WITH ALL THE TALK TODAY ABOUT best Presidents, favorite Presidents, etc., let me put in a plug for Presidential Leadership: Rating the Best and the Worst in the White House. I have the chapter on William Henry Harrison, who may not have been the best President, but who probably did the least damage . . . .

WHILE PEOPLE COMPLAIN ABOUT “COWBOY STYLE AMERICAN CAPITALISM,” Europe looks worse.

AT THE COMMERCIAL APPEAL, a new appreciation for privacy.

IT SEEMS PRETTY STRAIGHTFORWARD TO ME: Carlos Slim, who pumped $250 million into the NY Times last month, is profiled today in the paper as a Mexican telecom billionaire with a “complex relationship to the news media.”

FROM MICHAEL YON, some interesting Afghan statistics.

RUSSIA: Living on Cold War leftovers.

A FREE BOOK ON Free Range Kids. “Over the past 30 years activities that previous generations of children enjoyed without a second thought have been relabelled as troubling or dangerous, and the adults who permit them branded as irresponsible. No Fear argues that childhood is being undermined by the growth of risk aversion and its intrusion into every aspect of children’s lives.” Yes, when The Dangerous Book for Boys is seen by some as actually dangerous, it’s time for a response.

THE “STIMULUS” PLAN IS already creating jobs!

CORPORATE JUNKETS BAD, CONGRESSIONAL JUNKETS GOOD!

But as they fume over inflated salaries and lavish travel by executives whose companies are on the federal dole, members of Congress are getting a raise, and making travel plans. . . . Lobbyists may not directly pay for lawmakers’ travel and meals, under recently strengthened Congressional ethics rules. So instead, corporations contribute to tax-exempt groups — and those groups pay for lawmakers to attend events.

So that’s completely different, then.

PERRY DE HAVILLAND: It’s the Credit Bubble, Stupid. “But to the entire political looter class, and I mean not just the elite elements but also including the millions and millions of people who took loans they could not repay and voted for the people whose regulations provided the perverse incentives for banks to loan money to them, the important things was to… keep lending. And this, boys and girls, is what we call a Credit Bubble. And why do we call it a bubble? Because when loans are given out at a rate greater than actual economic growth can support, the amount of loans (assets) that go bad increases because the increased lending was not supported by an increased ability to pay the loans back… and when that fact becomes clear, people with money suddenly stop lending… the ‘bubble’ bursts.”

JULIAN KU on protectionism and the “stimulus” bill.

POLITICO: Burris under an ethical cloud. “Illinois state House Republicans are calling on Burris to resign; he’s facing a possible perjury investigation in his home state; and his Senate colleagues may face new pressure to launch an ethics committee probe to determine whether he should be expelled from the body. So far, Democratic leaders in Illinois and Washington have offered little public support, and the new state governor, Pat Quinn, has called on Burris to more fully explain himself.”

A HOMELAND SECURITY BLOG from Stewart Baker.

NOW THEY TELL US: White House Dampens Stimulus Expectations. No surprise: As was obvious to anyone who was paying attention, it was always about paying off special interests, not helping the economy.

JOHN TIERNEY: Why not bring a Neanderthal back to life?

HOT AIR: Obama administration no longer issuing denials on Fairness Doctrine.