PROSECUTORIAL MISCONDUCT: Stevens and Libby.

KEITH HENNESSEY: “How many uninsured people need additional help from taxpayers?” Not nearly the 46 million often claimed.

BONNIE ERBE IS worried about hyperinflation. It’s easy to see why, but gold prices, weirdly, have actually fallen over the past couple of weeks. Does that mean that people who are betting on inflation are easing off on their bets, or am I missing something?

UPDATE: Several readers say the price has been pushed down by talk of IMF gold sales to fund stimulus efforts.

IN THE MAIL: From Kyle Mills, Lords of Corruption. No, it’s not about the House Appropriations Committee . . . .

EVEN A NEW CNN POLL SHOWS SUPPORT FOR GUN CONTROL PLUMMETING:

From Oakland, California, to Binghamton, New York, several mass shootings in recent weeks have killed dozens across the country. But has there been an effect on public opinion? Yes, and in a surprising way.

Since 2001, most Americans have favored stricter gun laws, though support has slightly dropped in recent years: 54 percent favored stricter laws in 2001, compared with 50 percent in 2007, according to Gallup polling.

Now, a recent poll reveals a sudden drop — only 39 percent of Americans now favor stricter gun laws, according to a new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll.

The gradual, long-term decline in support for gun control from the early 1990s to 2008 coincided with a decline in the murder rate. But this year’s sudden drop seems to be influenced by politics, namely the Obama administration.

As Jeff Soyer notes, CNN has generally skewed pro-gun-control, so this is big news. He thinks it may not be fear of Obama that’s driving the change, though: “I’m starting to wonder if the fact that the MSM is spending more time profiling the sick mutants who commit mass shootings is having an unintended — for the anti-gun media — effect of convincing many that it really IS the mind of the killer, not his weapon, that is the problem.”

Meanwhile, where did people come up with what ThinkProgress calls the “false claims” that Obama wanted to take away guns? From listening to Barack Obama. Go figure.

CHRIS DODD UPDATE: Connecticut Post: Dodd Could Use A Good Challenge.

It’s still early to be talking about all of this, but Dodd should have to fight for his nomination this time around, and Pearson could make a good challenger. For one thing, he would represent a major change for people in this part of the state, especially lower Fairfield County, who don’t see much of Mr. Dodd.

Dodd is certainly vulnerable at the moment. Were this a “normal” year, we’d perhaps counsel Pearson to stick to his law practice. He served one term as Greenwich first selectman in the mid-1980s, while Dodd is a five-term United States senator. But Dodd’s troubles of late — an unsettling relationship with Countrywide Financial Corp., a part in the American International Group bonuses saga, and status as a long-term member of the Senate Banking Committee during an era of abuse and meltdown — have caused his approval rating with constituents to sink to a drastically low 33 percent, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released earlier this month.

And state Democrats might consider another finding in the poll: that if elections were held today, Dodd would lose to either of his two declared Republican challengers — former U.S. Rep. Rob Simmons and state Sen. Sam Caligiuri.

Read the whole thing. And they left out the Irish “cottage” affair.

THE COUNTRY’S IN THE SECOND-BEST OF HANDS: Volcker Assumes Smaller-Than-Expected Role With Obama. “The one-time central banker has been put in charge of a presidential advisory board that hasn’t yet had a formal meeting. It has been nearly a month since he has seen Mr. Obama. Mr. Volcker hasn’t been a main player in key decisions handling the global financial crisis.”

THE WISDOM OF PICKING FIGHTS UPWARD in the blogosphere.

JULES CRITTENDEN AND JOHN KEEGAN on Piracy in the age of Obama.

UPDATE: Administration debate. Plus, a “not-so-subliminal message.”

PITCHFORKS: Thailand Evacuates Leaders from Asian Summit After Protests.

BITES FROM THE APPLE: A roundup of news from the Apple Empire.

