CHRIS DODD UPDATE: The Cook Political Report downgrades his race to a “toss up.”

STATES REBEL AGAINST WASHINGTON with “sovereignty resolutions.” I’ve been getting email on this for a while, but I’m not sure how much to make of it. Still, it’s gotten the attention of the Christian Science Monitor.

HMM: Florida Moms Behind Huge Orlando Tea Party.

DOES PRESIDENT OBAMA want his bank plan to fail?

UPDATE: A cynical reader emails:

I have a feeling there’s even more to this story, namely, that the reason Geithner is rattling around Treasury alone (except for the interns) is because, when the banks do fail, it’ll be convenient for Obama to push him under the bus. They won’t have to sort through which deputies were part of Timmy’s mess, since there aren’t any there now. Also, why make a perfectly good candidate undergo the hearing process, only to be purged when the boss-man at Treasury fails?

Obama made a big public deal of saying if Geithner tendered his resignation he wouldn’t accept it. To many pundits, that seemed like an unequivocal support of Timmy. But I think the possibly real intention was to keep his fall-guy in place long enough for the push…

Obama’s scapegoat will get all the blame when the plan fails, and Obama can appear to be free of any taint when Timmy’s forced out. Win-win for the O man…

Among the questions the media will probably fail to ask are: why did the administration wait so long to fill the deputy positions at Treasury, when the economy was probably the biggest and most pressing issue they had before them, and obviously Geithner couldn’t address those problems all by himself? If Obama’s so smart, how is it he apparently surrounds himself with incompetents incapable of doing their jobs? Should we be concerned about his judgment in other areas, as well?

Too cynical?

OBAMA’S Rumsfeld problem.

THE NEXT GREATEST GENERATION.

BECAUSE THE STOCK MARKET IS DOWN, people are saying the 401(k) has “failed.”

But the question is, “compared to what?” Public pensions are woefully underfunded — they’re promising defined benefits, but may not be able to deliver. Defined-benefit private pensions are dragging companies like GM, Ford and Chrysler toward bankruptcy. And Social Security is on an unsustainable trajectory, which the political system knows but which politicians can’t bear to confront. At least when 401(k) balances go down, the whole system isn’t rendered insolvent.

RAND SIMBERG: Heckuva Job, Timmy!

MARKDOWNS ON PATIO FURNITURE. My favorite chair, alas, was a casualty of a nasty windstorm a while back.

GUN CONTROL FOR ZIP CODES WHERE LOTS OF BLACK PEOPLE LIVE. Actually, pretty consistent with the history of gun control generally. Eugene Volokh is very charitable on the question of whether there’s racism involved.

UPDATE: Reader John Vecchione writes with a fair point:

In fairness, places like the District have large black majorities for gun control (but many folks owning an illegal gun for protection) combined with white liberals who are also for gun control.

That African-Americans do not seem to see 2d amendment rights as intrinsic to the freedom they fought for may be a legacy of being disarmed but they are voting for it now, not having it imposed.

The inconsistency between votes and actions, of course, isn’t unusual in politics.

“SMART DIPLOMACY,” flunking global tests.

OUR “NON-POLITICAL” JUSTICE DEPARTMENT. You were warned.

FROM TOYOTA, a low-cost hybrid based on the Yaris.

HECKUVA JOB, TIMMY: “More than a month ago, Tim Geithner announced a new website: financialstability.gov. ‘The website will give Americans the transparency they deserve,’ he promised. As of today, however, the website is still under construction.”

HOW CONVENIENT: The press is changing its recession narrative.

But nobody told Nouriel Roubini.

SORRY, COLBERT: No Mars Rover For You. I prefer the name Serenity anyway . . . .

WORK? “More than three decades of research shows that a focus on effort—not on intelligence or ability—is key to success in school and in life.” Hey, I’ve got an idea — why don’t we organize society so that it rewards hard work! We could even see that people who work harder and do better make more money! And then their efforts would pay off in more general societal prosperity, making life better for everyone! And we could . . . Naaaah.

A TRAILER FOR Where The Wild Things Are.

Plus, teaching toys for kids.

POLITICO: Pot-related questions deluge White House. “When the White House put out a call for town hall questions, it might not have been expecting this. The more than 92,000 people who responded either have Cheech and Chong senses of humor or there is a deep concern in America — undetected by the media — about the decriminalization of marijuana, its possible use for medicinal purposes and its potential as a new source of tax revenue.”

ERIK SOFGE: Forget the Smart Grid, We Need Smart Spending (On the Grid).

RUSSIAN ROCKET carries space tourist.

IN 2010, Kansas will be voting on adding a right to arms to the state constitution.

SUBURBAN COWBOY.

FOLLOWING UP ON THE A.I.G. PRECEDENT WITH The Manny Ramirez Tax.

I SUPPORT MANDATORY MINIMUMS: When they’re for yellow-light intervals.