ED KOCH ON CIVILITY: Palin Holds High Ground Over Harsh and Unfair Critics. “Why do I defend Palin in this case? I don’t agree with her political philosophy: She is an arch conservative. I am a liberal with sanity. I know that I am setting myself up for attack when I ask, why did Emile Zola defend Dreyfus? Palin is no Dreyfus and I am certainly no Zola. But all of us have an obligation, particularly those in politics and public office, to denounce, when we can, the perpetrators of horrendous libels and stand up for those falsely charged. We should denounce unfair, false and wicked charges not only when they are made against ourselves, our friends or our political party but against those with whom we disagree. If we are to truly change the poisonous political atmosphere that we all complain of, including those who create it, we should speak up for fairness when we can.”

DAN MITCHELL: The IRS Run Amok.

NOW THEY TELL US: Why Green Energy Can’t Power A Job Engine.

REDUCING POST-WORKOUT SORENESS with ginger.

UPDATE: Reader Donald Gately writes: “I always preferred Mary-Ann, but I’ll try anything for health.”

FUTUREPUNDIT ASKS: If the U.S. Government is really exploiting a crashed alien spaceship, why aren’t we seeing more technical progress? And flying cars, dammit!

UAW THREATENS TO CALL NON-UNION AUTO COMPANIES HUMAN-RIGHTS VIOLATORS. Well, fortunately, with the UAW holding stakes in their competitors, and with the U.S. government having invested in their competitors, the “transplant” car factories can expect an equally fair shake from both the union and the U.S. government!

SLAPPED IN THE FACE WITH A FISH. “The author does not present herself as controlling or magisterial; she gives her authorities space and then she gets out of the way. Her performance mimes the book’s lesson: rather than acting as a central authority, she lets individual voices speak for themselves.” This is an approach that I find congenial.

THE TERMINATOR SCENARIO: Are We Giving Our Military Machines Too Much Power?

JOHN TIERNEY ON why people can handle the truth regarding their own DNA.

TRASH-TALKING: Nissan’s Tavares to GM: Electric cars don’t have tailpipes.

ANOTHER SCALP FOR THE TEA PARTY: Kent Conrad to retire. “Unlike Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison’s retirement announcement last week, Conrad’s announcement sets up a strong possibility of a flip from D to R. Republicans crushed Democrats in the state’s 2010 elections.”

IN THE MAIL: From Michael Wade, All I Said Was…: What Every Supervisor, Employee, and Team Should Know to Avoid Insults, Lawsuits, and the Six O’Clock News.

POINTS AND FIGURES ON TALK OF CHINESE CURRENCY MANIPULATION: “The Senate did more to wreck the American dream in the past two years than China has. I think they call that shooting yourself in the foot.”

AS WE MOVE TOWARD THE BRITISH MODEL, THE BRITISH MOVE AWAY: UK Government Plans Major Health Care Reform. “The British leader, whose Conservative Party heads the country’s coalition government, said he would save money and cut red tape by giving control over management to family practitioners rather than bureaucrats, and allow private companies, charities and social enterprises to bid for contracts within the public health service.” Is there a lesson here?

ETHANOL: Cartooned.

A WAVE OF MURDERS in a state the Brady Campaign calls safe because of strict gun laws. “Safe?” I do not think this word means what you think it means. But this kind of — all-too-common — pattern is probably why U.S. attitudes on gun control haven’t gotten any more favorable since the Tucson shooting.

WALTER RUSSELL MEAD: The Next American Upgrade.

PEJMAN YOUSEFZADEH: The Obama Administration, Richard Holbrooke, and AfPak Policy Chaos. “My respect for the late Richard Holbrooke notwithstanding, I certainly don’t think that his work and judgments on AfPak policy have been infallible. In fact, at one point, I actually called for him to resign. But perhaps I might have reconsidered my call, if I had known that from the outset, despite his supposedly special position in the State Department, and despite the importance of getting AfPak policy right, Richard Holbrooke received little support from the Obama White House in his endeavors.”

AT AMAZON, Top Deals In Electronics.

WHY THEY’D RATHER TALK ABOUT SARAH PALIN (CONT’D): States warned of $2,500bn pensions shortfall. “US public pensions face a shortfall of $2,500bn that will force state and local governments to sell assets and make deep cuts to services, according to the former chairman of New Jersey’s pension fund.”

WASHINGTON EXAMINER: Three Facts The House GOP Can’t Ignore.

THE RECLUSIVE LEFTIST on last week’s burst of lefty hatred.

So is this what we do now? Is this the program? Fifty years later, we just make it be about whatever we want it to be about? (Mr. Derrida, white courtesy phone. White courtesy phone, Mr. Derrida.)

Ironically, people will accuse me of having an ulterior motive for even saying this. So you’re defending right-wing hatred? So you’re arguing that the left is just as bad? Blah blah blah. Actually, here’s my ulterior motive: truth. I like truth. I like facts. I like knowing what really happened.

How delightfully old-fashioned. (Via DaTechGuy, who has further thoughts.)

ZEITGEIST UPDATE: Tucson Shooter Obsessed With Bizarre Internet Movie. Wait, not a Glenn Beck follower?

Related: Leftist threatener-of-Tea Partiers Eric Fuller has history of unhinged behavior.

SO THE WASHINGTON POST’S “ON FAITH BLOG” ASKED WILLIS ELLIOTT TO ANSWER A QUESTION ABOUT ISLAM, but when they read the answer, they spiked it. It’s now published over at Pajamas Media.

USA TODAY EDITORIALIZES: Lavish Public Pensions Add To State Budget Woes. “Add to” is putting it mildly in some cases.