day—February 21—as The New York Times Company submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) the preliminary proxy statement for this year’s annual meeting. ”

On the other hand, Bob Somerby is cheering on the NYT’s new hostility to McCain.

LIVE-BLOGGING THE HILLARY-OBAMA DEBATE. And more here.

UPDATE: More liveblogging at Contentions.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Tom Elia: “If McCain can’t beat either of these two, the Repubs deserve to lose.”

MORE: Debate drunkblogging from Stephen Green. “Clinton has spent the last thre minutes explaining exactly how she’s going to screw over our two largest trade partners. That weak dollar? It’s not going to get any stronger with talk like that. . . . BTW, I have a very icy Bombay Sapphire with a twist of lemon. How are you enjoying the debate?”

And somebody should have asked Obama about this.

DOESN’T THIS VIOLATE MASSACHUSETTS SEX DISCRIMINATION LAW? To accommodate Muslim students, Harvard tries women-only gym hours.

REZKO stuck on Obama’s shoe?

Plus, Spengler on Obama.

UH OH: “Temperature Monitors Report Widescale Global Cooling.”

The Fallen Angels scenario is looking better and better. Or worse and worse . . . .

MICKEY KAUS: “Is Obama Deval Patrick II? . . . Isn’t it incumbent on those prominent NEA-bashing neoliberal Obama supporters to explain just why his term as president won’t quickly descend into a Patrick-like interest-group quagmire? Jon Alter, this means you! And Charles Peters as well.”

HIJAB HILLARY: “Will the shameful photographs of Democrats wearing ‘race clothing’ ever end?”

HOW TO BUILD A GREEN P.C.

JERALYN MERRITT on Presidential candidate Ralph Nader.

A NEW TREND: Flat-rate cellphone plans. Makes sense to me.

MORE ON THE LAW AND POLITICS OF Battlestar Galactica.

CONGRATULATIONS TO NEW U.VA. LAW DEAN Paul Mahoney. He’s a worthy successor to John Jeffries, which is saying a lot.

SOME LESSONS from that accidental nuke flyby.

FRUITS OF AN OBAMA PRESIDENCY: A $34,000 pay cut for lawyers. If I were Obama, I’d cut a TV spot on this pronto . . . .

POLICING THE advertising claims of law schools.

A VARLEYFEST: While I was travelling I read John Varley’s Gaea trilogy, Titan, Wizard, and Demon. Good fun.

PORKBUSTERS UPDATE: The earmark fight is heading to the Senate:

Hoping to bring the House fight over earmark reform to the Senate, Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) will propose a full one-year moratorium on considering bills with earmarks as part of the fiscal 2009 budget resolution, the lawmaker said Monday.

DeMint, who will discuss the moratorium during today’s weekly GOP luncheon, said he believes his proposal could create the political room needed to bring reform to the process. . . .

DeMint said he will offer the moratorium as an amendment to the budget resolution, which is expected to come up the week before Congress breaks for the Easter recess March 14. The language, which if passed would be binding on the Senate, would make any legislation including an earmark out of order for Senate floor consideration. DeMint’s proposal will use the definition of an earmark included in S. 1, the Senate ethics bill, and would cover both appropriations measures and authorization bills.

Bring it on.

A CENTRIST WITH no one to his left.

HILLARY CLINTON: Still picking up Ohio endorsements. She’s leading Obama by eight points in Ohio.