MATT WELCH: “Your mileage will vary, but for my money the most entertaining part of the ACORN undercover video sting–which, dollar for dollar, has been the most impactful piece of journalism this year (that I’m aware of anyway)–is watching Respectable News Outlets approach the controversy with radiation-resistant tongs. . . . While reluctantly acknowledging his own organization’s slow response to a story, Baquet haughtily attacks the news values of the organizations that got it first. Accountability journalism! . . . Newspapers, especially those with national aspirations, still lack the ability to process or even talk about news that emanates from frowned-upon pockets in the great media ecosystem. And in hiding behind the shield of News Judgment, they all too frequently advertise the fact that theirs is being proven inadequate.”

JAY LENO TRIES TO win Rush Limbaugh over to hybrids. I love my hybrid. Come on in, Rush. The water’s fine!

THE ANCHORESS: Feel the Gleichschaltung!

IN THE MAIL: From J.D. Johannes, Fit for Combat: When Fitness is a Matter of Life or Death. His coauthor is a lot hotter than him, though. . . .

LIBERAL FASCISM: Clinton Compared Gore to Mussolini?

OH, GOODY: Politico: Cap-and-trade Will Depress Home Prices.

PJTV SALUTES REAL MEMBERS OF CONGRESS: “While you write the rules that make others cough up the cash to the IRS, you failed to report 75Gs in rental income on your Caribbean villa. As you forced us to subsidize housing for the needy, you turned a rent-stabilized apartment into your personal office.” Feel the love, Charlie Rangel. . . . (Bumped up, for your lunchtime amusement).

MICKEY KAUS says that the pundits aren’t delivering.

FRANK J. FLEMING: ACORN Stings: The Untold Story.

IN PLAIN SIGHT: Camouflage Art. (Via Althouse).

SAN DIEGO turns up the heat on ACORN. “Not waiting for President Obama’s signature on any legislation, the San Diego Board of Supervisors announced a joint investigation into Association of Community Organization of Reform Now (ACORN). This investigation will center on voter registration fraud and why the state of California has failed to acknowledge San Diego’s Voter registrar request to look into 76 allegedly fraudulent voter cards.”

MICHAEL BARONE: Obama’s Time Warp: The U.S. Is Still The Bad Guy. Yep, campus lefty cliches from the 1970s are now driving policy.

CHANGE: New poll: Democrat lead over GOP is smallest in five years; doubts about Obama continue to grow.

SURVIVAL: 4 People Who Faced Disaster—And How They Made it Out Alive.

Plus, Five unexpected survival-kit essentials. The first one’s pretty obvious, though . . . .

PAUL MIRENGOFF: “My only regret about not being a ‘joiner’ is that I don’t have many opportunities to quit organizations. I am a member of AARP, though, and this is looking like the perfect time to quit.”

KEVIN JACKSON is trying to get his new book that’s out today up to #1 on Amazon. That’ll be tough considering what came out yesterday, but give him your support if you’re so inclined.

TELEGRAPH: The U.N. Loves Barack Obama Because He Is Weak.

ANN ALTHOUSE was right about Obama and Gitmo. Of course, betting that a politician will break a promise is pretty safe . . . .

HONG KONG READER SEAN GIEFING WRITES: “I attended Sarah Palin’s speech at the CLSA conference in Hong Kong. She was very engaging – very down to earth, likeable and offered very intelligent and well informed opinions on US domestic and foreign policy and interesting views on China. If you were looking for a slick nuanced presentation you were likely disappointed. If you were looking for a real person with common sense views and practical ideas you left thinking, why couldn’t we have more people like that in leadership positions. Hopefully we will.”

Here’s a press report: Palin slams Obama’s spending in debut speech in Asia.

ACORN INVESTIGATION: Well, this pretty much says it all: “Scott Harshbarger, the former Massachusetts attorney general and head of Common Cause, has been appointed by ACORN to investigate lapses in the organization that lead to its recent scandals. Harshbarger was responsible for one of the most outrageous ‘Satanic ritual abuse’ prosecutions when he was AG, sending three innocent members of the Amirault family to jail. He has never repudiated the prosecution. It’s sickening that someone who so abused his power would be appointed to investigate or reform anything. (I also see that Harshbarger was a big John Edwards’ supporter, so his ability as a judge of character remains atrocious.)”

So which part will govern — Satanic inquisitor, or political hack?

HOW CONVENIENT: Iran’s only AWACS crashes.

IF ONLY THE UNITED STATES WOULD SHOW SUCH BACKBONE: Canada Will Walk Out On Ahmadinejad Speech.

PROPOSING A “SURGE” STRATEGY for Afghanistan.

MEGAN MCARDLE: “Government officials don’t care about saving money as much as the appearance of saving money. The odds are very good that by the time this government guarantee turns out to be expensive, Sheila Bair will not longer be around.” It’s all about appearances? Somebody should write a book on that.

IN BRITAIN, warning of economic “false dawn.”

UPDATE: At least they’re not sugar-coating.