DANNY GLOVER: Toyota vs. Government Motors. “Toyota’s handling of the recall has been miserable. . . . But the evidence that the federal government’s recent entrance into the car business has influenced its antagonizing approach to the Toyota recall is quite convincing.”

UPDATE: Reader Chuck Allen writes: “NBC Nightly News last night led off with 11 straight minutes on the Toyota story. 11! Is this Toyota recall some great national emergency that I was not aware of? You would think they were trying to make a point rather than just report a story….” The trouble with state crony-capitalism is that everyone has a conflict of interest of some kind.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Reader Bill Reece writes:

First, NBC is owned by GE, whose President is the most vocal proponent of crony capitalism in America today and has been in the tank for Obama and his administration from Day One.

Second, if NBC were not covering Toyota, it would have to cover other less interesting stories, like say, the Anthropogenic Global Warming Fraud (bet they haven’t devoted 11 minutes TOTAL to that story over the past 8 weeks) or Obama’s decision to drive the Democrats right over the cliff by doubling down on healthcare.

Much like the readers of the NYT, the viewers of NBC, assuming they do not get their news elsewhere, have a rather narrow and limited view of the world these days.

And I say this as someone who used to be a regular NBC news viewer. Emphasis on “used to be.”

That’s a large and growing group.

JENNIFER RUBIN: “John Yoo is entitled to dance a jig on the grave of Eric Holder’s credibility. And he does.”

CHANGE: Illinois stuck in a ‘historic, epic’ budget crisis. (Via NewsAlert).

PROF. JACOBSON: Now Is Not The Time For Weakness.

HARRISON SCHMITT: Climategate: What We Should Be Doing About Natural Climate Change. “Just because AGW is a fraud doesn’t mean that we should ignore the natural and cyclical changes in the Earth’s temperature.”

CLIMATEGATE: Britain Wants An IPCC Do-Over.

CNN POLL: 69% support letting gays serve openly in military — including 62% of Republicans.

And yet: White House Won’t Commit to Repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. Well, maybe when Congress goes Republican . . . .

WHAT IS IT WITH THESE PEOPLE AND not paying taxes?

ANOTHER ONE OF THOSE “UNEXPECTED” DROPS: Home purchase loan demand at lowest since 1997. “A continued drop in demand for purchase loans, a tentative early indicator of home sales, would not bode well for the hard-hit U.S. housing market, which remains highly vulnerable to setbacks and heavily reliant on government intervention.” (Via Dan Riehl).

“THEY SAID MY LOVE HANDLES SAVED MY LIFE.”

WHY LIBERAL MAGAZINES are suffering under Obama.

THOUGHTS ON youth, self-esteem, and the recession.

PEJMAN YOUSEFZADEH interviews Tom Campbell, who’s running in the Republican primary for Senate in California for the chance to run against Barbara Boxer.

RON BAILEY: Everyone Who Knows What They’re Talking About Agrees with Me: And everyone who doesn’t wears a tin foil hat.

ANNE APPLEBAUM: “I do hope that this administration is ready, militarily and psychologically, not for a war of choice but for an unwanted war of necessity.”

RICH GALEN: Obama’s Legacy.

DOUG BERMAN ON NEW SECOND AMENDMENT “LAW:”

This Chester ruling by the Fourth Circuit excites me because, as regular readers know, I think the criminal prohibition on gun possession by misdemeanants in § 922(g)(9) is constitutionally questionable in the wake of Heller, and I believe lower courts have been too ready and eager to dismiss Second Amendment attacks on § 922(g)(9).

But… this Chester ruling by the Fourth Circuit annoys me because, apparently in order to try to keep this important ruling below the radar screen, the panel decided to denominate this opinion “unpublished” so that it is “not binding precedent in this circuit.” Because this Chesterruling breaks new ground and provides important guidance on a frequently arising issue, I cannot fathom a valid reason why it should be “unpublished.”

I don’t approve of “unpublished” opinions. If it’s not good enough to be precedent, then the court needed to give it a bit more work. . . .

JIM TREACHER: “Remember when you were supposed to shut up about your opposition to Obama’s policies because of his high approval ratings? Well, now they have to come up with other reasons to tell you to shut up.”

YOUR GOVERNMENT AT WORK: NHTSA Has No Software Engineers To Analyze Toyota. “An official from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration told investigators that the agency doesn’t employ any electrical engineers or software engineers, leaving them woefully unable to investigate correctly what caused the most recent Toyota recall.”

AMY BISHOP / BILL DELAHUNT UPDATE: ASSISTANT D.A. THREATENS MICHAEL GRAHAM: This seems unwise to me. Graham’s not backing down. Well, I rather doubt Delahunt or Kivlan will sue for libel. And while I suppose the D.A.’s office might be tempted to abuse its powers, that’s going to be somewhat harder after leaving a threatening voice mail . . .

As Moe Lane says, the thing about one-party rule is that it makes people stupid.

PJTV: AS SEEN ON DRUDGE: Climategate Meets The Law, Sen. Inhofe’s Call to Investigate Al Gore.

A RACIAL SLUR from Donny Deutsch. He’s some CNBC guy, I think.

MAKING THE BEST OF being stuck in an airport.

CHANGE: The Hill: Democrats’ ambitious legislative agenda pushes K Street salaries skyward.

WELL, IT ALWAYS WORKS ON NUMB3RS: Can Sophisticated Mathematical Models Help Police Fight Crime?