MEXICO: US consulate workers killed in Mexico drug wars.

JOHN FUND: Send in the goons.

THE SUPREME LEADER tries to put out the fire.

TRICKS ONLY WORK IF THE MARKS DON’T NOTICE: “Opponents of Obamacare have recently been talking about how outrageous the Slaughter strategy is. I agree with them. But there’s another point that’s worth making more than Republicans have: It’s not going to buy the Democrats much political cover, and might make their situation marginally worse.”

BIG JOURNALISM: The MSM, Gone Fishing While U.S. Bond Rating Sinks. They won’t report these problems until after the healthcare vote. Then they’ll report ’em in the context of supporting tax increases. . . .

SO IS THIS THE HOPE, OR THE CHANGE? U.S. residents ‘losing faith’ in American Dream, new poll shows.

RASMUSSEN: 43% Favor Health Care Plan, 53% Oppose.

ANOTHER OBAMACARE PROP-PATIENT doesn’t live up to the hype.

A commenter wonders: Are there any real people supporting ObamaCare?

UPDATE: Reader Barry Dauphin writes: “That’s the best he can do to convince folks to support the bill? She lost her job 12 years ago, qualifies for aid, is being cared for and won’t lose her house. And they wonder why they’re in trouble.”

OH, GOODY: U.S. & U.K. Closer to Losing AAA Credit Rating, Moody’s Says.

Related: Fortune: Welcome to the United States of Iceland. Are things really that bad? I don’t think so, but a budget-busting health-care entitlement won’t help . . . .

Also: China, Japan reduce holdings of U.S. Treasury debt.

ROBERT SAMUELSON ON OBAMACARE: Illusions Of Cost Control.

WHAT IF YOU THREW A COFFEE PARTY, and mostly middle-aged white males showed up?

Sounds kinda like a Kos Kids Konvention.

REASON TV: Saving Cleveland With Drew Carey, Part One.

PROTESTING OBAMACARE IN STRONGSVILLE, OHIO: Reader Pat Dooley writes:

My wife, Diana Price, attended the protest organized by several Ohio Tea Party Patriot and 9:12 groups. The crowd peaked at close to 12 noon with 1,500 protesters (the local ABC-TV reporter guesstimated 2,000) lining both sides of the street for the equivalent of two city blocks. The Presidential motorcade swept by shortly afterwards. Not a bad turnout for a cold, drizzly Monday morning.

And reader Steve Sabolich of the Westlake 912 Project sends this picture.

LAW PROF HITLER IS FORCED TO TEACH ON FRIDAYS.

Of course, you could have gotten a pretty good video of me when I showed up for my limited-to-15-students seminar and found twice that number there, in a room that would barely hold 15.

FIFTY YEARS OF searching for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence, and not finding anything.

NEW PHONES SOLD with outdated versions of Android. “Older versions of the Android operating system allow telecom carriers to charge for features that would be otherwise available for free, like navigation.” If you’re looking to buy, check the chart at the link and check the OS version on the phone before buying.

UPDATE: A reader emails: “I try to keep up with the HTC Droid Eris. The article you have linked implies current owners of the Eris won’t be updated. This link below confirms a much anticipated update is in the works. Just an FYI….”

GARAGE-SALE DIY savings.

POLLS: Swing districts oppose ObamaCare.

UPDATE: Run away! “Obama keeps telling his fellow Democrats that ObamaCare will cure what ails them. But the facts — polls and the behavior of candidates – tell us otherwise. . . . We’ve seen this before, as Democrats in swing states steer clear of Obama. And given the polling data in Ohio, it isn’t surprising that a Democrat would want to evade the president.”

ANOTHER UPDATE: Robert Bidinotto writes:

The real story in that poll is not merely that “swing-district voters oppose ObamaCare.” No, the real story in that poll is that voters will punish their congressman if he votes FOR ObamaCare, but they will treat him better at the polls if he votes “NO.”

This far more pointed and potent message just isn’t getting through, Glenn. It directly refutes the White House narrative, which says the opposite: that if ObamaCare fails, swing-state Dems will suffer more in November. That Big Lie has now been poll-tested, and proved false. If this message gets through to the swing-state Dems, I believe ObamaCare goes down to defeat this week.

Oh, I think the message may be getting through.

WINDOWS 7 NETBOOKS starting under $300.

UPDATE: Nick Schulz emails:

I just got a Windows 7 netbook for under $300 and it’s a great product (maker is Asus — the Eee). I am blown away at the damn thing. I have a Windows desktop and an Apple MacBook and a MacBook pro and I’ll probably get the iPad after it comes out — I’m a computer dork — but the netbook is a pretty amazing device. Amidst all the gloom and doom on the economy, the tech sector is still doing amazing things in chips, memory, web, speed, design, ergonomics and beyond. And don’t get me started on phones where there’s so much great stuff going on. Anyway, you know I’m a congenital optimist but there’s a lot to still be geeked about these days.

Indeed.

JOURNALISM: The New Republic illustrates a serious piece about the Tea Party movement with a gross photograph that’s meant to evoke the pejorative “teabagger.”

CATO: Spending On Public Education 44% Higher Than Reported. Report here.

SPEED-ASSEMBLING SERVERS: “It’s like watching latter-day Marines field-strip and assemble their weapons.” Yet commenters are unimpressed.

DO-IT-YOURSELF turbojets.

ROGER SIMON: Is the Jewish love affair with the Democratic Party about to end?

A NICE WRITEUP on my PJTV interview with Scott Rasmussen. The interview is here. And I highly recommend Rasmussen’s new book, In Search of Self Governance.

There will be a second segment with Rasmussen up soon.