PUNISHING TEXAS? TRUCK CONTRACT GOES ELSEWHERE:

The Army’s action to award the contract to a Wisconsin firm — following a review ordered by Congress’ watchdog Government Accountability Office — could claim an estimated 3,000 jobs at the Texas plant in suburban Houston, with layoffs beginning later this year.

Coupled with President Barack Obama’s proposal last week to cancel NASA’s $108 billion back-to-the-moon Constellation program, the Houston area could lose more than 10,000 aerospace and manufacturing jobs over the next two years.

Not enough SEIU jobs at stake, I guess.

UPDATE: Reader Dan Peterson writes: “I’m not sure I agree with the notion that P’BO is punishing Texas. Oshkosh’s bid was $400 Million less than BAE and the GAO was correct to place the order with Oshkosh. It also serves to put meat on the bone of the ‘Buy American’ philosophy. BAE is a British concern, even though the trucks have been made in the US. Oshkosh is also a leading supplier of fire trucks as well as other heavy duty vehicles so they are well qualified to handle the order.”

STEPHEN GREEN: The Week In Blogs.

WELL, THAT WOULD BE A BREAKTHROUGH: Huge Climate Story . . . Honesty.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM TED 2010, DAY TWO.

NEW YORK POST: What A Real Governor Does. “New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie clearly is serious about doing what he was elected to do — getting the budget under control, without reflexively raising taxes.”

THE CURIOUS CASE of Captain Carl Bjork.

ERICK ERICKSON: Vigilance: I’m Banning Birfers, Truthers, and Groups Affiliated Therewith.

CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: OBAMA’S BLOWING IT ON SPACE. I actually don’t agree with that, and recommend this discussion by Rand Simberg.

HOW TO DESTROY A SOLDIER’S LIFE: With help from Salon.

HAPPILY, THIS IS RARE. Especially as I have a tenure meeting next week. Alabama Prof Kills Three at Faculty Meeting After Being Denied Tenure. “Amy Bishop, a biology professor at the University of Alabama-Huntsville, allegedly shot and killed two biology professors and a staff person during a faculty meeting this afternoon in which she learned she was denied tenure.” Of course, maybe this is why we always have the Dean deliver the good or bad news after the meeting has ended . . . .

UPDATE: From Ratemyprofessors.com: “This class was great. Bishop makes the class interesting by talking about her research and her friends research. That speaker she had for class was hard to understand but smart. She expects alot and you need to come to every class and study. She is hot but she tries to hide it.And she is a socalist but she only talks about it after class.”

Reader George Berryman writes: “I’m guessing the ‘she’s a socialist’ part won’t get talked about much in the MSM. But if she had been a conservative it’d lead every evening news cast for two months.”

ANOTHER UPDATE: Proposed TPM and LGF Headlines.

Plus, Steve Huff proves my point by missing it entirely. Good grief. Steve, follow the link just above for some — obviously much-needed — remedial reading.

DAVID IGNATIUS: Europe Needs A Tea Party Movement. Even more than the United States. But Europe’s elites have spent decades doing their best to create barriers against just such a thing.

AT AMAZON, it’s the Friday Sale.

IF SARAH PALIN HAD MADE THIS KIND OF MISTAKE it would be a big deal. But since it’s a “sensible writer” at Slate, it’s just a glitch.

FIRST THEY IGNORE YOU, then they laugh at you, then they smear you, then you win. An updated version for the 21st Century . . . .

UPDATE: Reader C.J. Burch writes: “And if they had simply stuck with the ignore you part they would have come out so much better. But then stupidity and evil have always been a noxious brew especially when it is topped off by arrogance.” Yeah, imagine how much less powerful Sarah Palin would be if they’d just given her the usual amount of attention received by losing VP candidates. But they just can’t help themselves.

PEJMAN YOUSEFZADEH: “In short–and perhaps, amazingly enough–Andrew Sullivan lacks the necessary expertise and familiarity with pertinent issues to be genuinely, competently anti-Semitic.”

POWER LINE: The writing on the wall hand.

ANDREW KLAVAN: President Me! — The Musical.

SHOCKER: Associated Press: Administration may abandon civilian 9/11 trial.

DAVID REILLY: “President Barack Obama is starting to look like the second coming of Jimmy Carter.” I repeat, that’s a best-case scenario at this point.

A U.S. WIN in the America’s Cup.