JOHN PODHORETZ: “Fred Thompson is not only winning this debate, he is giving the most commanding debate performance we’ve seen from any candidate in either party since the beginning of this endless primary process.”

THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA’S LAWSUIT AGAINST GUN MANUFACTURERS has been dismissed.

Now for the lawsuit by gun manufacturers against various municipalities, charging a conspiracy to deprive them of civil rights . . . .

OH, GOODY — ANOTHER DEBATE! They’re liveblogging tonight’s GOP debate at The Sundries Shack. More liveblogging at Heading Right.

UPDATE: More liveblogging here.

And Freeman Hunt is on the case, too.

I’ll just observe that Fred Thompson looks better. He lost weight for the campaign over the summer and it made him look thin and drawn. I think he’s put a bit back on — maybe it’s the road food — and he looks more like himself.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Bob Krumm is liveblogging, too. So is Ann Althouse.

Hey, they’re even live-blogging at The New York Times, and with this surprising observation: “Mr. Thompson rocks tonight.”

Still more liveblogging from Zombyboy.

MORE: Okay, Ron Paul just said a Navy destroyer shouldn’t worry about a speedboat. I guess he’s forgotten this:

STILL MORE: Ouch.

Plus, Thompson-vs-Huckabee video.

EVEN MORE: Kathryn Jean Lopez: “Okay, where has this Fred Thompson been for the last year? This is the man who published commentaries with us last year. This is the man who people wanted to draft. This is the conservative guy conservatives are attracted to.” He does seem to be having a good night.

Meanwhile, a lame response from Huckabee — in response to being asked about raising taxes: “I raised hope.” Who knew hope could be so expensive? . . .

Earlier, Ron Paul said he defended Israel’s strike against Iraq’s nuclear reactor. Nice that he supports Israel’s defending itself with preemptive attacks. Too bad he doesn’t support the same thing for the United States . . . .

More video here.

HEH: “So, there are a bunch of 30-something New Yorkers who are so enraged at whatever undifferentiated conspiracy deprived Obama of a victory in New Hampshire that they formed a pact to part with a tiny portion of their wine budget and give money to a political campaign for the first time. And to think people say that the Clintons make people cynical about politics.”

Related post here.

WHY GIRLS SHOULD play with boys.

UPDATE: Reader Ellen Dahlgren emails: “I would have expected you of all people to have made the point that the shooting sports are one area where women can compete with men with virtually no physical disadvantage. High School and College rifle teams are co-ed.” Hey, nobody’s perfect. That’s what I have readers for. And I like getting gun-related email from someone named Dahlgren!

MATTHEW YGLESIAS SPECULATES on how McCain would look in HDTV.

But actually he looks pretty good. You can see for yourself right here by selecting the high definition version of the interview.

ANDREW CUOMO GOES AFTER INTEL: “Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo of New York issued a wide-ranging subpoena to the Intel Corporation on Thursday as part of an investigation into whether the company violated federal or state antitrust laws in the way it priced and sold microprocessors.”

Gee, why would a New York Attorney General go after Intel? “’At IBM, we strongly believe that our unique joint development partnership with AMD at East Fishkill, N.Y. is key to overcoming power and heat challenges as the industry reaches near atomic scales,’ said Gary Patton, vice president, technology development at IBM’s Semiconductor Research and Development Center.”

Intel just better not try any “shuck and jive” in response . . . .

UPDATE: A reader emails: “I’d be more impressed if Cuomo went after Spitzer’s lackeys for their obfuscation and stonewalling over their involvement in the Troopergate mess.”

SERIAL KILLERS, UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL.

RON PAUL RESPONDS TO HIS CRITICS ON CNN. But: “67% of blacks are in prison”? Surely that’s not what he meant to say. Are 67% of prisoners black? I don’t think that could be it.

UPDATE: Nope: “Although blacks account for only 12 percent of the U.S. population, 44 percent of all prisoners in the United States are black.” Bad enough, but I don’t see how that could be the source of his number.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Reader Kevin Jones emails: “Have you considered the possibility that Paul said ‘6 to 7 percent’ rather than ’67 percent’? That still might be an inaccurate figure, but it’s at least a little more plausible!” Yeah, but I replayed the video and it’s pretty clearly 67%. You can listen for yourself — it’s at about 3:05 – 3:09.

MORE: Reader Brian Macker emails:

Ron Paul brought up 67% in context of drug war. He is using this statistic:

“Thirty-seven percent of drug-offense arrests are black; 53 percent of convictions are of blacks; and 67 percent — two-thirds of all people imprisoned for drug offenses — are black.”

From here:
http://www.nola.com/timespic/stories/index.ssf?/base/news-0/119692401586430.xml&coll=1

I don’t think he’s a racist. All the “evidence” seems to have innocuous explanations.

