TODAY IS THE seventh anniversary of the fall of Baghdad. From the Boston Globe’s account: “Jubilant Iraqis greeted US troops with cheers, victory signs, and flowers. Weeping Iraqi elders kissed grinning US soldiers. A few Iraqi men, apparently caught up in the moment, rushed into the street clad only in underwear to greet passing US troops.”

BRAIN-EMULATION SCALE HARDWARE by 2025? Right on schedule.

BREAKING: Justice Stevens Will Retire. Another election issue!

UPDATE: More problems for Goodwin Liu?

ANOTHER UPDATE: Understatement from Doug Mataconis: “Given the political climate, the fact that this is an election year, and the record we already have from the Sotomayor hearings last year, I think we can expect that this will be a very politically charged nomination process.”

MORE: Reader Jeff Mitchell writes: “‘Associate Justice Glenn Harlan Reynolds’ — Has a nice ring, don’t you think?” Heh. Pro-choice and pro-gun? I’m not confirmable under any likely political scenario. Besides, the notion that an obscure teacher of constitutional law could be catapulted to one of the highest offices in the land is absurd on its face.

STILL MORE: Tunku Varadarajan on Stevens.

IN THE MAIL: From Peter Lovenheim, In The Neighborhood: The Search for Community on an American Street, One Sleepover at a Time.

PJTV: Obama Bans “Islam.”

FOR SOME THIS IS HOPE, FOR OTHERS IT IS CHANGE: Casual Sex Increasing in U.S. And for some, it is neither.

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON on Greece, California, and the end of trust.

IN WHICH MY LIMITS ARE EXPOSED: Reader Terry French writes:

Dear Mr. Reynolds,
Last Fall I began nagging my husband for a new camera. After obsessively reading about different models, I decided on the Panasonic Lumix LX3, and explained to my husband why. A lot. For months. I knew he wasn’t listening, but it always feels good to chatter to myself and watch his eyes glaze over. Then one day he called me out of the blue and said, with shocking force, that I should definitely get that LX3. Why the sudden interest, I asked. Oh, I’ve always been very interested in that camera, he said. And I thought we’d turned over a new leaf in our marital communication. However, it has recently been revealed that you mentioned once how pleased you were with your…oh! wait for it!…LX3 camera. Right. Anyhow, was just wondering if you could please mention at some point in the next few months how very pleased you have been with: your new Boden swimsuit, your Merrell Timpani sandals, and your Bernina Cut & Sew attachment. Thanks.

I do love my Lumix LX3. As for the others, well — I look good in anything, but the Boden swimsuit may test that limit.

YOU CAN HELP MICKEY KAUS’S CANDIDACY by sending an email to California Dems to underscore his viability. Be sure to be polite.

MORE VIOLENT EXTREMIST ELIMINATIONIST RHETORIC FROM DEMOCRATS: Teacher’s Union Memo Hints At Gov. Christie’s Death. “Association president Joe Coppola says the ‘prayer’ was a joke and was never meant to be made public.” Somebody tell Keith Olbermann.

STUPAK RETIRES. Hmm. Somebody watch what he does next for signs of a payoff. . . .

UPDATE: Michael Graham emails: “The Tea Party is the most pro-family org. ever! Everywhere they go, Dems decide to ‘spend more time with family.'” It is funny that he announced his decision in the face of a visit from the Tea Party Express. Who’s next? Barney Frank?

TIM CAVANAUGH: Geithner Still Claims Savings Rates Are Up. Savings Rates Still Ain’t Up.

MARKDOWNS on lawnmowers. I still like my push-reel mower, though a lawn-mowing robot would be kinda cool.

CAROL SHEA-PORTER: “So how are we going to pay for this?”

MEGAN MCARDLE ON U.S. CREDITWORTHINESS:

If at any point we are not seen as the safest game in town, we will take a gigantic–the better word might be “catastrophic”–hit on our bond interest. If there’s somewhere safer to park our money, suddenly we lose the premium we currently enjoy for having bonds considered the “risk free” rate. So while our super-sterling credit rating may delay the onset of a fiscal crisis, if we ever let it get to that point, the onset may be even more sudden and disastrous than these things usually are. All the more reason to start getting our fiscal house in order now.

Not much sign of that.

UPDATE: Reader Bob McDonald writes: “You can bet that when the US loses its super-sterling credit rating, the blame will fall on ‘evil speculators.'”

Yeah, couldn’t possibly be the fault of greedy, profligate politicians who ignored warning after warning.

ANOTHER UPDATE: From reader Greg Marquez, praise for Obama’s cunning plan:

If our credit rating depends upon us being the safest game in town, that may help explain President Obama’s foreign policy. By making the world a more dangerous place he makes investing in the world’s only superpower that much more appealing. The man is a genius.

It all makes sense, now. . . .

PAUL RAHE: Is Paul Rahe Right?

BLOGGING, TIC TAC TOE, and the future of math.

WEIRD BIGOTRY from Media Matters leading light.

BIZARRE THREATS from Wisconsin prosecutor.

DEBORAH WASSERMAN SCHULTZ in full mandate-denial.