OUCH: Sarah Palin Shreds WSJ Reporter For Not Being Able To Read His Own Paper.

ALAN BLINDER: The Deficit Is A Slow Motion Train Wreck.

GEORGE W. BUSH’S NEW BOOK IS OUT TODAY. A while back people thought this would hurt the GOP, but given that Bush is now outpolling Obama, I guess not . . . .

UPDATE: I notice he’s # 1 in books overall on Amazon.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Reader Scott Houston writes:

The review section is pretty enlightening. The middle may be ready for a second look at Bush, but the radical left sure hasn’t forgotten its hatred of him, or their humiliation at the polls a few weeks ago.

Plus this: “On a side note, are you ever running for office? With you, and say, Bill Whittle as a speech writer I think I’d be in love.” A man’s got to know his limitations.

JONATHAN ADLER: How Progressives Misunderstand Much Conservative Skepticism of Climate Policy. “I share Hendricks’ and Farber’s frustration that more conservatives don’t take climate change or other environmental concerns seriously. But I also believe some of this is the environmentalist movement’s own doing. If everything calls for the same big government solution, why does it matter what the problem is?”

WALTER RUSSELL MEAD: Obama In Asia.

RICHARD EPSTEIN: “It is odd that these days the only sacred contracts are those which the state enters into with unions for the benefit of their members.”

MICKEY KAUS: “I’ve said dumb things about elections, but I don’t think I’ve ever said anything quite as dumb as Glenn Greenwald’s argument, on Morning Joe.”

OBAMA IN INDIA: A report card. With mostly good grades.

STARTING A “regulatory revolution?”

CHANGE: ‘Arizona Style’ Immigration Law Proposed in Texas.

WALL STREET JOURNAL: Palin’s Dollar and Zoellick’s Gold: An unlikely pair elevate the monetary policy debate. “It would be hard to find two more unlikely intellectual comrades than Robert Zoellick, the World Bank technocrat, and Sarah Palin, the populist conservative politician. But in separate interventions yesterday, the pair roiled the global monetary debate in complementary and timely fashion.”

FROM THE NON SEQUITUR DEPARTMENT: Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.: Keith Olbermann’s suspension means we can’t let Republicans own media companies.

STACY MCCAIN: “Some people are hung up on bitchin’ about Senate races, and Erick Erickson’s wanting to do a vengeance number on the RNC, but I ain’t into all that now.” But he’s happy to kick Rachel Maddow one more time. . . .

DANIEL HANNAN: I wish European pension protestors were more like the tea party.

WELL, DUH: Beer Lubricated the Rise of Civilization, Study Suggests. “The brewing of alcohol seems to have been a very early development linked with initial domestication, seen during Neolithic times in China, the Sudan, the first pottery in Greece and possibly with the first use of maize. Hayden said circumstantial evidence for brewing has been seen in the Natufian, in that all the technology needed to make it is there — cultivated yeast, grindstones, vessels for brewing and fire-cracked rocks as signs of the heating needed to prepare the mash.”

CAR LUST: Transitioning to a 2010 Chevy Cobalt. Plus, the joys of a 1991 Mercury Grand Marquis GS.

VERONIQUE DE RUGY: Is Rand Paul Already Selling Out?

DON SURBER: MANCHIN TO FLIP REPUBLICAN?

Well, possibly. And, you know, Jim Webb’s not sounding so deep-blue either. “I’m very concerned about the transactional nature of the Democratic Party. Its evolved too strongly into interest groups rather than representing working people, including small business people.”

RENAMING ITSELF THE BLACK DEMOCRATIC CAUCUS? The Hill: Black Caucus mum on Tea Party Republican who wants to join. “The CBC is currently made up of 41 House members and outgoing Sen. Roland Burris (Ill.) — all Democrats. West and Congressman-elect Tim Scott (R-S.C.) are the first black Republicans to win House seats since Rep. J.C. Watts (R-Okla.) retired in 2003.”

ED DRISCOLL: Olber Gantry and the Fire and Brimstone World of MSNBC.

GOOD GRIEF: “Grief Counselors” Visit The Offices Of Emotionally Distraught Congressional Democrats.

CONSIDERING FEDERAL SUBSIDIES for antibiotics research? We do need some new ones. “Worried about an impending public health crisis, government officials are considering offering financial incentives to the pharmaceutical industry, like tax breaks and patent extensions, to spur the development of vitally needed antibiotics. While the proposals are still nascent, they have taken on more urgency as bacteria steadily become resistant to virtually all existing drugs at the same time that a considerable number of pharmaceutical giants have abandoned this field in search of more lucrative medicines.” Of course, this is probably yet another case where we need a subsidy to offset the negative impact of overregulation . . . . .

UPDATE: Derek Lowe writes:

I agree that some sort of prize or subsidy would probably be a good idea. And it’s true that some companies left the field because they thought they could make more money somewhere else. But the other reason people have bailed is that finding antibiotics has been a major pain in the whatevers. I did a post on this last year – GlaxoSmithKline made a big multiyear push, and got basically zilch out of it: they found that their screening success rate was an alarming 5 times lower for antibiotics than what they were used to in other fields.

Link
I can confirm (from personal experience) that bacteria are not easy to kill!

Well, that sucks.

ROGER SIMON: Nancy Pelosi—Party Animal While Rome Burns!

SO DOES THIS PICTURE OF BARACK OBAMA LOOK DIFFERENT TO YOU NOW than it did back when it was taken?

I’m sticking with my looking “more like a studio exec” than a President take. But I’m wondering of others’ read of this picture has changed now that Obama has a record in office.

UPDATE: Reader Rosie Moore writes:

The photo of POTUS, trying to look at it as if for the first time, portrays to me a big swingin’ stock broker, fund manager or investment banker, or maybe that’s just from my perspective. He looks svelte, lithe and edgy but relaxed and intellectual, as revealed in his leisure reading. I remember questioning my instincts at the time, trying to assuage my odd but very strong suspicion and aversion of him.

In hindsight, he looks like the shallow facade he is, reflecting more the opinions of those surrounding him than his own core entrepreneurialism. That’s also probably why he looks older and less confident now – those around him are turning away, singing fewer praises, adoring him less.

I also think it’s funny, in an ironic not a ha-ha way, that he was reading “The Post American World”. Was this prophetic? And I also question whether he was actually reading it (what true book lover doesn’t rely on a bookmark?) or just carrying it with the hope that some would notice and think him erudite. Poser!

What a difference a bit of time makes, eh?

I dunno. I seldom use bookmarks. I even — to the dismay of my librarian-mother — often turn down a page to mark my place. Yes, this makes me a very, very bad man.

The point about the lack of adoration seems right, though. Barack Obama looks as smart as you think he is. When you think he’s less smart, well . . ..

ANN ALTHOUSE: Binding Ambinder. “You wake up one day and think: Man, what I really want is some heavy-handed discipline. This freedom, this individuality… it’s too much. I want some restraint. Some structure.”

Plus, from the comments: “Thank you sir! May I have another!”