MICHAEL YON: Eight Years After 9/11.

THE HILL: Already, 23 Dems have said they will vote ‘no’ on healthcare reform.

IN THE MAIL: From Ron Paul, End The Fed.

MICHAEL TOTTEN: The Warlord In His Castle.

BILL WHITTLE interviews Warren Kozak about his book, LeMay: The Life And Wars of General Curtis LeMay.

FOLLOWING UP ON MY EARLIER CASS SUNSTEIN POST, I actually took a look at his book, Nudge, and it turns out he doesn’t really call for a “presumed consent” system of organ donation. (This is at Kindle Location 2130, which seems to correspond to about 182 in the printed book, which I don’t have in front of me; you can use the “search inside the book” feature on Amazon to get close). While it’s fair to say that Sunstein and his coauthor Thaler see a lot of advantages in presumed consent, they actually come out in favor of “mandated choice” — that is, requiring people to check off yes-or-no on organ donation. The real problem is procrastination, and when forced to make a decision people usually decide to donate; Sunstein and Thaler favor that solution. This is even farther from the Monty Python scenario.

BYRON YORK: When Bush spoke to students, Democrats investigated, held hearings.

THE HILL: Senate must raise debt ceiling above $12T. “The Senate must move legislation to raise the federal debt limit beyond $12.1 trillion by mid-October, a move viewed as necessary despite protests about the record levels of red ink. The move will highlight the nation’s record debt, which has been central to Republican attacks against Democratic congressional leaders and President Barack Obama. The year’s deficit is expected to hit a record $1.6 trillion.”

So what happens if they don’t? After all, Obama voted against raising the debt limit when he was in the Senate.

THE APPRAISAL DEBACLE: Post-Bubble regulations doing more harm than good.

STEEL VELCRO: “German-created steel fasteners can withstand loads of more than 38 tons per square meter, hook and unhook without tools.”

THINGS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED, THIS HOLIDAY WEEKEND:

My Washington Examiner column on Tea Party history. Plus, 18,000 at Cincinnati tea party, and 10,000 in Joliet/New Lenox, and thousands in Austin and Louisville. And Morristown, N.J.

A pattern of incompetence? And, certainly, a pattern of unemployment.

State government finances are a wreck.

Creating a storyline by misquoting Mark Steyn.

Sweet deals for Charles Rangel. Plus, “Ethics for sale?”

My liking for the iPod Touch.

Let My People Go-Go.

Repeating Depression-era mistakes?

Stories the press isn’t reporting. The cover-up is worse than the crime!

A Saul Alinsky boom on the right?

Something to mail your Congressman!

Pizza! On a stick!

And if you don’t think Elvis is Number One, you’re full of Number Two!

UPDATE: This blog report disputes the 18,000 number for Cincinnati. Well, who knows? It was a sheriff’s estimate, but all crowd estimates are iffy.

MORE weekend Tea Party reports.

HE’S BAAACK! The Rev. Jeremiah Wright speaks out. “Well, another of Obama’s chickens is coming home to roost.”

THE POWER OF PROTONS.

JOHN STEELE GORDON: Debt Be Not Proud: The Sorry Tale of America’s Out-of-control Spending.

HEH: “He wasn’t any crazier than the rest of us.”

BYRON YORK: Why Did The Press Ignore The Van Jones Scandal?

LEFT OUT OF THE UNEMPLOYMENT STATS, because they’ve given up and quit looking.

NEW JERSEY: Hundreds take part in ‘tea party’ protest against high taxes in Morristown. If you can get a crowd like this in bluest New Jersey, well . . .

Here’s a photo from reader Richard Driscoll.

UPDATE: Sorry, wrong link before. Fixed now. And here’s another pic, by way of recompense.

ANN ALTHOUSE: Obama’s Speech to Kids Is Nearly 10x As Long As The Gettysburg Address (which was given to adults). Not ten times as good, though.

Plus this: “It’s not a discussion. He’s on television.”

And, from the comments: “Ha, this will play out exactly as I thought it might. My son adores Obama – entirely from things he’s heard at school. By the end of this, he’s going to think of the dude as just one more boring windbag.”

UH OH: “While Obama has a lock on African Americans, his support among white voters seems to be almost in a free fall.” White Democrats and Independents in particular.

WELL, LET’S HOPE: Nobel Economist Sees A Roaring Recovery.

ARE REPUBLICANS PLANNING TO GO AFTER CASS SUNSTEIN?

As I noted earlier, it’s unfair to spin his “presumed consent” idea as “mandatory organ donation” along Monty Python lines. And note this Sunstein defense from Ed Morrissey at Hot Air. And, like Ed, I recommend Sally Satel’s book on the subject. It’s also worth listening to what Virginia Postrel has to say.

At any rate, if Republicans are looking for iffy czars, their time would be better spent on folks like John Holdren, or Ron Bloom.