GIZMODO: Robot Cow Rectum: For Educational, not Recreational, Purposes.

JEFFREY GOLDBERG: When Muslims Commit Violence.

I am not arguing, of course, that American Muslims, as a whole, are violently unhappy with America (I’ve argued the opposite, in fact). But I do think that elite makers of opinion in this country try very hard to ignore the larger meaning of violent acts when they happen to be perpetrated by Muslims. Here’s a simple test: If Nidal Malik Hasan had been a devout Christian with pronounced anti-abortion views, and had he attacked, say, a Planned Parenthood office, would his religion have been considered relevant as we tried to understand the motivation and meaning of the attack? Of course. Elite opinion makers do not, as a rule, try to protect Christians and Christian belief from investigation and criticism. Quite the opposite. It would be useful to apply the same standards of inquiry and criticism to all religions.

Yep. Heck, forget religion. If he’d just been a big Sean Hannity or Rush Limbaugh fan, that would be all the explanation required. . . .

UPDATE: Why Was Major Nadil Malik Hasan Still In The United States Military?

HEH: Toronto Star Copyeditor Edits Memo Announcing the Elimination of Copyeditor Jobs. “This is very funny stuff, but having looked at the markup, I have to say that I would ask for a different copyeditor in future.”

ILYA SOMIN: Why the Neglect of Communist Crimes Matters.

ED MORRISSEY: Is this the high-water mark for ObamaCare?

The Democrats wheedled, cajoled, begged, and finally abandoned its defense of abortion — truly a watershed moment — in order to get their version of ObamaCare passed … in the House of Representatives, where they enjoy a 75-seat majority. In the end, they could only muster a five-vote win on Nancy Pelosi’s bill out of that strong majority. Until this week, most had assumed that any ObamaCare bill would pass the House easily, but that the fight would be in the Senate.

So what does this 220-215 vote tell us? Capitol Hill Democrats know that this bill is an albatross. It’s true that Pelosi was able at the end to negotiate votes to allow a few at-risk Democrats that supported the bill to oppose it in the final vote, but even that tells a tale of fear and consciousness of unpopularity. The razor-thin vote, as well as a number of earlier, more sincere defections, show that this bill was a radical and expensive approach to fix a 13% problem — and even most of the Democrats know it. . . . We always thought the fight was in the Senate, so the only real surprise yesterday was how weak Pelosi actually was on ObamaCare.

If you don’t like it, make sure your Senator knows.

SHANNON LOVE: “Fox is supplanting the role long played by the New York Times and the Ochs-Sulzberger family that owns the 88% of the paper. For nearly 50 years, the Times has sent out its headline for the next day out on the wire and newspapers and broadcasters have en masse synchronized their own stories to whatever the NYT decided to cover. . . . Now Fox has stolen the crown. Even people who hate Fox now find themselves forced to react to it. Politicos and pundits who want to reach half of the cable news audience have to show up on Fox. Other news organizations are forced to cover the same stories as Fox just to remain relevant.” I agree that the programming is visually kinda garish, but apparently they know what they’re doing.

ARTHUR SILBER: “In periods of general social dislocation, upheaval and turmoil, possibilities for coalition-building appear that may not exist in other times. We are living through such a period today in many ways.”

UPDATE: “Anger is an energy.”

TOBY HARNDEN: Bloodless President Barack Obama makes Americans wistful for George W Bush.

Hey, they’re already selling the bumper stickers.

UPDATE: Reader Arnie Schulberg sends this. Heck, some Republicans are missing Bill Clinton. I think before it’s over, even Jimmy Carter will look okay.

A NARROW SLIVER: “One would think such an historic and noble action, as the Democrats have styled it, would enjoy robust support from the full spectrum of the House Democratic caucus. But in this case, only those who occupy safe seats (or think they do) can be corralled. If Pelosi gets her 218 votes, it will be unprecedented. It is fair to say that never will a piece of legislation this sweeping (and damaging) have been passed over the opposition of so much of the electorate and on the votes of such a narrow ideological slice of the governing class.”

FAINT PRAISE: Don Surber compares me favorably to . . . Mike Dukakis.

MORE ON THAT Capitol Hill shoving incident.

“SMART DIPLOMACY:” “China on Friday accused the US of protectionist and biased trade policies less than a week before president Barack Obama’s first visit to Beijing. n a stinging rebuke to Washington, China’s commerce ministry promised to take measures to protect its domestic industry after the US slapped anti-dumping duties on $2.6bn of Chinese steel pipe imports. The duties are part of a growing roster of trade conflicts between the two countries, despite a high-level meeting last week in China aimed at reducing tensions.”

