HMM: Big Liberal Bloggers Tee Off On Progressive Groups For Not Sharing Ad Wealth. “Some of the leading liberal bloggers are privately furious with the major progressive groups — and in some cases, the Democratic Party committees — for failing to spend money advertising on their sites, even as these groups constantly ask the bloggers for free assistance in driving their message. . . . ‘They come to us, expecting us to give them free publicity, and we do, but it’s not a two way street,’ Jane Hamsher, the founder of FiredogLake, said in an interview. ‘They won’t do anything in return. They’re not advertising with us. They’re not offering fellowships. They’re not doing anything to help financially, and people are growing increasingly resentful.’ . . . ‘Most want the easy way — having a big blogger promote their agenda,’ adds Markos Moulitsas, the founder of DailyKos. ‘Then they turn around and spend $50K for a one-page ad in the New York Times or whatever.'”

Plus, from John Aravosis: “We are small business-people who are fighting to survive economically in a really bad year.” If only the Democrats cared about people like that!

UPDATE: Jane Hamsher: White House May be Dictating, But We’re Not Stenographers. Well, not for free, anyway!

COOPERATING: Illinois Democratic Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. said Wednesday he is cooperating with a preliminary congressional ethics investigation into whether he was involved in possibly improper efforts to secure President Obama’s vacant Senate seat.

OBAMA PRAISES VICTORY IN IRAQ:

President Obama surprised the world yesterday with an unannounced visit to Baghdad, where he met Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and praised the courage and perseverance of America’s troops. But the most pleasant surprise has been Mr. Obama’s near-about face on Iraq since becoming President.

Speaking to GIs in one of Saddam Hussein’s old palaces, Mr. Obama ticked off America’s accomplishments in Iraq: “From getting rid of Saddam, to reducing violence, to stabilizing the country, to facilitating elections — you have given Iraq the opportunity to stand on its own as a democratic country. That is an extraordinary achievement.”

Sure is. Now don’t blow it.

WHO ARE YOU GOING TO BELIEVE: Us, Or Your Lying Eyes? Plus, “I did not have ‘salutational’ relations with that man.”

OBAMA CHANNELS RUMSFELD. And again, here.

THE TRUTH HURTS: Targeting electronic rating systems. “Because the pager-like device prevents the rampant cheating that occurred with the old pencil-and-diary-based system, where fans of a disc jockey could wildly inflate their listening, some music stations are taking it on the chin.” But government authority might be used to smack it down, protecting established players with “juice.”

APPARENTLY, WE ALREADY HAVE A “PATH TO CITIZENSHIP:” Almost 1 of 2 new Americans in 2008 was Latino.

Bill Quick is fine with that. “This is great! Hispanic-Americans who come here legally, and jump through the ridiculous hoops placed in their path by the INS because they want to become Americans make great citizens.”

HOW HARD IS IT TO FIRE A ROCKET? Rand Simberg vs. John Pike, in The New York Times.

DON KATES: Gun control restricts those least likely to commit violent crimes.

The March 21 murder of four Oakland police officers by Lovelle Mixon, a convicted felon wanted for a recent parole violation, epitomizes the futility of “gun control,” or the banning and restricting of gun ownership for law-abiding adults. Using the officers’ tragic deaths to further an unrelated agenda — stripping away the Second Amendment rights of honorable citizens — is both harmful and distracting.

Mixon was not an anomaly. Felons commit over 90 percent of murders, with the remainder carried out primarily by juveniles and the mentally unbalanced. The United States already has laws forbidding all three groups from owning guns, which, by definition, are ineffective against the lawless. “Gun control,” therefore, only “controls” those who have done nothing to merit such regulations. . . .

Notably, only 15 percent of all Americans have criminal records, yet more than 90 percent of murder suspects have a history of crime. Their criminal careers average six or more years’ length, including four major adult felonies, in addition to their often extensive juvenile records.

A New York Times study of the 1,662 murders in that city between 2003 and 2005 found that “more than 90 percent of the killers had criminal records.” Baltimore police records show similar statistics for its murder suspects in 2006. In Milwaukee, police reported that most murder suspects in 2007 had criminal records, while “a quarter of them [killed while] on probation or parole.” The great majority of Illinois murderers from the years 1991-2000 had prior felony records. Eighty percent of Atlanta murder arrestees had previously been arrested at least once for a drug offense; 70 percent had three or more prior drug arrests — in addition to their arrests for other crimes.

In sum, guns or no guns, neither most murderers nor many murderers — nor virtually any murderers — are ordinary, law-abiding, responsible adults.

Read the whole thing.

SAVING THE CAR INDUSTRY WITH The Iowahawk Council of Automotive Advisors! Needs more law professors, though.

SUSAN ESTRICH ON Ted Stevens and prosecutorial corruption.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU MAKE CARS MORE EFFICIENT? People consume the savings by driving more.

A SALE ON garden tools.

QUICK, SEND THE PROTEST BUS TO THEIR HOMES! Globe execs land millions while seeking major union cutbacks. “Top executives at the New York Times [NYT] Co. and The Boston Globe were awarded stock options potentially worth millions just weeks before they told the Globe’s unions to cut $20 million or face closure, according to regulatory filings.” On the other hand, what are those stock options likely to be worth?

SIDE-BY-SIDE HEADLINES OF THE DAY:

Women’s sense of smell evolved to sniff out bad mates.

Referee warns soccer player for farting.

A LOOK AT THE NEW Nissan 370Z.

MEET SOUTH AFRICA’S next President.

AN “elitist set of rhetorical formulas?” Well, you can still feel good about yourself, and it’s easier than thoughts and principles.

PJTV: I talk with PubliusPundit — and Tucson Tea Party organizer — Robert Mayer, and with Tea Party facilitators Matt Kibbe of Freedomworks and Chris Bond of Americans for Prosperity about tea parties and where they should go next.

ROGER SIMON: Tea Party role reversal: how to deal with potential agents provocateurs from the left.

VIDEO: SpongeBob Got Back.

FROM REASON TV, Understanding the Financial Crisis.

HOW YOU CAN HELP: Check Out The Obama Team’s Financial Filings. Volunteers needed!

SADR CITY AFTER THE FALL: A new dispatch from Michael Totten.

OVERPROMISING on wind power?