RADLEY BALKO: A New Government Agency I Can Support.

Kansas GOP gubernatorial candidate Sam Brownback is proposing an “Office of the Repealer,” tasked with seeking out bad or repetitive laws, wasteful programs, and archaic state agencies for elimination. As a general rule, the media venerates politicians who propose new government programs as bold and visionary, while anyone daring to suggest perhaps there might be cause to eliminate an agency or two is depicted as some fringe draconian nut. Or just quaint and silly.

Not silly at all. Faster please.

IN GREECE, THE WAGES OF SOCIALISM: “Greeks in their 20s and 30s who are highly educated but face high unemployment, are criticized by their elders for lacking initiative. They counter that the system has failed them.”

BILL MAHER: Media folks side with Palestinians because they’re stupid.

“I think most of them do because I think the media, to take up your point, mostly – is way too stupid to understand the issues,” Maher said. “So what they do is they go toward, ‘Oh, who’s a victim?’ And yes, their situation in Gaza is tragic. But partly it is tragic of their own making.”

Indeed.

FORECAST: Euro to hit dollar parity in 2011, if still exists: analyst.

REMEMBERING THE Mercury Grand Marquis. “I flat-out love it.” Well, someone has to. . . . On the other hand, there’s this: “It requires next to no maintenance, and what it requires doesn’t cost very much. Despite receiving its last tune-up more than four years ago, the Grand Marquis never fails to start, and it runs like a champ.”

Plus, the joys of fixing everything. Last time my Highlander Hybrid was in the shop I had ’em detail it. For 97 bucks, it felt like new.

ANGRY CONGRESSMAN ATTACKS STUDENT. “Last week, Democrat Congressman Bob Etheridge (D-NC2) attended a fundraiser headlined by Speaker Nancy Pelosi. He was asked by some students on the street whether he supported the ‘Obama Agenda.’ He didn’t take it well.”

UPDATE: Just another champion of transparency and disclosure.

Reader Joe Glandorf writes: “Why would any sober adult get that animated over a simple question? Why not just ignore it?” And Will Collier is reminded of a movie.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Etheridge’s opponent.

IF YOU WERE DELAYED AT O’HARE, blame Patrick Leahy.

SCIENCE: Men judge women’s attractiveness in milliseconds. “Men weigh up potential partners almost instantaneously based on their appearance because their ‘ancient’ genetic preference for attractive mates leads them to, experts claim. According to research, a woman with an attractive face is taken by men to be fertile and able to continue the family line, appealing to the man’s survival instinct.”

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the United States Army!

AFGHANISTAN: The Saudi Arabia of Lithium?

HOW MUCH WOULD YOU SPEND on a sick pet?

FINAL ANSWER: Kill One Of My Neighbor’s Cows!

WHY PATIENTS aren’t getting the shingles vaccine.

DAVID BROOKS: Teachers Are Fair Game. “It used to be that a few policy wonks would write essays assailing union rules that protected mediocre teachers; these pronouncements were greeted with skepticism in the media and produced no political movement. Now powerful political players, most notably President Obama, are making such arguments. The unions feel the sand eroding under their feet. They sense their lack of legitimacy, especially within the media and the political class. They still fight to preserve their interests, but they’ve lost their moral authority, as we’ve seen in New York City, Denver, Chicago, and even Washington, D.C.”

JUST EXTREMELY DESIRABLE! Abolishing the Department of Education Isn’t Extreme.