IN THE MAIL: James Mann’s The Rebellion of Ronald Reagan: A History of the End of the Cold War.

TOBY HARNDEN: Barack Obama is a novice – and it shows. “After a distinctly rocky start to his presidency, he has admitted he ‘screwed up’ and is returning to one thing in his political career that he has perfected – campaigning.”

RASMUSSEN: 62% Want Stimulus Plan to Have More Tax Cuts, Less Spending. “Some congressional Democrats are clearly nervous about the negative reaction many voters are having to the plan, but Obama assured them at a weekend retreat in Williamsburg, Va., that he will go all out to publicly campaign for it.”

ARE THE REAL VILLAINS OF THE FINANCIAL CRISIS ON YOUR TV?

The real villains here, the truly bad seeds at the heart of this crisis, have gone unpunished thus far and are still in operation. They are Jeff Lewis and Ryan Brown of Bravo’s Flipping Out, Armando and Veronica Montelongo of TLC’s Flip This House, Kristen Kemp of TLC’s The Property Ladder, Kendra Todd of HGTV’s My House Is Worth WHAT?, and the TLC, Bravo, HGTV, and Fine Living networks in general. All of them encouraged people to take out massive loans in order to buy and renovate homes and sell them at a profit when, really, most people have terrible taste, and furthermore, are bad at laying tile. These shows are still on! WHY?

Actually, My House Is Worth What? seems to be on the way out. That’s too bad, as lately sellers were finding out their houses were worth a lot less than they expected. Maybe the HGTV folks don’t like that, but it seemed a useful corrective . . . .

MICHAEL TOTTEN: A dispatch from the border with Gaza. “The kids in first grade in Sderot were born when rockets were being fired at Sderot. They have lived their entire lives having to think that when they leave the house, when they’re walking down the street, when they’re playing ball, that they have fifteen seconds to hide from an incoming rocket. And it’s not only the kids, it’s the parents. I have a friend who won’t drive with two kids in the car. If the alert goes off he doesn’t want to have to ask himself which of his kids he is going to save.” If the Israelis were doing this to Palestinians, it would be a war crime . . . .

Remember, Michael is supported by reader donations, so if you like his reporting, consider hitting the tipjar.

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: Our Brave New World.

NEW YORK TIMES: ANGELO WHO?

After months of delay, Senator Christopher Dodd has offered a fuller but less than satisfactory account of the V.I.P. mortgage loans extended to him by a key player in the subprime mortgage crisis. Mr. Dodd, the banking committee chairman who oversees remedies for the continuing financial crisis, denied any ethical wrongdoing or “sweetheart deals” in the $781,000 house refinancings he got through the Countrywide Financial Corporation. Even so, the senator announced his mortgages would be refinanced elsewhere as he decried being listed in internal loan files as a “Friend of Angelo.” That’s Angelo Mozilo, the Countrywide chief executive who had a lot of Washington friends happy to avail themselves of attractive mortgage deals before being overtaken by the subprime scandal.

Read the whole thing.

WELL, I WON’T BE: Should men boycott Valentine’s Day? But then, I’m not feeling exploited.

IT DOES SEEM THAT WAY: Tax mistakes common, especially for privileged.

Ask yourself this: If you had tax issues nudging through six figures, is there any doubt the IRS would be bursting down your door? If you are struggling with this, the answer is no.

Yet the powerful and famous can apparently slide through the cracks so long as they are not up for a cabinet post. This could be an answer to the national debt. Nominate everyone in government for something or other and they will all scramble to make overdue payments.

It’s the old “the rules don’t apply to me” mantra that seems to infect anyone who comes within spitting distance of power. We’re in the odd position of being asked to praise people who “voluntarily remember” that they may have skipped out on a tax or two.

Praise is asking a bit much.

SHOW US THE BILL! An open letter on the stimulus, addressed to Harry Reid and President Obama.

VALENTINE’S GIFT RECOMMENDATIONS for men, for women, and — in case there’s no special somebody right now — yourself.

Plus, the all-important bacon-related Valentine’s gifts. Because nothing says “love” like . . . bacon! Except maybe a Baconnaise gift pack. With bonus bacon-flavored lip-balm!

INDEED: “How long does it take people to get something through their skulls? The Prez is black. I‘ve been used to it since months before it happened. (And it seemed normal to me back when he was a long shot.) Are people really still going around dumbfounded, marveling that this — this! — happened in America? What is wrong with you? Get up to speed, people.”

HUNTER S. OBAMA? From ‘Hope and Change’ to ‘Fear and Loathing’.

“The bat is my Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel.”

THE WHITE HOUSE IS taking comments on the DTV delay. Ask ’em about this.

THINGS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED if you were out, you know, having a life over the weekend.

Milton Friedman on greed, and SNL on the stimulus.

The Federal Obama Note.

An “inadvertent” leak of politically sensitive information from the DOJ to the Washington Post.

An in-depth look at the public-pension problem, and the growing public-private employment divide.

A sneak peek at the new, improved InstaPundit site.

Threats against Chicago bloggers. Follow the links, or just scroll down.

CULTURE OF CORRUPTION: Including an appearance by Chris Dodd:

Congress has turned an indulgent eye to these ethical lapses because there are many in Congress who are guilty of the same, or worse. Charles Rangel, New York Democrat, remains chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee despite his failure to pay taxes on $75,000 in rental income, and – according to a report issued Wednesday – repeatedly failing to comply with congressional financial disclosure rules. Sen. Chris Dodd (Democrat, Countrywide Mortgage) remains as chairman of the Senate Finance Committee despite having received a sweetheart loan from one of the worst of the subprime mortgage villains.

Read the whole thing. Meanwhile, Rahm Emanuel has apartment problems:

Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel earned headlines this week upon word that his “renting” of the basement in scarily-spectacled Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT)’s Capitol Hill abode is illegal. Delauro tried to clear up the matter, telling the press that Emanuel’s been staying there for free. Scandal averted? Nope: “Free” is actually worse than “renting,” thanks to the Obama administration’s new and improved ethics rules regarding acceptance of private gifts from personal friends in high places. Delauro’s hub, a Democratic pollster, owns the house. Whoops!

Does a car come with it? Is it taxable?

THE STIMULUS AS PATRONAGE SYSTEM? “It’s a job-capturing system, the same one they have in Chicago… everyone’s asking ‘why isn’t that money being release until 2011 and 2012?’ Because it needs to be released at a time that’s close to the election.”

Well, that would explain the big payoff to ACORN.

UPDATE: Maybe the Republicans shouldn’t be so sanguine.

PUBLIC PENSION UPDATE: Retired, Rehired: Many Collect Connecticut Pensions And Paychecks. I don’t blame people who do this if they’re entitled — but that people can do this so often helps explain why public pensions are so burdened.

SELLOUT? Biden “resets” Russia button – bad news for Eastern Europeans.

Nah. To sell out, you have to get something . . . .

UNDERCOVER AT WAL-MART. With shocking revelations.