SPY PHOTOS of the production Chevy Volt.

DANNY GLOVER ON the McCain online video machine.

HAPPY 100TH BIRTHDAY to Lyndon Johnson.

TIM CAVANAUGH WONDERS WHAT HAPPENED to the “new Democrats.”

REASON TV: Jobs Americans Won’t Do. Heh.

AN EXCERPT from the prepared text of Obama’s speech.

TONIGHT, SENATOR, JOB WELL DONE:

DAVID BERNSTEIN ON THE AARP’S “ridiculous claim that 1.85 million Americans go bankrupt every year due to medical bills. In other words, the AARP is claiming that every single bankruptcy in the U.S. is due to medical bills. Even Elizabeth Warren doesn’t go that far. The AARP has launched a mass media campaign, including television ads, based on this blatantly dishonest premise. One can only hope it will damage its credibility.” Yeah, every time I turn on the TV I see this commercial.

PROGRESS WITH POLYWELL FUSION: A report from Alan Boyle. Faster, please.

HYDROGEN POWERED SPEED CARS at Bonneville. Video at the link.

WHO WILL MCCAIN PICK FOR VP? A discussion. My thoughts: I like Joe Lieberman, and I like the idea of a bipartisan ticket, but somebody — I forget where I saw this, but send me the link if you know — said that a McCain-Lieberman ticket would look like the greeting committee at an old folks’ home. That’s a little harsh, but I can see it. Romney just feels wrong to me, I’m not sure why. He’s got a good resume and he seems like a nice guy, but he comes across as a bit plastic, the opposite of the “straight talk” brand, I guess. The Insta-Wife likes the idea of Carly Fiorina, but I’m not so sure. I don’t see any great picks for him, which says bad things about the Republicans’ farm team. On the other hand, Joe Biden isn’t exactly a fresh face himself. . . . But neither is McCain, and the Obama-Biden ticket has its fresh face already.

INSTA-POLL: Inspired by a commenter over at Ann Althouse’s.

TALKLEFT: Olbermann Reports, You Decide.

CONTRASTING U.S. AND EUROPEAN APPROACHES to nanotechnology and related issues. I have some related thoughts here.

ROBERT POOLE ON Air Traffic Computer Woes and Long Travel Delays.

AT HOT AIR, some video from Denver. Inspired by Borat?

OKAY, I POSTED A LINK to my Is Dick Cheney Unconstitutional? article earlier today, and then when I got to the office my reprints had arrived from the Northwestern University Law Review. But before I can even send them out, I learn that I’m too late: “It was almost as if Vice President Cheney had already left the scene, riding off into the sunset like some cowboy to the Wyoming plains.”

THIS COULD BE A BIG DEAL: Going From One Cell Type to Another Without Using Stem Cells.

ORIN KERR: “Maybe this is a quirky reaction, but the more I get to know Barack Obama, the more he reminds me of Chief Justice John Roberts. Their politics are very different, of course — perhaps 180 degrees apart. But there is something about the two men that strikes me as similar.” So which Justice is McCain like? I’m going with Whizzer White.

WHITE COLLAR CRIME BLOG ON THE KPMG DECISION: “The government did not lose this case, as some might say. In fact, they won. When justice is done for all, as is reflected in this opinion — the prosecution, defense, and society wins.” It sounds like the right outcome, anyway.

DUDE, WHERE’S MY RECESSION? (CONT’D): Economy rebounds in 2Q, mostly spurred by exports. “The Commerce Department reported Thursday that gross domestic product, or GDP, increased at a 3.3 percent annual rate in the April-June quarter. The revised reading was much better than the government’s initial estimate of a 1.9 percent pace and exceeded economists’ expectations for a 2.7 percent growth rate.” Not to say things are hunky-dory — I’m worried about inflation — but this doesn’t look like a recession.

CHARLIE WILSON’S PEACE: In the Washington Post, Charlie Wilson — yes that one — writes:

As we commit troops to the “war on terror,” America’s civilian institutions of diplomacy and development continue to be chronically undermanned and underfunded. We spend 1 percent of the federal budget on these critical elements of our foreign policy, compared with 22 percent on the military and weapons.

While I have always believed in and fought for a strong defense, I know that we cannot rely on the military alone to keep us secure. As the situations in Afghanistan and Georgia suggest, our future threats are likely to come from states that cannot meet the basic needs of their people. We can avoid the need to spend so much on our military — and put so many of our soldiers in harm’s way — simply by investing more in saving lives, creating stable societies and building economic opportunity.

That sounds like the “nation-building” that George W. Bush derided in 2000, but I think we’ve learned better since then.

BIDEN WILL “SMACK OBAMA” if he gets out of line.

UPDATE: In an update, A.C. Kleinheider says that Politico heard it as: “If I hear one more time that [Obama] was 11 years old when I went to the senate, I’m going to smack someone.” That’s kinda different.

TRANSCODING IS NOT A CRIME: This seems obvious to me, but it’s nice to have an opinion on the subject.

BOB BARR THE ONLY ONE ON THE BALLOT IN TEXAS? That could have been fun, but the update says it’s just the website that’s behind.