SOLYNDRA: The Green Bay Of Pigs? “It seems that Uncle Sam’s Mickey Mouse loan deal to the now-bankrupt solar manufacturer Solyndra was not only a bad investment decision, but likely a contributing factor to the company’s implosion.”

The new factory built with Department of Energy funds foisted fixed costs on a company already struggling through an industry shake-out, [investors] say. What’s more, the debt paradoxically made raising more money difficult. Once the government demanded priority in the event of failure, private investors were less likely to prop up the company.

Who could have seen that coming?

UPDATE: Solyndra Pressured Bush White House For Approval In January, 2009 — And Didn’t Get It. “Apparently, the Bush administration officials involved caught a whiff of desperation and decided to back away. Too bad Obama administration officials didn’t make the same choice.”

TAKING THE WHOLE CONSTITUTION PLEDGE:

But, as Ed Whelan points out, Article V is part of the “whole Constitution,” too — indeed, the part that helped bring about the Amendments that the pledge authors so praise. So I should say that I pledge to support the whole Constitution, including the provision that allows repeal of those provisions that were enacted by yesterday’s Americans but that today’s Americans choose to revise through the constitutionally prescribed means. As to which particular provisions should be kept and which should be repealed, I make no pledges.

Funny how the “progressives” are now the party of stasis. Though I think they’re actually okay with constitutional change via the judiciary — at least so long as it’s the right sort of change.

ANDREW MALCOLM: America’s newest hero, Sgt. Dakota Meyer: How he rescued 36 guys under fire.

BLOG REPORT: Andrew Breitbart in Lexington, Mass.

AT AMAZON, Coupons Galore.

BILL WHITTLE’S AFTERBURNER: What We Did Right.

AP: Obama admin reworked Solyndra loan to favor donor. “The Obama administration restructured a half-billion dollar federal loan to a troubled solar energy company in such a way that private investors — including a fundraiser for President Barack Obama — moved ahead of taxpayers for repayment in case of a default, government records show.”

UPDATE: Tom Blumer: AP’s Sept. 16 Solyndra Story, Part 1: Passing Off Weeks-Old News As Its Own Work. Sadly, my expectations have been driven so low that I’m just grateful they’re covering the story . . . .

BETTER HAIR: “Oh, what a huckster that John Edwards was!” And oh, how happy the press was to enable his huckstering, until it exploded and they pretended they had never pumped him up.

BOX-OFFICE POISON: Disappointed Hollywood Giving Obama The Cold Shoulder.

CHANGE: Obama’s job approval — and favorable rating — hit new lows in NYT poll.

THE ONLY THING THAT MIGHT SAVE OBAMA? Donald Trump reiterates possibility of running as an independent after dinner with ‘Jim’ Perry.

If Trump wants to be widely and intensely hated, this’ll do it for him. (Via Mickey Kaus).

VOX DAY is predicting another crash, which is consistent with his longer-term argument. Me, I don’t make market predictions. But I do get the feeling that our financial leaders are papering over deeper problems.

UPDATE: “We can buy time, but we can’t change the outcome.” I think they just want to buy enough time to get past November, 2012.

DAN MITCHELL: Obama and Geithner Advising the Europeans on Fiscal Crisis?!? This Is a Case of the Blind Leading the Blind…on Steroids.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Where Universities Can Be Cut: Administration? “Multiple layers of management can exacerbate complexity. Complexity and related operating issues lead to inefficiency.”

Ya think?

HYPERINFLATION ARBITRAGE: $6.95 for a 100 Trillion Zimbabwe Banknote.

Hey, don’t laugh. How long before we see these for real?

I just hope I can figure out a way to make a buck Yuan off of it when it happens . . . .

THE CARTER ERA HAD SKYLAB, AND NOW THIS: Huge Defunct Satellite Falling to Earth Faster Than Expected, NASA Says. I have a salvaged piece of Skylab in lucite on my desk. Let’s hope this crash does no more damage.

WELL, THAT’S WHAT IT’S FOR — SHUTTING DOWN DEBATE: ‘Civility Pledge’ Shuts Down Debate At Tucson City Council Meeting.

AT AMAZON, the portable audio & video outlet sale.

