JEFF GOLDSTEIN looks behind “the hidden brain.”

JOE KLEIN: A wannabe Tyler Durden?

MENTAL FLEXIBILITY: The science is settled, until it isn’t anymore.

FLASHBACK: Obama Ridicules McCain’s Call For Spending Freeze.

CHILDISH, BUT RICHLY-DESERVED: Maddow Teabagged By Naked Republican.

HEH: “Ha ha. Sounds like he’s hooked. He’s probably in the comments here as a sock puppet.”

TRANSPARENCY! NY Fed Wanted National Security Exemption for AIG.

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: Obama In Free Fall. “On every issue — more bailouts, more stimuli, more deficits, higher taxes, statist health care, cap and trade, diplomatic apologetics, the shunning of natural gas, oil, and nuclear in favor of ‘millions of green jobs’ subsidized by billions in federal ‘stimulus’ — the Obama position polls 5-15 points below 50 percent. . . . Obama showed the country his vision of where he wanted us to go; he had both houses of Congress, a toady media, and enormous personal popularity — and he is getting nowhere. Why? Because most Americans are vehemently opposed to taking their country in the direction that Obama, Pelosi, and Reid would prefer. . . . Since Obama is both inexperienced and apparently a stubborn ideologue, I think all we will be left with when the novelty wears off is rhetoric and euphemism.”

UPDATE: You can evade reality, but you cannot evade the consequences of evading reality.

ANDREW SULLIVAN SAYS I HAVEN’T CHANGED: Well, that’s not really true; I’ve changed my opinion of Andrew. (Yes, shamelessly lifted from Tim Blair). But Andrew’s mental “flexibility” seems awfully convenient — he supported Bush and the war when both were popular, then opposed them both when that was popular, and then supported Obama when that was popular. Now I’m watching Obama’s polls drop and waiting for the next display of open-mindedness. . . .

UPDATE: Reader John Coppella writes:

Sully’s such a transparent link and traffic whore.

You know he just posted that to bait you into linking him…

Thanks for at least flagging the link so I knew better than to click over.

You’re welcome.

RISE OF THE PUMA HUNTERS: A preemptive strike at Hillary?

CHANGE: Dem Leaders Unite On Health Care Strategy.

LIKE SWEARING OFF THE BOTTLE WHEN YOU’RE HUNG OVER? Obama to Propose Three-Year Spending Freeze.

A gimmick, anyway: “The freeze would only shave about $15 billion off of the next budget, the Post reports.”

UPDATE: Tone Deafness In The White House. “While the goal is to ostensibly short circuit the attacks of the populists, what it does in effect is strengthen them. Where money flowed freely to well-connected financial institutions and pet projects of the President’s allies in Congress, now with unemployment in double digits, with the economy still bleeding jobs, President Obama is suggesting, we’re going to freeze government spendinging. Toughing it out is apparently for the little people, just like taxes and regulation.”

ANOTHER UPDATE: Matt Welch: “Three quick reactions: 1) Great! 2) Note that this is actually more modest than what Obama repeatedly promised on the campaign trail, including after the financial crisis hit: a ‘net spending cut.’ Excluding defense is a recipe for falling short of that ‘net.’ 3) See Number 2, re: promises.”

THERE’S A TAX FOR THAT:

Related: Lech Walesa Will Campaign for Illinois Republican. “It’s not every day that a Nobel Prize winner becomes involved in a U.S. election, but Lech Walesa — famed for his Cold War leadership of the Solidarity movement in Poland — will be campaigning this week for a GOP gubernatorial candidate in Illinois. The former Polish president will be the keynote speaker Friday at a Chicago luncheon fundraiser for Adam Andrzejewski, one of four Republican candidates for governor in Illinois.”

TIM GEITHNER SAYS Leave Your Money At Big Banks. “But he’s not sure why.”

STEPHEN GREEN’S HAIR OF THE DOG: Hair of the Dog: Thousands, Millions, Gajillions … White House Flacks Create Their Own Job Numbers.

MEGAN MCARDLE: Why I Still Think Health Care Won’t Pass. “As I read it, majorities of both houses do not want to pass this bill–otherwise, they wouldn’t have run for the exits so quick. They were looking for an excuse that they could deploy without risking retaliation from the leadership–and what the Massachusetts election showed, is that they don’t have all that much to fear from the leadership, because the leadership may not be there after November.”

HMM: Rep. Michele Bachmann: The Tea Party People Will Become Dominant Members of Republican Party (Video).

UPDATE: Reader C.J. Burch writes: “One could argue they are now.”

ANOTHER UPDATE: Reader Paul Lee writes:

Regarding your link about whether the Tea Party becoming a dominant force in the Republican Party, I offer this suggestion: when giving money to any candidate going forward, make sure you to accompany the cash with a note that says, “Tea Party strings attached to this contribution.”

If enough people do it, politicians will begin to understand that fiscal conservatism isn’t something they can give meaningless lip service to.

Hmm.

DAN MITCHELL: Stimulus II: A Sequel America Can’t Afford.

THE INSTA-DAUGHTER SAILS, but these girls are a few steps ahead of her. Sailing around the world solo at 16?

A ROUNDUP OF next-generation photo and video stuff. Amazing that you can now get a waterproof pocket HD video camera for under 150 bucks.

POLIWOOD: Roger Simon and Lionel Chetwynd on Inglourious Basterds.

HEH.

NEWS FLASH: Entitlement Spending Grows Like Giant Cancer on U.S. Economy. I wish this were hyperbole, but . . . .

CHANGE: CNN Poll: For First Time, More Say Dem Control Is Bad For Country. “The poll also finds that for the first time since the 2006 takeover, the number who have an unfavorable view of the Democratic Party equals the number who view the Democratic Party favorably. That’s at 46% apiece.”

MODELING CONGRESS LIKE A SANDPILE. “It turns out that the way a particular resolution gains support can be accurately simulated by the avalanches that occur when grains of sand are dropped onto each other to form a pile.” And here I thought it was more like a pile of something else . . . .