Well, the “innocuous” explanation is that Paul let people publish crap under his name and didn’t care enough to read it so long as the money came in. Is that something we want in a President, or even a serious candidate? As reader Corinna Cohn emails: “I really like Dr. Paul and I still plan on voting for him in the Nevada caucus, but what really bothers me about that interview is his attitude of, ‘How can you hold me responsible? It was the editor’s responsibility; I’m just the publisher.’ Not a very ‘buck stops here’ type of attitude for someone who wants to be Commander-in-Chief.” Nope.

STILL MORE: Reader Scott Adcox emails: “Looks like he may have gotten that number by prepping for the debate tonight. In SOUTH CAROLINA, blacks make up 67% of the prison population, at least they did in 2003.” He’s right — it’s at the link with the 44% figure above; if you scroll down you can see it broken down by states and South Carolina has the 67.2% percentage for black inmates.

MORE STILL: Bob Krumm: “If after watching this you don’t come away thinking that (a) Ron Paul is a racist or (b) Ron Paul so carelessly oversaw the operation that bore his name that he can’t be trusted to oversee the Presidency, then check a mirror so that you can see what a kook looks like.”

AT KIM DU TOIT’S a request for help.

OUCH: “Perhaps if Mr. Yoo had decided to pursue a life of terrorism, he too could be represented by his alma mater. . . . We trust the dean of Yale Law, Harold Koh, is proud of suing an alumnus on behalf of a terrorist, and that Yale’s other alumni know how their donations are being used.” I’ve heard a lot of complaints that Koh has politicized Yale Law School in ways that Tony Kronman and Guido Calabresi were careful to avoid. This will add fuel to that fire.

WHERE WERE THEY WHEN MICHAEL MOORE WAS RELEASING? Judges: Anti-Clinton film is advertising.

REP. JOHN DOOLITTLE (R-CA) WILL RETIRE. That opens the way for his primary challenger Eric Egland. Mostly, I know Egland from his attendance at Blog World Expo, where he seemed like a nice guy. Here’s his website.

UPDATE: Had him as a D at first — I knew better, don’t know why I typed the wrong thing. I blame Diebold!

I’VE BEEN REMISS in not mentioning Jonah Goldberg’s book-blog.

A REPORT FROM THE FRED THOMPSON blogger conference call. Plus, a pro-Fred blogburst.

PAKISTAN TURNS ON ITS ISLAMIC RADICALS. Let’s hope they make some progress.

JONAH GOLDBERG’S BOOK is now up to #16, and I hear it was even higher midday. I think the attacks on it have backfired.

UPDATE: Steven Den Beste emails: “Isn’t it interesting how placement in the Amazon ratings has replaced the NY Times Best Seller list as a measure of book success?”

I think replaced might be a bit strong. But yeah, I see the point.

A LOOK AT CARLA BRUNI, Sarkozy’s new girlfriend fiancee and the probable future First Lady of France. Unless Fred Thompson gets elected, America is pretty sure to be left way behind. Nice picture.

WHY THE POLLS WERE WRONG — guys like this:

My goal as a political opinion poll dancer is to take up as much of his time as possible by giving misleading, long-winded and totally inaccurate answers to survey questions in hopes of one day producing an outcome — not a Hillary Clinton victory, per se, just a result that defies the pollsters — like the one produced last night in the “Live Free or Die” state. And, while I would like to take sole credit for the results in New Hampshire, I know I must share credit with others like me.

I suspect that people do this sort of thing a lot more than they used to. If I were a pollster, it would worry me.

THOUGHTS ON Tupac Shakur and racism.

PEOPLE ARE DRINKING TOO MUCH: Blame Crate & Barrel. Though, actually, outside of alarmist news articles aren’t people drinking less than they used to? Sure seems that way to me.

Anyway, boozing is good for you. So long as it’s done in moderation, and you exercise, anyway.

IF JAMES LILEKS WERE A DIRTY OLD MAN, his blog would look like this one.

ADVICE TO PRODUCT DESIGNERS, from Mythbusters’ Jamie Hyneman.

ABC NEWS: The Rezko Connection: Obama’s Achilles Heel? “Obama’s Connection With an Accused Political Fixer Raises Questions.”

UPDATE: Andrew Cuomo on Obama’s “shuck and jive.” As Dan Riehl notes: “Thank God he’s a Democrat, or this might actually be racist.”

Of course, what will really doom Obama won’t be scandals or racially dubious language, but John Kerry’s endorsement. Those Clintons are subtle . . . .

ANOTHER UPDATE: A reader emails: “How come no one has complained about how the Harvard Law guy is getting ganged up on by the Yalie law types?” I think that, as a sympathy-attracting move, that’s not going to fly.

WHAT DO WOMEN WANT? A look at women voters and Hillary.