THE LIMBAUGH EFFECT?

RAND SIMBERG posts an instant review of New Amsterdam.

INSTAPUNDIT’S IRAQ CORRESPONDENT, Major John Tammes, sends this report and photo:

Am now at Tallil, Iraq. I will be working, along with several others, to coach, teach, mentor and advise the Iraqi Army on what they need to do to sustain the fight by themselves.

Before I got to Tallil, I went through an Iraqi Army Basic Combat Training site. The jinood (soldiers) you see seated around the various instructors [you really CAN spot a drill instructor a mile away, no matter what army!] are the ones who will be carrying on the defense of Iraq, when we are all home someday. The Iraqis are starting to find their own way, and with help for a little longer, they will build a capable and formidable regional military.

SOME INTERESTING PATERNITY FRAUD NEWS:

Justice was also shortchanged, the judge said, because Mr. Samuels had been paying child support all of those years.

Last month, Judge Roper ruled that Jamie Hope, the child’s mother, and Oba Wallace, the child’s biological father, would have to repay Mr. Samuels $14,460 in child support he had paid since 1997.

Such an order is unusual, but not unique.

Or maybe it’s non-paternity news.

FAST TIMES at Robot High.

I SEE THEIR LEGAL POINT, but this is a bad PR move:

A federal appeals court today will hear arguments on whether New York State can force airlines to provide passengers with cups of water, air-conditioning, and working restrooms during long delays on the tarmac.

I mean, who wants to be known as the airline that doesn’t provide working restrooms?

OBAMA: A coming press pile-on?

Meanwhile, there’s this: Press to Obama: Call us!

THEY TOLD ME THAT IF GEORGE W. BUSH WERE RE-ELECTED, university employees would be punished for reading the wrong books. And they were right!

THOUGHTS FROM JOE GANDELMAN on Hillary’s comeback narrative. “Clinton, her campaign, and her followers will tout her victory today. And Obama, his campaign and his followers will try to downplay it. But the fact that Obama only won Vermont mean the net result is clear.” It also underscores the class-conflict in this primary, which somebody — I forget who — was characterizing as Starbucks vs. Dunkin Donuts. Or in this case, maybe Ben & Jerry’s vs. Baskin-Robbins . . . .

HILLARY: The comeback kid!

UPDATE: A big wrapup from James Joyner. Excerpt:

Yes, Clinton won. But she didn’t make up much ground in the delegate race. Then again, it’s not as if Obama had a commanding lead.

While winning 50 percent plus one of the delegates is the endgame, the bottom line at this stage of the race is perception. While he’s right on the delegate math, Obama has gone from the all-but-inevitable nominee into merely the frontrunner. And, if Clinton plays her cards right, she’ll convince people that the race is simply tied. Which, for all practical purposes, it is.

Read the whole thing.

AUSTIN BAY LOOKS BEHIND THE Colombia/Venezuela/Ecuador border fracas: “The real news behind South America’s latest border fracas is Colombia’s looming victory in its own narcotics-powered civil war. This is a victory Colombia’s chief international antagonist, Venezuelan caudillo Hugo Chavez, fears — for several calculating reasons.”

MICKEY KAUS: “Have the Obamans blamed their Texas loss on Limbaugh-directed Republican spoilers? Maybe they should.”

UPDATE: On the other hand, Bob Krumm says Obama should blame Canada.

ANOTHER TINY, CHEAP LAPTOP: The Everex Cloudbook. According to this review, though, the Asus Eee PC is a better buy.

A NEAR-SWEEP FOR HILLARY, with Obama taking only Vermont, and her wins in Ohio and Texas were by significant margins. I guess I was right when I suggested this weekend that the Obama wave had broken. Now he’s going to have to campaign like an ordinary candidate, not a messiah.

This is good news for Hillary, for political pundits, and — probably — for John McCain and the Republicans. It’s bad news for Obama, though it gives us an opportunity to see how he performs when things aren’t going his way.

FOX CALLS OHIO FOR HILLARY. At the moment she has a modest lead in Texas, too, but lots of votes are still out.

STEPHEN GREEN IS DRUNKBLOGGING the primary returns.

UPDATE: Megan McArdle is liveblogging too, but she seems to be sober. Soberblogging?

ANOTHER UPDATE: Ann Althouse is liveblogging, too. (Bumped).

A SECOND AMENDMENT FLIP-FLOP from Larry Tribe: “Professor Tribe has the right to change his mind, but the air of forceful certainty with which he today argues for reversal seems inconsistent with his unrequited offer from ten months ago to play a ‘more central role’ in securing affirmance.”

BIG LOSER TONIGHT? Iowa.

OBAMA’S FRIEND — EARLY VOTING: “The Texas exit polls show Obama leading Clinton 52-48 among voters who decided a while back, but Clinton leading Obama by a whopping 61-38 among those deciding in the last three days. Insert your favorite Obama-bruising news story from the past 72 hours here.” More ammunition for Hillary as she stays in the race.

FOX CALLS RHODE ISLAND FOR CLINTON.

UPDATE: “Hope.” Heh.

TEXAS AND RHODE ISLAND called for McCain. Fox reports that Huckabee will be dropping out tonight, as McCain has clinched the nomination.

FOX NEWS CALLS OHIO FOR MCCAIN. The Democratic Primary remains deadlocked at this point.

UPDATE: Indeed: “The exit polls clearly have Clinton winning Ohio, but of course the exits have proven to be wrong in the past. Best to wait for actual vote totals.”

CONGRATULATIONS: Jonah Goldberg’s Liberal Fascism is not only #1 on the bestseller list, it’s also in its 11th printing.

FOX CALLS VERMONT FOR OBAMA, AND MCCAIN.

UH OH: “Don’t Intrade’s numbers suggest a winning strategy for McCain and Clinton is to do a unity ticket together?”

I’m pretty sure the whole would be less than the sum of the parts . . . .