TURBOTAX says Geithner’s tax problems aren’t its fault.

IN THE MAIL: Mad Men on DVD. I look forward to watching this — I haven’t caught the show, but I’ve heard good things about it.

A MUSIC VIDEO by former Wonderdog Records recording artists Afrigo. I’d lost touch with them, and I’m glad that they seem to be doing so well.

CULT OF PERSONALITY: “I pledge to be a servant to our president and all mankind.”

And some related thoughts from Ann Althouse.

UPDATE: Related: “Obama worship is the flip side of Bush hatred. They love the one without knowing what he stands for and loathe the other while mispresenting his record.” Or even knowing it, as Jon Stewart demonstrated.

“DUTCH COURAGE.” The key to free speech is to frighten people, obviously. Great incentive system, there . . . .

WELL, THAT DIDN’T TAKE LONG: Whitehouse.gov Contradicts Obama’s Gun Claims.

Since “urban” is often used as a code-word for “black and hispanic,” is lumping gun control under “urban policy,” perhaps, you know, racist? Given the historic use of gun control to disarm minorities, that seems a fair question.

INDEED: “So far as I can tell, conservatives aren’t going through anything like the grief/angst/outrage that Democrats went through after the 2000 and 2004 elections. There may be activists who would like to generate that kind of reaction, but most conservatives have got real lives — jobs and families — and don’t go in for the sturm und drang stuff.” So, is this an advantage, or a disadvantage, politically?

GEITHNER AND TURBOTAX: Jim Lindgren does some investigative taxblogging. According to his research, TurboTax may well have given Geithner a bum steer. Whether this gets Geithner off the hook or not is a separate question — and, of course, if our tax system is so complicated that even a computer can’t understand it then surely that’s a strong argument for tax simplification . . . .

UPDATE: More from TaxProf.

A COUPLA HOT CHICKS SITTIN’ AROUND TALKIN’: The Insta-Wife and Amy Alkon talk about sex, dating, and hooking up. Money quote: “People who are not putting out for their partners are making a big mistake.”

DANIEL DREZNER: Have you met the French, Mr. Obama? “Less than five percent of those polled believed that European countries should send troops to Afghanistan as a gesture of solidarity with Obama. It will be interesting to see whether Obama will be able to change those minds in the coming year.”

FROM SAYUNCLE, a roundup of Gun Bills in the New Congress.

EXTREME MORTMAN: Great Do-Overs of Our Generation.

UNDERFUNDED PENSIONS STRIKE CLOSE TO HOME:

At least two county leaders say a tax increase could be on the table to make up for a shortfall totaling $11 million to $13.7 million in Knox County’s three pension plans. The mayor’s office and the school board must come up with millions to make up the shortfalls in putting together their budgets for fiscal 2010, which starts July 1. . . . Assets in the sheriff’s plan fell from $98 million on Jan. 1, 2008, to $70 million as of Nov. 30; school system pension assets fell from $83.3 million to $54.7 million in the same period; and assets in the Knox County Retirement Plan fell from $79.2 million to $50.6 million.

Great.

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: An uneasy feeling.

MICKEY KAUS IS SHOCKED, SHOCKED, TO FIND ELITISM AT THE INAUGURATION: “I was surprised to learn that there were special VIP areas at several otherwise extremely enjoyable pre-inaugural parties. Talk about a violation of social equality: how can a party claim to want all Americans treated equally if, you know, the party doesn’t treat them equally?”

COMBINING COWARDICE AND THUGGISHNESS: Prosecuting Geert Wilders for free speech: A Dutch Disgrace. But that combination seems emblematic of European politics these days.

JACQUES CHIRAC MAULED by a clinically-depressed poodle.

Somehow, this seems of cosmic significance.

HITTING ON Soledad O’Brien.

YOUR INDEPENDENT PRESS: Obama’s inauguration got 35 times more coverage than Bush’s.

TAKING NO CHANCES: “Chief Justice John Roberts has administered the presidential oath of office to Barack Obama for a second time just to be on the safe side.”

QUESTIONS ABOUT Geithner and TurboTax.

IN A BLOW AGAINST NEPOTISM AND POLITICAL DYNASTIES, Caroline Kennedy withdraws her name for Senate.

Opening the way for Andrew Cuomo!

THE WHITE POWDER MAILED TO THE WSJ WAS FLOUR. Apparently there have been other such mailings targeting “conservative commentators.” Hope and change!

DEJA VU ALL OVER AGAIN.

OKAY, I linked this earlier, but it’s worth embedding.

CHUCK SCHUMER’S $3-4 Trillion Horror Story.