TODD ZYWICKI is not buying the WaPo’s excuses for not covering the New Black Panthers story.

CLASS RESENTMENT flowers in American politics. “What is most depressing about this – apart from the injustice of it – is that the people who have been disenfranchised and disowned are the very ones on whom both countries’ economic recovery depends.”

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: “I think most of our problems transcend politics, which is increasingly a reflection of an elite, insider culture that is completely at odds with the majority of the country that it oversees. “

LOTS OF WAR ON TERROR COVERAGE over at Fred Pruitt’s Rantburg.

CLAIRE MCCASKILL in the middle of a civil war over spending.

ANOTHER ONE-DAY GPS Sale. I wonder if they’re marking these things down so aggressively because of competition from GPS-equipped smartphones?

UPDATE: A reader emails:

Yes, the influx of GPS enabled phones with navigation is driving down the prices of navigation only devices. I can contest to this as I work for NAVTEQ – the maker of the map that 80%+ of the devices use for their map data. We have seen a press from our customers(verizon, sprint, nokia, etc) to include more ‘mobile’ friendly data that presents itself better on a phone rather than a widescreen navigation system.

It is a fun time to be in this business right now!

Makes sense.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Reader Jim Beall writes:

Just used my iPad 3G as a GPS to get from Macon, GA to the Outer Banks of NC. Used it several times to find restaurants, coffee & wine shops along the way. The kids (2,6,8) love it as they watch the blue dot move around on the map. Keeps them entertained and I don’t get the dreaded “ are we there yet?” Nor every parents other favorite “how long til we get there?” The Maps app tells them. Granted it only works when you have 3G coverage but it works well enough for my trips.

Cool.

MARK TAPSCOTT: Trent Lott confirms he’s a paid tool of the Washington Establishment. You know, every once in a while somebody tells me I should have been easier on Trent Lott when he was Majority Leader. I don’t think so . . . .

ED DRISCOLL: The Ancien Regime Isn’t Going Out Without a Fight.

SHOCKER: AP: Independents Turning Away From Obama, Dems.

THINGS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED THIS WEEKEND:

WaPo Ombudsman: Why the silence from The Post on Black Panther Party story? I think we know why, but thanks for noticing.

Joe The Plumber Fixes BP Oil Leak. Okay, a different Joe The Plumber. But still.

More non-newsworthy violence. Must fit the narrative to be newsworthy.

A dangerous disaffection.

Critiquing the design of the new DOJ website. Black is the new black.

Dodd-Frank and the Nondelegation Doctrine.

GOP Dumps On Tea Party, Right-Blogs. It’s called the “stupid party” for a reason. On the other hand, beware divide-and-conquer journalism . . .

“Te Amo.”

John Galt was unavailable for comment.

Generation Y’s Empty Piggy Bank.

Angelo Codevilla: America’s Ruling Class — And The Perils Of Revolution. Related thoughts here.

U.S. Government Orders 73,000 Private Websites Offline.

The Labor Movement in, er, action.

Is The United States Ready For The Next Big Quake? No.

STANLEY CROUCH tells the NAACP to clean its own house on racism. (Via JWF).

REALITY GAP: Politico: U.S. Struggles, D.C. Booms. “America is struggling with a sputtering economy and high unemployment — but times are booming for Washington’s governing class.” It’s like they’re the parasites and we’re the hosts, or something.

CHANGE: Ireland’s credit rating downgraded by Moody’s.

BOB OWENS: Think Progress Ripped Content From Tea Party Video To Create Fraudulent Racism Claim.

JIM TREACHER: Apple News . . . From The Future!

GENDERCIDE: The End Of Men?

SCOTT JOHNSON: Matt Bai Repeats The Big Lie. Well, that’s his job, it seems.

UPDATE: Reader Ernest Gudath writes: “I’m afraid that the ‘Hateful Epithets’ lie, like the Plastic Turkey, will live forever. Both have been refuted many times, but, no matter, they fit the Narrative.” Both are useful markers, however, as they mark those who repeat them as idiots, or tools.

WHITE HOUSE WAFFLING: It Depends On What The Meaning of “Tax” Is.

SHOCKING DISCOVERY: States with Stricter Gun Control Laws Are Less Safe.

GULF OIL ANALYSIS: Feds haven’t treated spill like national disaster.

KENNETH ANDERSON: Mormons in The Financial Times. With thoughts on “an attraction to disciplined masculinity.”

A SMALL STEP FOR LIBERTY: Virginia Privatizing Alcohol Sales? I agree with James Joyner: “There’s no earthly reason the state government should be in the business of retail sales.”

ANN ALTHOUSE: “I think this idea that electing a black President would redeem us from all things racial was something that developed as a shared and mostly unspoken delusion.”

HOW WE GOT A FINANCIAL CRISIS:

This is an account of what ails us that is radically at odds with the familiar tale of greedy bankers in $5,000 suits. “Almost every financial crisis has political roots,” Rajan writes. The credit market—at least as regards housing—was distorted by government policy, not by a sudden and mysterious escalation in “greed.” The trends that shook the world economy came out of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, out of the Federal Housing Administration, and out of their “regulator,” the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

By 2000, HUD required that low-income loans make up 50 percent of Fannie and Freddie’s portfolios. Out of “compassionate conservatism,” perhaps, the Bush administration raised that mandate to 56 percent. Rajan cites Fannie Mae’s former chief credit officer, Edward Pinto, who notes that, by 2008, “the FHA and various other government programs were exposed to about $2.7 trillion in subprime and Alt-A loans, approximately 59 percent of total loans to these categories.” Peter Wallison of the American Enterprise Institute found that government-mandated loans accounted for two-thirds of “junk mortgages.”

So much for the claim that the problem was too much market freedom.