J.D. JOHANNES: How to helicopter-hitchhike in Afghanistan. With a special appearance by the “comfy-chair revolution.” And this: “The better way to recon an area is to ‘rag up’ and drive around in a crappy Toyota pick up truck.” Like Michael Totten and Michael Yon, J.D. relies on reader support, so if you like his work, consider hitting the tipjar or buying a DVD.

POLL: “45% of registered U.S. voters say they disapprove of how the president is handling health care while 43% approve.” I suspect the numbers would be worse if they had polled likely voters.

MICHAEL MOYNIHAN: Yale’s Preemptive Surrender. “This is pathetic. . . . What makes this really enraging is that Yale is one of the best academic presses out there, having published, for instance, the Annals of Communism Series, a diverse group of books that mined the (briefly opened) archives of the Soviet Union and effectively rewrote the history of the Spanish Civil War and the myth of a Leninist revolution betrayed by Stalinism.”

HEALTHCARE BILL PLAYING BADLY even with “hardcore urban Democrats.”

ARE LAYOFFS AT THE San Diego Union Tribune a payoff to public-sector unions? “Questioning the timing” — and the names.

POLL: Most Americans Want Unused Stimulus Money Returned to Taxpayers.

BEWARE the cucumber bandit.

MICKEY KAUS: Edwards’ Love Child: Mandatory Gloating Edition. “Always trust content from Kausfiles.” I think he’s not quite hard enough on the press for trying to keep the lid on this story, though. Keep rockin’!

UPDATE: For those with shorter memories, the “Keep rockin'” is a reference to this L.A. Times memo. More background here.

CRIME CONTROL, NOT GUN CONTROL: Harlem Store Owner Shoots 4 Robbers, Killing 2.

They strode into the restaurant supply store in Harlem shortly after 3 p.m. on Thursday, four young men intent on robbery, one with a Glock 9-millimeter pistol, the police said. The place may have looked like an easy mark, a high-cash business with an owner in his 70s, known as a gentle, soft-spoken man. . . . The first shot took down the gunman at the front. He died almost immediately, according to the police, who said he was 29 and had been arrested for gun possession in Queens last year and was the nephew of a police officer.

Mr. Augusto’s other two blasts hit all three accomplices, who stumbled out the door, bleeding. . . . Gene Hernandez, 47, sympathized with Mr. Augusto, but not with the would-be robbers. “If I were him, I would kill a dozen of them,” he said. “You have to protect your workers and your family. Case closed.”

Surprisingly sympathetic treatment from the NYT.

BYRON YORK: GOP thinks the unthinkable: Victory in 2010. If it happens, they’ll have Obama to thank. If he’d governed as the moderate he pretended to be, they’d be facing a sure shutout.

STIMULUS! Gov’t watchdog questions airport stimulus projects. “The Obama administration used economic stimulus money to pay for 50 airport projects that didn’t meet the grant criteria and approved projects at four airports with a history of mismanaging federal grants, a government watchdog said Monday. Transportation Department Inspector General Calvin Scovel said he plans to examine the Federal Aviation Administration’s process for selecting programs for the $1.1 billion in grant money.”

Obviously, the solution is to fire the Inspector-General.

TOWNHALL PLANT: Not only a fake doctor, but an OFA Organizer. Now that’s astroturf. And note the Houston Chronicle’s complicity.

UPDATE: Reader Chris Martin writes: “Glenn, hi. Just so you know, the Chronicle did (at least in their online edition) follow up on the Roxana Mayer thing and did expose her as lying about her profession.” Good point, but I was referring to this: “Not only was Mayer not a doctor, Roxana Mayer was an Obama delegate, as Patterico discovered with some digging. What’s more, the Houston Chronicle apparently knew this and failed to include it in its glowing coverage of Mayer’s appearance. The reporter, Cindy Horswell, has admitted that she knew Mayer was an Obama delegate and that Mayer didn’t live in Jackson-Lee’s district when she wrote the Chronicle story.”

