DAN RIEHL ON where Tea Party protests might do the most good. Arizona is obviously a hot spot.

I would also suggest to people who want to do something, but can’t pull off a protest — especially if you have a Democratic Representative — that you can do a lot of good by setting up a meeting with your Rep. in his/her local office. Make an appointment by calling the local office (it’s not hard) and take 10-15 minutes to express your concern with unread bills, excessive spending, and barriers to capitalism. This will make an impression.

MICKEY KAUS: Unions Don’t Deliver: “In the free-for-all race to fill Rahm Emanuel’s House seat, the Service Workers International Union (SEIU) backed one candidate. The AFL-CIO backed another. They both lost!”

INVESTORS: The New Special Interest Group? Yeah, who knew that a 401(k) plan made you evil.

But hey, since Obama won I’m, like, 40% less evil . . . .

HARTFORD COURANT: CNBC’s Kudlow After Dodd’s Seat?

As conservative economist on the weeknight CNBC show “Kudlow and Co.,” Larry Kudlow just last month was poking at U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn.

Dodd “has yet to divulge fully his sweetheart mortgage deals with the former Countrywide,” Kudlow said in a Feb. 13 screed. “He’s re-fi’ed his mortgages, but we don’t know those documents, either. Instead of being impeached, he’s still around.”

Now, it appears as if the TV show host and economic consultant and syndicated columnist may be going directly after Dodd.

Politico reporter Josh Kraushaar reported Monday that Kudlow “confirmed his interest” in running against Dodd in 2010.

Works for me. I like Larry. And, anyway, I’m ready to go ABD: Anybody But Dodd.

APPLE NEWS UPDATE: Oh Happy Apple Day: New iMac, Mac Mini, Mac Pro and More. “Apple not only unleashes new iterations of its entire desktop lineup–iMac, Mac mini, and Mac Pro–but also refreshes its lineup of Airport Extreme and Time Capsule wireless networking products (as well as throws in a new wired Apple keyboard and a faster MacBook Pro for kicks).”

JONATHAN ADLER: The “stimulus” and the Spending Clause.

MY BEHAVIOR IN MEETINGS IS CLEARLY ADAPTIVE: Doodling While Listening Improves Memory Recall. Good news for Althouse, too. For my colleague — you know who you are — who can’t keep the iPhone pocketed, though, well . . . you’ll have to wait for further research!

POLITICO: Dodd’s Dangerous Wall Street Dance:

Just 18 months ago, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd slowed efforts to hike taxes on a portion of Wall Street bonuses, saying he was “concerned about the potential adverse effects” on investment and employment.

Now, as unemployment rises and credit markets freeze, Dodd is hunting for Wall Street blood. . . .

Like any Washington survivor who senses that the political tide is shifting, Dodd knows he must swim with it or sink in its wake.

And for Dodd, the danger of drowning is quite real. He’s up for reelection in 2010, and he has seen his poll numbers drop dramatically since a report last year about his alleged special mortgage deal from Countrywide Financial.

“Dodd actually is a vulnerable incumbent right now,” said Gary Rose, chairman of the government and politics department at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Conn. “This is an effort on his part to once again re-establish himself as a man of the people.”

But can Dodd make that turn and still count on the support of financial services firms — or at least those that still exist — to keep pumping money into his campaign coffers? . . . Voters, wary of what seems like an endless succession of bailouts, want elected officials to come down hard on the industry and its once-extravagant executives. But Dodd’s contributor list reads like a who’s who of the economic meltdown: Citigroup, Bear Stearns, American International Group and Goldman Sachs are top campaign contributors.

If I were them, I’d try to take him out. As an example to others . . . .

UPDATE: I’m guessing that the whole Irish “cottage” thing won’t help his image as a man of the people, even in Connecticut.

MORE BUYER’S REMORSE? “Like the college students who stayed up late to be inspired by his campaign rallies only to find Obama’s first significant action to be a stimulus program that will transfer about a trillion dollars from them to the Baby Boomers, Silicon Valley Obama supporters are likely to find that a government-dominated economic era will not a great one in which to start companies that threaten big incumbent corporations that have juice with the government. I hope they appreciate the irony.”

PAUL BEDARD: GOP to Michael Steele: Quiet About Rush Limbaugh or You’re Fired. Steele seems to have managed to blow it completely. Was it smart to criticize Limbaugh? Probably not at this juncture. But it was clearly stupid to first criticize, then grovel. Nobody wins there, except Limbaugh.

