BARACK OBAMA: Conservative President! It turns out that the fierce moral urgency was really just about not having a Texas accent. Who knew?

WHY ELECTRIC VEHICLES still have air intakes.

JOHN SCALZI IS TALKING TO BUTTER, and the butter is talking back. “It takes a special sort of person to eat an entire stick of butter as it should be consumed, on its own, as a singular digestive experience. I see now that you’re not that person.”

BURGERS BECOME steadily more refined.

AUTO BAILOUT WATCH: Investor Confidence Ebbs. Gee, I wonder why? Plus, bad news on auto production and sales.

IN THE MAIL: Paul Chafe’s Genesis, a space-colonization novel.

DUELING STATESMEN. But only metaphorically, not in that Andrew Jackson sense.

UPDATE: Related item from Toby Harnden.

THE FIERCE MORAL URGENCY OF CHANGE (CONT’D): Obama Faces Pitfalls With ‘Surgical’ Tack on Detainees.

“PUNITIVE LIBERALISM” at Ogilvy & Mather.

IS THERE A MEMBER OF CONGRESS DUMBER THAN ALAN GRAYSON? Well, sure — it’s Congress we’re talking about — but still . . . .

TEA PARTY PROTESTS: Being emulated in Spain.

STANDING UP TO CNN: Susan Roesgen video takedown effort fails, original video back on YouTube.

SHOCKER: Political corruption in Britain and Europe. It’s worse when they have no fear of the public.

A U.S. NATURAL GAS BOOM from Shale Gas.

A RECESS APPOINTMENT FOR DAWN JOHNSEN? But would that be legal? . . . .

TIM CAVANAUGH: Green shoots bustin’ out all over! “From the rising of the sun until the going down thereof, the benefits of the economic rescue packages bring forth savory fruits in rightwiseness abundantly. Sing their praises.” Plus this: “Goldbugs, please tell us you told us so politely.”

AIR FORCE ON GPS OUTAGE REPORTS: Calm down, civilians. Plus, some skepticism.

SAN DIEGO UNION TRIBUNE: Don’t Blame Voters for California’s Financial Mess: Crisis due to leaders’ profligacy, incompetence. No wonder the “leaders” want them fired . . . .

PENSION UPDATE: L.A. police union wants San Diego newspaper writers fired.

For pointing out unsustainable public pensions. No entitlement issues here.

UPDATE: Bill Quick: “If nothing else, this demonstrates the problems with setting up financial ‘bailouts’ of newspapers that give special interests even the appearance of ownership authority over the content those newspapers deliver.”

RASMUSSEN: Voters strongly oppose federal bailout for California: “Twenty-four percent (24%) of voters nationwide favor federal bailout funds for states like California that are encountering ‘serious financial problems.’ The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 59% are opposed to such bailouts.”

So better than 2-1 against. But wait, there’s more: “Voters from outside the Golden State oppose federal loan guarantees by a 69% to 20% margin.” But there’s also this: “Voters have consistently opposed federal bailout funds for the auto industry, the banking industry and insurance companies. Looking back on the bailouts that were provided, most continue to believe they were a bad idea.”

So why did we get them anyway? An answer: “As on many issues, the difference in opinion between the Political Class and the rest of the nation is larger than the gap between the political parties.”

INVESTORS DUMP DOLLARS. “Adding to the dollar-bear view Thursday was concern about big tranches of Treasurys hitting the market soon and the prospect of the U.S.’s own triple-A rating taking a hit. The Fed’s release of minutes Wednesday showing that it mightn’t be done pumping money into the economy also affected the dollar.”

MICKEY KAUS ON THE BAILOUT: “I don’t want to sound like Veronique de Rugy here, but who will pay the price if when this half-baked ‘restructuring’ fails? In normal ‘capitalism at work,’ those who would pay the price will be those who made the deal and put up their money–the capitalists. (Query: Would Scott Sperling invest his firm’s money in this dubious proposition?) If When Obama’s plan fails, the monetary loss will fall not on Obama, but on the taxpayers. It will likely be made up somehow by the taxpayers (via higher tax assessments or inflation). That’s not ‘capitalism at work.’ It’s something else at work. But I’d be all for it, if I thought it really would work. It won’t, and it will be Obama’s fault.”

NO INVESTIGATIONS: House rejects probe into Pelosi CIA claims. “House Democrats on Thursday defeated a Republican push to investigate House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s claims that the CIA misled her in 2002 about whether waterboarding had been used against terrorism suspects. The House voted 252-172 to block the measure that would have created a bipartisan congressional panel. Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, sponsored the resolution.” Apparently, all these calls for torture investigations are now just “partisan politics.”

MAYBE I SHOULD BUY A NEW CAR NOW, BEFORE THEY RUIN THINGS: House Panel Passes Limit on Greenhouse-Gas Emissions. “A bill to create the first national limit on greenhouse-gas emissions was approved by a House committee yesterday after a week of late-night debates that cemented the shift of climate change from rhetorical jousting to a subject of serious, if messy, Washington policymaking.”

HAPPILY, IT WAS STOPPED IN TIME: NYC terror case latest of many homegrown plots.