ROLL CALL: Labor Prepares a Recess Blitz On Card-Check.

ADVICE ON DEPOLITICIZING THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT, FOR ERIC HOLDER:

Holder may wish to (re)read the recent white paper on the proper role of the OLC, Principles to Guide the Office of Legal Counsel, drafted by AAG for OLC nominee Dawn Johnsen and endorsed by nineteen former OLC attorneys. This paper explained the nature of the legal advice that OLC should provide, distinguishing it from the sort of advocacy advice Holder sought.

I think this is where theory meets practice, and practice wins.

GAY PATRIOT ON MEDIA DOUBLE STANDARDS:

After reading that anti-globalisation/anti-war protests in London drew “about 4,000 protesters,” I thought that number of protesters looked familiar, so I decided to check how many showed up at last month’s “Tea Party” protesting higher taxes and increased government spending in Cincinnati. Looks like I was onto something. According to the local paper, “about 4,000 protesters showed up.”

Crowds about the same size should generate about the same amount of coverage, right?

On the one hand, the Tea Party protesters would undoubtedly get more attention if they broke things and hurt people, the way the lefty anti-globo / “peace” protesters did. On the other hand, these protests at the G-20 meetings are a stale ritual now, while the Tea Party phenomeon is something new and, presumably, thus more newsworthy.

UPDATE: But there’s always the alternative media. Reader Pat Birmingham writes from Hilton Head, South Carolina: “About 300 people attended a tea party in Bluffton yesterday afternoon. The gathering was polite, and a half dozen folks carrying Obama signs were ignored for the most part. The only drawback is that this year’s crop of no see-ums are big enough that you can see um.” Here’s a pic. These things just keep happening across the country, in one Congressional district after another.

ATLAS SHRUGGED CHICANERY at Wikipedia?

HEARING “CRICKETS” OVER THE BUDGET? Is that what this is? Let’s turn that into a plague of locusts, then. . . .

MULTIGENERATIONAL TEA PARTYING! A member of the InstaPundit old-girlfriend network emails:

Hey Glenn,

I had to tell you, on April 15, there will be three generations of my family at Tea Parties in various cities! I can’t believe it, but my mom signed up for one in Peachtree City. She said that she felt like she had to do something. Heh.

Indeed.

HMM: Harvard Derivatives Whiz Fired For Emailing Larry Summers About “Frightening” Trades? “A former quantitative analyst at Harvard Management Company, the university’s once-vaunted endowment manager, tells the Harvard Crimson she was fired for voicing concern to then-university president Larry Summers’ chief of staff about the money manager’s risky use of derivatives the traders didn’t understand.”

The country’s in the very best of hands.

SMART DIPLOMACY: An iPod for the Queen.

A MISMANAGED, BANKRUPT ENTITY PAYING OUT BIG BONUSES WITH TAXPAYER DOLLARS: “While Congress has been flaying companies for giving out bonuses while on the government dole, lawmakers have a longstanding tradition of rewarding their own employees with extra cash — also courtesy of taxpayers. Capitol Hill bonuses in 2008 were among the highest in years, according to LegiStorm, an organization that tracks payroll data. The average House aide earned 17% more in the fourth quarter of the year, when the bonuses were paid, than in previous quarters, according to the data. That was the highest jump in the eight years LegiStorm has compiled payroll information.” Obviously, the managers should all be fired. . . .

TISH DURKIN: What the heck happened to Hillary?

NOT JUST ON AMAZON: Via email, I hear that Mark Levin’s Liberty and Tyranny was the number one selling book in America last week.

Easy to believe when you see this video.

HEH: Pro-pest group opposes Charlotte’s war on cankerworms.

Reminds me of the halcyon days of People for the Ethical Treatment of Insects.

Last week, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) called on Great Smoky Mountains National Park officials to ban trout fishing, arguing that fish feel pain and that angling is violent.

So on Friday, a group calling itself PETI — People for the Ethical Treatment of Insects — condemned PETA.

“Those murdering trout devour millions of mayflies, mosquitoes and other innocent insects every day,” says PETI spokesman Harvey Foonman.

The release continues: “As PETA states, there are many who believe that fish are sentient. That makes them responsible for their actions. Insects are innocent — they don’t even have brains. That makes them our natural constituency — and, you’d think, PETA’s too.

“If PETA had a heart, they’d be finding a way to train these trout out of their horrible insectivorous ways. Or distribute tofu pellets to mountain streams.”

The group’s motto: “Insects are just like people, except for having six legs, an exoskeleton and no central nervous system.”

PETI issues abound: I also like the campaign to save the bugs by lowering speed limits. “When the speed limits were raised to 75 mph, did anyone consider the impact on bugs?”

PENN JILLETTE: Is Obama skidding or crashing?

TEA PARTY UPDATE: The Arizona Daily Star gave the Tucson Tea Party organizers an open line. Lamely, however, registration is required to see the transcript. But Robert Mayer writes:

I cannot wait to see how many people turn up. Tucson is so politically apathetic, but we are looking to break into the thousands now. We have two radio stations broadcasting live through their syndication, a famous country music guy performing free of charge (Jadi Norris), and I know the hotdog vendor is pretty stoked.

In any case, this is a good example of when an event gets so big that the media just can’t ignore it. I actually give my props to the Daily Star for having us there to talk about it.

Mmm. Hot dogs.

I ALREADY VOLUNTEERED.

NEW YORK TIMES: Is President Obama trying to muzzle his press corps? Only when they might say something he doesn’t want said.

ON PJTV, I TALK TEA PARTIES WITH MICHAEL PATRICK LEAHY AND TERI CHRISTOPH, with a special guest appearance from Capt. Mal Reynolds.

CAR LUST: Remembering the Chevrolet Corvair.

A.P.: Obama tax pledge up in smoke.

WHAT EVERYONE NEEDS: Robot Gardeners.

TAX PLANNING FOR PROFESSORS ON VISITS AND SABBATICALS. Worth your attention if you’re in this category. Thanks to some good advice, I saved a lot on taxes when I visited at Virginia a while back.

MEGAN MCARDLE: “I know a lot of journalists these days who are wishing they’d gone into something steady, like moving to Detroit and becoming an autoworkers.” At least then they’d be a voting bloc that wasn’t taken for granted.

I’VE BEEN DREAMING OF THIS MY WHOLE LIFE: Squeez Bacon! Of course, after the Batter Blaster it was the next logical step.

REASON TV: Introducing the DMV Automotive Repair Center.

TOM VANDERBILT ON CAR SAFETY: “I was struck by the arresting difference in these two photos, from the IIHS’ recent tests on roof strength for small SUVs. The first, the Volkswagen Tiguan, looks like as if it didn’t go through the test. The second, the Kia Sportage, looks like a safe was dropped on it from ten stories up.” Interestingly, he reports a relation between higher resale value, and lower risk to drivers, in used cars.

UPDATE: Reader Dick Thompson writes: “Be nice if you mentioned that the VW Tiguan is a rebadged Chrysler Town and Country minivan, the soccer mom’s car. Even uses a Chrysler engine.” I did not know that.

ANOTHER UPDATE: I didn’t know it because it’s not true. Reader Gary O’Neill writes: “Your reader update is almost right. The VW Routan is the rebadged Chrysler, not the Tiguan.” He’s right. And reader Pablo Gersten writes: “The Tiguan is built on the VW Golf/Audi TT/Audi Q3 platform (A5 PQ35) and made in Wolfsburg, then jacked up as a small SUV/Tall Wagon with the 4Motion AWD system (AKA Audi’s Quattro AWD system). The VW Routan is a Chrysler T&C. “