SHADES OF GIL HAMILTON: Woman has developed an imaginary, but useful, third arm. “After having a stroke, a 64-year-old woman reports that she now has a ‘pale, milky-white and translucent third arm’ that she can use to scratch itchy parts of her body . . . The woman underwent an MRI and when doctors asked her to move her imaginary third limb, her brain responded as if she really had the arm. Her visual cortex activity also indicated that she saw the arm.”

CHRIS DODD’S COMEBACK SLOGAN: “BANKING FOR CHANGE!” No, really. “Dodd thinks he’s helped by reminders of what he’s done with his Banking Committee spot? He might as well run television ads bragging about his Countrywide Mortgage and his wife’s former spot on the Board of an AIG company. Connecticut Republicans are being handed a golden opportunity to remind voters of Dodd’s ethical lapses, and his leadership role in the housing crash and current recession. They ought to attend Dodd’s events in state and ask him why he’s bragging about legislative malpractice and crony capitalism.” And post the replies to YouTube.

UPDATE: From the comments: “It would seem anything with the word ‘change’ is a poor choice for a 50 term incumbent(or whatever) seeking reelection. On the other hand, President Obama already established that the word doesn’t actually mean anything at all, so…”

“LITTLE BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU.” Hey, you know, somebody should write a book on this phenomenon!

ON PJTV, I join Michael Patrick Leahy and Roger Simon in discussing Tea Party protests and vulnerable candidates.

POPULAR MECHANICS: Debunking FEMA Camp Myths.

SO WHY ARE WE SEEING TEA PARTIES NOW, rather than back in the Bush Administration? It’s important to note that we did see pushback on spending in the Bush years — e.g., the PorkBusters movement that Trent Lott became “damn tired” of — but this graphic may explain why people are more upset now. In terms of both trend and magnitude, things are really different now.

EUGENE VOLOKH: The University of the Totally Disarmed.

Many universities ban firearms, but some research I’ve been doing reveals that some universities ban firearms and stun guns and chemical defensive sprays, either in dorm rooms or in the university as a whole. This basically leaves students entirely without any defensive weapons, and also has the effect of disarming dorm residents when they go off campus property, since they have no place to store the defensive weapons when they’re back on campus.

This strikes me as quite shocking, especially with regard to women students who are in the age range where the danger of rape is at its highest. The university basically leaves them as sitting ducks, unless they’re willing to violate the university policy. Even if the university tries to compensate by offering a good deal of on-campus policing (some do and some don’t), it surely can’t protect the students when they leave campus.

Seems like grounds for a lawsuit. But perhaps the universities think the indoctrination in defenselessness is worth the risk.

IS ISRAEL CRYING WOLF? Or are its enemies “crying sheep?” Perhaps Israel could let it be known that if it suffers a nuclear attack, it will launch missiles at Moscow, Berlin, Paris, London, and Madrid, as well as various Arab capitals. Then it will be able to assume that reassurances as to Tehran’s benign intent are sincere, rather than misdirection. . . .

A NEW “SURRENDER MONKEY” ON THE BLOCK? Ouch.

NETROOTS ADVERTISING AND the sense of entitlement.

FLATBED FUN: Remembering the Ford Ranchero and Chevy El Camino. “A car that drips testosterone like a leaky gasket.”

SHANNON LOVE on piracy and the will to do something about it. “I think that, as with terrorism, the return of piracy indicates the collapse of international law and the liberal order it establishes. It tells us how dysfunctional international law has become.”

Plus this, from Tam: “Our new President is displaying all the resolve, aplomb, and effectiveness of Jimmy Carter during the Tehran embassy crisis.”

UPDATE: The Ghost of Fecklessness Past. “Although, if I remember well, Carter at least looked pained and troubled by the whole Iranian Hostage Crisis. That’s why Obama’s attitude is – in my opinion – sub-Carterian in that regard: he just appears too aloof.”

ANOTHER UPDATE: Reuters: Pirates Pose Annoying Distraction to Obama.

But at least some people are finding the humor in the situation.

ANOTHER DAY in the official life of Vice President Joe Biden.

RYAN SINGEL: Open Mobile Internet Now!