Meanwhile, I’ll note that while Limbaugh was after me in 2006 for pointing out the GOP’s problems, he seems to have come around to my point of view since . . . .

A TEA PARTY PROTEST SCHEDULED FOR ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, a week from today.

THE HILL: NRA Forces Pelosi Retreat.

AT THE WSJ, CRITICISM OF NANCY-ANN DEPARLE: Health-Reform Appointee Sits on Health-Industry Boards. But, as Megan McArdle notes, those are the people who understand the health industry. One hopes, though, that Obama — who’s appointed lots of financial-industry insiders even while demonizing the financial industry — won’t do the same kind of thing here. When you appoint insiders, it’s pretty much a statement that you don’t think insiders are evil. Right?

JAMES TARANTO: “Not long ago, President Obama was warning of catastrophe if his so-called stimulus bill didn’t pass Congress. Now that it has passed, and now that Obama has outlined plans for further massive expansions of government, the performance of the stock market has given genuine reason to fear catastrophe.”

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: The Great Divider.

CONGRESSIONAL QUARTERLY: Democratic Revolt May Slow Obama Agenda.

THE SPECIAL ELECTION TO FILL KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND’S SEAT may actually be a race.

BUT OF COURSE: Limbaugh Basks In Obama’s Spotlight.

Plus, Peter Daou: Why on Earth Are Democrats Legitimizing and Empowering Rush Limbaugh?

JOURNALISTS TELL US THAT WHEN NEWSPAPERS FOLD, WE’LL LOSE IMPORTANT REPORTING. Which would be bad. On the other hand, there’s this performance from the Chicago Tribune, which reminds me how little important reporting we’re getting now: Chicago Tea Party Gets Scrutiny but Scant Coverage.

Perhaps they read it here in the Tribune, or the New York Times, or heard in on the Mancow Muller radio show on WLS, who repeated the claim today (while saying a well put So What?), but the general story coming from the media (all based on a rather wild article from Playboy Online) was that the protest against spending was not a grass roots movement. Mind you, neither the Tribune nor the New York times carried a word about the actual Tea Party protests, even though the protest occurred right outside the Tribune lobby, the only coverage was that there may have been some type of scripting involved. . . .

So we are left with some stranded stories, covering a “controversy” but ignoring the actual protest itself. At last count there were 130 stories on Google News claiming some type of controversial scripting of events, from the likes of the Tribune and the New York Times, and 75 stories actually covering the event, from the likes of the Chicago Daily Observer and some increasingly relevant blogs.

The Tribune covered the anti-protest smear, but didn’t cover the protest itself, leaving that to blogs, etc. And we’re supposed to cry for the disappearance of newspapers? Maybe if they actually did what they claim they do, people would miss them more when they were gone. Heck, maybe if they actually did what they claim they do, people would actually subscribe now. You never know.

Like Dave Winer says: “Dear news people — WE ARE NOT HAPPY WITH THE JOB YOU’RE DOING.”

CONGRESS won’t be carbon-neutral. Seems it’s too much trouble.

REWARD: Palin Foe Gets Administration Job.

UPDATE: Related: More journalists taking jobs in Obama Administration.

MICHAEL YON, on torture.

QUESTION OF THE DAY: Is Rush Limbaugh more like Hitler or Malcolm X?

SAYUNCLE: “If, say five years ago, you told me that there would be an actual discussion on the floor of passing concealed carry laws in Illinois, I would not have believed you. But it’s happening.”

HMM: “What Limbaugh’s selection suggests is that Democrats are running out of blame targets. The Republicans are now a minority in both houses. And as Obama’s failures aggregate into a deepening crisis of confidence the Democrats’ need for villains will increase in an effort to deflect blame. And this is why I despair. I predict that in opting to campaign rather than govern, the Democrats are likely to spread the blame net far and wide. The result will be uber-polarization more typical of socialist and fascist polities. The stock market not cooperating? Blame capitalists, the banks, the ‘investor class.'” Kulaks! Hoarders and wreckers!

Related thoughts here: “Who’s the enemy of the week? A talk radio host! Admittedly, not just any talk radio host. But that’s my point: does the administration realize how silly they look going after Rush? Doesn’t it belie a certain substantive hollowness to Obama’s agenda that he must keep looking for someone to blame, rather than focus on the business of governing? Makes me wonder, with all due respect, how Peggy Noonan can perceive Obama as presidential as this? If Obama were being presidential, he would inspire confidence. That he feels he has to go after Rush to control the debate does not.”

Plus, “This is way bigger than Rush.”