JAY COST: Does Obama Really Believe He’s Still Popular? “Don’t all presidents suffer declining popularity? Not all of them, but most of them do. Still, Obama so far has been one of the less popular presidents since World War II. . . . I’m not making a point here about Obama’s reelection prospects, as Reagan and Clinton both bounced back and won solid victories. Instead, I want to highlight his unpopularity to suggest that the White House has demonstrated a shocking level of political incompetence. . . . Either he and his team don’t realize that the bottom has dropped out, so they don’t know that they need to change strategies, or they do realize it but haven’t come up with any alternatives. My money is on the former – he and his team haven’t figured it out yet.”

AND THAT’S PRETTY MUCH HIS PROBLEM IN A NUTSHELL: Jon Huntsman gets the Vogue treatment.

And why is he, with his minuscule poll standing, in all the debates while Gary Johnson and Thaddeus McCotter are passed over?

UPDATE: Reader Kevin O’Brien writes from New Hampshire:

One of the great benefts of living in NH s having the quadrennial presidential circus sweep through. (And one of the miseravle ordeals of living in NH is the quadrennial… you get the idea. Idi et Amo as Catullus said). You can actually meet and interact with candidates if you’re so inclined. Most of them are interesting and personable people. Recently my brother and I attended an event where Thad McCotter spoke. In personal interaction as well as in his speech, a very impressive man. He has a wry sense of humour and is very likeable even among these people who tend to be more personable than average (if you’re a misanthrope, politics would weed you out, yes?)

My bro and I are bleah on social issues, strong on the economy and strong on national security (I’m retired from Army/reserve/guard, 30 years total). We think we’re fairly typical NH Republicans. Many candidates had horrible defense policies, and Huntsman stood out as lacking in Vitamin Clue. (This is the problem I have with the more libertarian candidates like Paul and Johnson).

Huntsman did not attend the event (the foks that did were all second- and third-strng candidates (Fred Karger? Buddy Roemer? Christopher V. Hill?) but had a very large team. THey were wearing very striking, artistically designed t-shirts featuring a huge “H”. Best t-shirts, worst policies. A Hollywood campaign.

A who’s who of NH politics was here and a high point for me was meeting John Sununu. Sununu gave the briefest and best speech, which in essence was: we need to unite behind the nominee, because any of them is an improvement over the incumbent. We’re calling it the Sununu rule. and that’s pretty much how I feel. There’s a lot of talent in this race and even some who have little shot at the Oval Office, like Newt, Bachmann and McCotter, bring real strengths to the race and you hope whoever is #XLV can find ways to use their gifts. Huntsman may be the exception to the Sununu Rule: I don’t see what he’s got over Obama. Why elect Mini-Me when you can have Dr Evil himself?

I can live with Perry even though he’s prone to hipshots and dreadful on immigration. I can live with Mitt even though he’s worse on guns than Perry is on immigration (and Mitt’s not real great on immigration, either). These imperfections in our probable standard-bearers just serve to remind us how important the down-ticket races are, also. We need a President with mostly good instincts, and we need a Congress that will frustrate him in his bad instincts. (It seems like everyone but anyone in Washington knows that our immigration system is too open to unskilled and criminal line jumpers, and too harsh on productive immigrants, for example. And note where legislative innovation in the gun arena takes place, in the labs of the states — we just passed stand-your-ground reform, after an egregious case two years ago, over the petulant veto of our lib dem Governor).

Indeed. And I love “best t-shirts, worst policies.”

HOW’S THAT HOPEY-CHANGEY STUFF WORKIN’ OUT FOR YA? (CONT’D): Hello, Rising Poverty Rate: 5 Tips For Dating A Broke Guy.

THE DISNEY MYTH: Why So Many Women Are Misled About True Love.

NEWS YOU CAN USE: Freedom of the press applies to everyone — yes, even bloggers.

WAR ON TERROR NEWS: FBI Teaches Agents: ‘Mainstream’ Muslims Are ‘Violent, Radical.’

The FBI is teaching its counterterrorism agents that “main stream” [sic] American Muslims are likely to be terrorist sympathizers; that the Prophet Mohammed was a “cult leader”; and that the Islamic practice of giving charity is no more than a “funding mechanism for combat.”

Some people are unhappy about that.

IN UTAH, pro-gun groups urge gays to arm themselves. “Nelson, the owner of Stonewall Shooting, says that many attackers would be surprised if the victim brandished a weapon at them.” And even more surprised if the victim shot them, I’d imagine.