JERRY POURNELLE: “Unemployment is over 10%. It wasn’t supposed to get that high. TARP was supposed to fix that. . . . If the health care bill passes, it will fundamentally convert these United States into a different kind of popular democracy, which generally means rule by a unionized bureaucracy organized to vote. Once that much of the economy is run by government, economic recovery as many hope for will simply be impossible. Permanent unemployment at 7% or so; median income perhaps 10% higher than it is now, but not much higher; and a long period of stagflation. Reluctance to take on new employees, and great incentive to export jobs. Is this a picture of the future? We will have to see, as Congress debates the health care and carbon tax bills. . . . With Detroit a ruin and manufacturing industries on the ropes, small business is the only possible engine of recovery from what they don’t call a Depression; so the Congress is going to add an 8% tax on employing people. We already have the longest period of increasing unemployment since the Great Depression; I presume we are going for a really big record setting period of increasing unemployment. . . . The incentives are now to the job black market — hire illegal immigrants who don’t have to have health insurance — or to export the job if that can possibly be done.”

HEALTHCARE BILL PASSES HOUSE, 220-215. Elections matter.

IF WE DON’T GET NATIONAL HEALTHCARE, THE TERRORISTS WILL HAVE WON!

Participants also said Obama had referred to this week’s shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas, in which 13 people were killed. His remarks put in perspective that the hardships soldiers endure for the country are “what sacrifice really is,” as opposed to “casting a vote that might lose an election for you,” said Rep. Robert Andrews, D-N.J.

Well, there you are then.

THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU DROP THE BALL: “While DHS was busy putting tea parties and anyone who dares fly the official military Gadsen flag on the domestic terrorist watch list, a real terrorist was spouting off online, glorifying suicide bombings and our mission in Iraq. I mean, I’m sure if I drink enough I might be able to understand the perception that a bunch of middle-class people peacefully dissenting with certain Washington policies are way more dangerous than a dude who talked about terrorist stuff on social sites and had gotten authorities’ attention six months ago.”

Yeah, Napolitano, et al. seem to have had their priorities misplaced. Here’s more on what they missed. And don’t forget what NPR reported.

UPDATE: Reader C.J. Burch emails: “Ah, but those middle class protesters are a threat to politicians’ power. Terrorists are just a threat to their constituents’ lives. See the difference?” Such a cynic.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Washington Post: Officials may not have heeded warning signs. “Law enforcement officials also faced questions about whether they had missed possible warning signs. Six months ago, investigators came across Internet postings, allegedly by Hasan, that indicated sympathy for suicide bombers and empathized with the plight of Muslim civilians killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a federal official briefed on the situation. The official, and another source, said investigators never confirmed whether Hasan was the author of the postings and did not pursue the matter.” Too busy worrying about Glenn Beck viewers, military veterans, and Tea Party organizers, I guess.

MORE: Obama targets “teabag people” as extremists.

FORT HOOD UPDATE: Telegraph: Texas army killer linked to September 11 terrorists. “Major Nidal Malik Hasan worshipped at a mosque led by a radical imam said to be a ‘spiritual adviser’ to three of the hijackers who attacked America on Sept 11, 2001.”

RECOVERY! Freddie Mac posts $5 billion loss. “Freddie Mac, the second largest provider of U.S. residential mortgage funding, on Friday posted a loss of $5 billion in the third quarter and predicted it would need more government support amid a ‘prolonged deterioration’ in housing.”

MORE SKEPTICISM regarding Barney Frank’s professed unfamiliarity with pot. I think he’s being as honest as he has been on the stimulus and healthcare. . . .

THE JOYS OF MONOPOLY.

STEPHEN GREEN: The week in blogs.

SUNNY THOUGHTS FROM ARNOLD KLING: “Everything the Fed has been doing over the past fifteen months makes sense if you think of their goal as transferring wealth from taxpayers to banks. If you try to explain it as an attempt to implement an expansionary monetary policy, you won’t even get past my high school students.”

OBAMA, AYN, CAESAR, SCOZZAFAVA: The latest PJM Political is online, in case you missed it on XM/Sirius.

JULES CRITTENDEN ON phony “backlash” fears. The fact that the powers-that-be are so afraid that ordinary Americans will suddenly form a mindless angry mob tells you more about powers-that-be, and what they fear, than about ordinary Americans . . ..

HARNESSING SPACE INTERNET PROTOCOLS with Android.