JUSTICE DEPARTMENT RACISM SCANDAL goes mainstream. “No wonder the administration tried to muzzle Coates. Nevertheless, the department’s stonewalling has failed, and those parroting the administration’s line (‘much ado about nothing’) look foolish. Inevitably, more Justice Department witnesses and documents will surface.”

SHOCKING NEWS: HUD: ACORN successor group just as rotten.

RICH GALEN REPORTS From American Legion Post 64, Marietta, Ohio 45750. “A lively conversation started about whether we should have a Congress much less why anyone would run for it, much, MUCH less why anyone would vote for one of them.”

WHEN I SAW THE HEADLINE, I THOUGHT IT WAS RIGHTHAVEN: Hackers exact revenge on hated law firm that prosecutes copyright infringement claims.

WALTER RUSSELL MEAD: In the Footsteps of the Kaiser: China Boosts US Power in Asia.

Is China the best friend of American power?

Beijing’s recent missteps in Asia — moving ahead with reactor sales to troubled Pakistan and crudely threatening Japan over the arrest of a Chinese fishing captain — are swiftly solidifying America’s Asian alliances. The new Japanese government came into office hoping to rebalance Japan’s foreign policy and reduce tensions with China. That dream is now dead. And China’s deepening relationship with Pakistan, intended in part as a counter to America’s nuclear opening to India, is driving Asia’s other emerging nuclear power closer than ever into the arms of America (and Japan). South Korea, once drifting peacefully toward China, has moved back towards the United States following China’s support for Pyongyang after the sinking of a South Korean naval boat.

In all this there is one clear theme. America isn’t containing China. China is containing itself.

It’s always a relief to know that our leaders aren’t the only idiots out there.

DARRELL ISSA: Vote On Tax Cuts Or Resign.

FOR YOU, THE ELECTION IS OVER: Election Day is already over for many Floridians as early voting surges. We think of the elections as being more than a month away, but plenty of people will be voting much sooner.

CHARLIE MARTIN: How the Environmental Movement Became Just Another Washington Power Bloc.

Plus, from Mark Tapscott: Environmentalists aren’t really about clean air and water.

DON’T GET COCKY: Democrats Gaining Steam?

SOCIALISM IS LOSING ALL OVER: Venezuelan Opposition Wins Popular Majority. Plus this: “Venezuela Finance Minister Jorge Giordani was ‘verbally attacked’ by opposition members while standing in line to vote in legislative elections Sunday. Among the shouts were calls for him to move to Cuba, where they said his socialist theories would be more welcomed.” Even in Cuba, not so much any more . . . .

DOING A college cost-benefit analysis.

POLITICO: Democrats Fear A Midwestern Meltdown. “From Ohio to Iowa, there’s a yawning stretch of heartland states whose citizens voted for Obama and congressional Democrats in 2008, but who have lost patience waiting for an as-yet undelivered economic revival that was first promised in 2006, and then two years later. Now, they look set to stampede toward the out-of-power party.”

Don’t get cocky, Republicans. They’re just raising expectations. . . .

MICKEY KAUS: Republicans Are Right To Fear The Lame Duck. “This worry, when advanced by Republican commentators and pols, has been derided by Democrats as “straight out of the black helicopter wing of GOP thinking.” I dunno. Democratic politicians themselves, including Senate Majority Leader Reid, have talked up the possibility of lame duck action. If they lose lots of seats in November–even if they don’t lose either house of Congress–the lame duck will be their last chance to achieve many of their legislative goals. Those who’ve been defeated or who decide to retire will have little left to lose. Might as well be go to the gallows as historic liberal reformers. . . . Nothing makes me more paranoid, of course, than the left’s attempts to say my fears are paranoid.”