PEJMAN YOUSEFZADEH interviews Jon Huntsman.

FROM THE 21ST CENTURY TO THE 17TH? British arming ships to resist pirates.

TU QUOQUE FAIL: Sen. John Cornyn Makes AG Holder Squash Fast And Furious “Bush Did It Too” Argument.

THE HUNGER FOR “SOCIAL CERTAINTIES:” Ron Radosh on the continuing appeal of communism in the West.

I don’t really think that’s it. I think it’s that communism/socialism promise good career paths for people whose skills are bureaucratic politics, conforming, sucking up, and punishing nonconformists, and that there are enough of those people — especially in influential professions like journalism and academia — to ensure a continuing constituency.

MICKEY KAUS busts Politico for repeating Democratic spin. “Do Democrats who infiltrate the MSM seek out the headline-writing jobs first? Cunning of them. (When did you last see a misleading headline that moved a story to the right?)”

THE HILL: TSA airport procedures divide lawmakers. “Some Democrats said that TSA was doing a great job, but Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) said TSA’s controversial pat-down hand searches made her not look forward to flying. . . . McCaskill said not only have her experiences with TSA pat-downs been invasive, but they’ve also been inconvenient because she often has to wait for a female TSA officer to check her.”

ROGER SIMON: End The David Axelrod Debating Society Now.

ED MORRISSEY: The Christmas Tree Tax: Obama’s Xmas Gift To The Right. I believe the Administration has already climbed down from this one.

LEGAL EDUCATION UPDATE: More on the Illinois Law Admissions Scandal.

FARHAD MANJOO: Google+ Is Dead. “The real test of Google’s social network is what people do after they join. As far as anyone can tell, they aren’t doing a whole lot. Traffic-analysis firms have consistently reported Google+’s traffic to be declining from its early peak. Even Google’s own executives seem to have gotten bored by the site.”

INVESTOR’S BUSINESS DAILY: Emails Refute White House Claim That Donor Never Discussed Solyndra.

Related: Solyndra Emails Claim Biden Team ‘About Had an Orgasm’ About Energy Loans to Firm.

PHILIP KLEIN: What’s wrong with WaPo? “To most people, wishing for the death of terrorists is pretty non-controversial stuff. But then again, those people don’t live in the bizarro world of the Washington Post’s ombudsman.”

AT AMAZON, pre-Black Friday deals on electronics.

DAMON ROOT: Andrew Sullivan Is Wrong About the Supreme Court and Guns. Yeah, dog-bites-man, I know.

Plus, from the comments: “Holy f*ck! People still read Andrew Sullivan!” Now that’s the news hook here.

NILE GARDINER: Barack Obama is facing an anti-Big Government revolution.

BUDGETS: Dem lawmaker would be fine with supercommittee failure, automatic cuts. “A Democratic legislator said it would be fine with him if the supercommittee failed to reach agreement and steep, automatic cuts to domestic and defense spending happened.”

JIM TREACHER: David Gregory Must Prove His Innocence.

TURKEY HIT BY second devastating earthquake.

#OCCUPYFAIL: Occupy Oakland Protesters Deposit Funds At Wells Fargo After Bank Attacks.

JERRY POURNELLE ON climate and traditional Chinese business practices.

HOW’S THAT HOPEY-CHANGEY STUFF WORKIN’ OUT FOR YA? (CONT’D): Jefferson County, Alabama, Votes to Declare Biggest Municipal Bankruptcy.

OBAMANOMICS: NLRB lawyer: “We screwed up the U.S. economy.” “New documents obtained by Judicial Watch show acting National Labor Relations Board General Counsel Lafe Solomon joking that the NLRB’s suit against Boeing would kill jobs in South Carolina.”

OUCH: Most Brutal Debate Video and Tweets Ever.

I TALKED ABOUT THIS WITH MICHAEL BARONE, but all of a sudden new respect for Newt Gingrich seems to be busting out all over.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE: The Texas Solution. More here.