RICH GALEN: Hillary Needs A Time Out. “Yikes! Could it be that Barack Obama and Bill Clinton made the deal for Bill to go to North Korea before anyone mentioned it to the Secretary of State who, as we now know beyond any doubt, is Hillary Clinton and she was feeling a little left out, once again, of the boy’s club?”

PRO-DEMOCRACY TAX REFORM: Fold Payroll Tax Into Income Tax, End Tax Withholding.

Don’t be silly. If people realized how much they’re paying, there’d be a revolution.

UPDATE: Reader Jamie Wilson writes: “Even better, double down and make tax day the first Monday in November.”

GOOD FOR THEM: ACLU files suit over arrest of man filming police. “The ACLU today filed a federal lawsuit against Allegheny County and University of Pittsburgh police, alleging that officers arrested a Pittsburgh man for using his cell phone to record an interaction between officers and one of his friends. Elijah Matheny, of the Hill District, was arrested on April 29 and charged with violating Pennsylvania wiretapping laws. Police said he recorded an incident without officers’ permission.” That’s because you don’t need officers’ permission to record their activities in public. Such arrests should be federal crimes, enforceable by private prosecution, and punishable by tarring and feathering. Cold tar for the first offense . . . .

TOM BLUMER: My OFA (Organizing for Astroturfing) Adventure.

SELF-HELP: Voters Schedule Town Hall in Colorado Representative’s Absence. “After a series of unsuccessful requests to arrange a town hall over the August recess with Democratic Congresswoman Betsy Markey (CO-4), grassroots organizers opted instead to host their own health care town hall in the congresswoman’s absence – complete with an empty chair and placard for the reticent Markey.”

JOHN STOSSEL: Why Big Business Supports ObamaCare. “When government is big, the well-connected always have an advantage over the rest of us in influencing public policy. . . . It illustrates economist Steven Horwitz’s First Law of Political Economy: ‘No one hates capitalism more than capitalists.'” That’s because capitalism forces them to compete to serve their customers better. State-corporatism makes for happy producers, who don’t have to worry about what the consumers want.

UPDATE: Internal Memo Confirms Big Giveaways In White House Deal With Big Pharma.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Six lobbyists per lawmaker.

FABIUS MAXIMUS: “Benefits must be cut. Benefits must be cut. Doing so will be one of the greatest challenges in US history, like nothing seen since the early 19th century battles over slavery. . . . This will test the structure of our political regime. It’s not in good shape, and fixing it should be one of our top priorities. “

HYPOCRISY: “Rep. Gene Green has voted against bills that require people to present a photo ID before they vote. But don’t show up at one of his public gatherings without a driver’s license. You won’t get in.”

WAVERING: Newly elected Democrats waver on health plan. “Two freshly elected Democrats are wavering in their support of healthcare reform, as a rancorous summer series of ‘town hall’ debates appears to be ­hardening opposition against the Obama administration. Frank Kratovil and Tom Perriello, who as freshmen congressmen would be expected to back the party leadership, both say proposals for expanding coverage to the uninsured are un­acceptable in their current form and should focus more on cost savings. . . . Mounting opposition among such newly elected legislators played a particularly important role in the collapse of the Clinton administration’s effort to push through healthcare reform in 1994.”

SO YOU’VE GOT A BLOATED, UNTRUSTWORTHY PRODUCT THAT PEOPLE AREN’T BUYING AND DON’T LIKE — WHAT’S YOUR SOLUTION? Run more advertising saying that it’s great!

I don’t think the Obama Administration took over GM. I think GM took over the Obama Administration.

GOT A HEALTHCARE QUESTION? Ask Dr. Attila!

POLL: Trust on Issues: Voters Give GOP First-Time Lead on Health Care. “Democrats held a four-point lead on the issue last month and a 10-point lead in June. For most of the past two years, more than 50% of voters said they trusted Democrats on health care. The latest results mark the lowest level of support measured for the party on the now-contentious issue.” It’s not that the Republicans are doing well; it’s that the Obama Administration is doing badly.