MAUREEN DOWD ON OBAMA AND THE PRESS: “The former constitutional lawyer now in the White House understands that the press has a role in the democracy. But he is an elitist, too, as well as thin-skinned and controlling. . . . Like many Democrats, he thinks the press is supposed to be on his side.” Well, to be fair, you can see where he’d get that idea. But Dowd adds, “It hurts Obama to be a crybaby about it, and to blame the press and the ‘old Washington game’ for his own communication failures.” Ouch. The problem is, they’re not just communication failures. They’re personality failures.

IN THE MAIL: From Mark Van Name, Overthrowing Heaven.

IF YOU MISSED IT ON SIRIUS/XM SATELLITE RADIO YESTERDAY, the latest PJM Political is now online. Karl Rove, James Lileks, Jim Glassman, and more.

ANN ALTHOUSE: “I like seeing the Democratic Party candidate fight for the Tea Partiers. Republican candidates shouldn’t be able to automatically appropriate the energy of the Tea Party movement.”

DAVID WARREN: “We learned a simple thing this week: that the BP clean-up effort in the Gulf of Mexico is hampered by the Jones Act. This is a piece of 1920s protectionist legislation, that requires all vessels working in U.S. waters to be American-built, and American-crewed. So while, for instance, the U.S. Coast Guard can accept such help as three kilometres of containment boom from Canada, they can’t accept, and therefore don’t ask for, the assistance of high-tech European vessels specifically designed for the task in hand. This is amusing, in a way: a memorable illustration of … the sort of stuff I keep going on about. Which is to say, the law of unintended consequences, which pertains with especial virulence to all acts of government regulation.”

STEVEN PINKER: New Media Not As Scary As Claimed.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Is a college degree still worth it?: As U.S. employment patterns evolve, a diploma is no longer a guarantee of a better job and higher pay.

BIG BROTHER IN AUSTRALIA: “Revelations that the federal government wants Australia’s 400-odd internet service providers (ISPs) to log and retain customers’ web browsing data, so law enforcement can access it during criminal cases, have sparked alarm in the industry. Currently law enforcement needs court-approved search warrants before they can record someone’s personal data via their ISP. The proposed regulation would mean companies would be forced to store certain information for several years just in case it was later needed.”

HOW TO SEASON A WOK.

PJTV: Bill Whittle, Austin Bay, and Cliff May on the Iranian Green Movement, one year later.

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CLAUDIA ROSETT: Please, No More “Arc of History.”

LIVESTREAMING VIDEO from the Humanity+ Summit.

THE ROAD TO PRICE CONTROLS: “Conventional wisdom is that U.S. pharmaceutical companies made out well under the Obama health plan by bargaining with the White House. That wisdom is wrong.”

MARCHING FOR freedom in Iran.

THIS WEEK IN THE FUTURE.

MICKEY KAUS on having fun.

MARK STEYN on our post-modern presidency.

MESSAGE TO HELEN THOMAS: The Jews are home.

NEW YORK POST: Obama’s True Gulf Goof.

HOW OBAMACARE IS already affecting health insurance benefits. “This year Ms. Watts estimates that changes made in response to the health law will add an extra 2 to 3 percent in cost increases, pressuring employers to engage in even more cost-sharing with employees — whether through higher premiums, co-payments or other out-of-pocket costs.”