JAMES PETHOKOUKIS: Sputter to stall: U.S. economy dips into danger zone for recession. “When Election Day 2012 rolls around, it will be the economy rather than the debt ceiling debate or the killing of Osama bin Laden that will most influence voters. And time is running for a dramatic turnaround that will substantially lower unemployment or boost incomes. . . . The White House and its media surrogates will continue to argue that without the $800 billion stimulus, the economy would be even worse. Their models and multipliers are never questioned. But to many Americans, it looks like the car is headed back into the ditch, if it ever got out.” Where’s my Slurpee?

YOU DON’T NEED A WEATHER MAN TO SEE WHICH WAY THE WIND’S BLOWING: Mick Jagger, Closet Conservative?

RICH LOWRY ON the virtues of being “unreasonable.”

I RATHER DOUBT IT: Is the problem with Congress not enough pork?

The article doesn’t really deliver on its promise regarding the collapse of political trust. But to be trusted, you have to be trustworthy. When people don’t trust you any more, they may take a while to act on it, but eventually there’s a preference cascade. Where are we on that timeline now? I’m not sure.

SHOCKER: With a Miserable 19% at Rotten Tomatoes The Smurfs Looks to be the Crap We All Knew it was Going to Be.

SO IS THIS THE HOPE, OR THE CHANGE? African-American Middle Class Eroding As Unemployment Rate Soars.

TEST-DRIVING THE NEW Dodge Charger SRT8.

LONGEVITY UPDATE: Hitting The Wall At 114 Years Old.

NOT JUST IN THE TANK — DRIVING THE TANK: #MSM reporter offers Obama #WhiteHouse helpful advice on #Twitter — and they take it. “A New York Times reporter this morning offered White House communications folks an unsolicited tip on using Twitter to drive improved public support for President Obama’s stance in the debt ceiling negotiations. And within minutes they took it.”

Like Dukakis, baby!

UPDATE: Countertweet from John Hawkins: I have a plan for a perpetual motion machine. It works, I assure you, but I can’t show it to anyone. #thatworksforobama

BTW, here’s the original Obama-tweet-leadership story. Tweetership?

JAMES TARANTO: He’s Back! Obama finally bows to reality. “At the very beginning of his brief statement this morning, he complained that the Boehner plan ‘would force us to relive this crisis in just a few short months, holding our economy captive to Washington politics once again.’ Replace the phrase ‘our economy’ with ‘my re-election campaign,’ and you can see what he means.”

MASS RESIGNATIONS among Turkey’s highest-ranking military officers. “I don’t yet know what this means or what the implications will be, but obviously it’s a very big deal.”

UPDATE: Thoughts from Victor Davis Hanson.

SOUTH CAROLINA DEMOCRATS TO NIKKI HALEY: How Dare You Consider Yourself White! Well, policing the color line is something South Carolina Democrats have been doing for 200 years. . . .

UPDATE: Eugene Volokh comments.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Whatever racial box she checked, at least she only voted once, which is more than some people can say. “While NAACP President Benjamin Jealous lashed out at new state laws requiring photo ID for voting, an NAACP executive sits in prison, sentenced for carrying out a massive voter fraud scheme . . . . in April a Tunica County, Miss., jury convicted NAACP official Lessadolla Sowers on 10 counts of fraudulently casting absentee ballots. Sowers is identified on an NAACP website as a member of the Tunica County NAACP Executive Committee.”

ABC NEWS: Boehner Gets Standing Ovation From Senate Republicans.

Related: Top Congressional Democrats Complain Obama Is Not A Leader. Well, let’s see where we end up before we decide how either man has done.

And reader Patrick Ford emails:

#compromise: The new twitter hash tag to get people to call Republicans to accept the Obama plan, what ever that is?

Shockingly and unexpectedly, being supported by NYT.

How do you compromise between a plan, and a non-plan? Er, excuse me, a “secret plan.”

IF ONLY THE NUMBERS IN CONGRESS AND THE ADMINISTRATION WERE THIS GOOD: 97.5% of Americans Pass Up Easy Opportunity To Cheat On Their Taxes.

POWERLINE PRIZE #2: “Don’t You See?”

CHANGE: Boehner Rewrites His Bill, Conservatives Climb On.

HEH: “See what I did there? I took Dennis A. Henigan’s comment about Norway’s gun laws out of context. But only just.”

JUST BECAUSE THEY CAN’T PASS A BUDGET DOESN’T MEAN THEY CAN’T PASS ANYTHING, ALAS: House Committee passes bill requiring your ISP to spy on every click and keystroke you make online and retain for 12 months.

HOW’S THAT DEBT-FIGHT WORKING FOR YOU? Gallup: Obama Approval Sinks to 40, Disapproval At 50.

GOING THE EXTRA MILE: Woman Takes Bar Exam While In Labor, Delivers Baby Right After.

FORD ROBOTS GO ON STRIKE: “Production of the popular compact has reportedly been hampered by a machine that makes dashboard coverings. Apparently, the Detroit area supplier’s equipment takes unscheduled breaks, and only works intermittently. According to the Associated Press, this issue has put the hurt on Focus production, forcing Ford to fly in needed parts from European vendors in an effort to try and keep assembly moving.” Unscheduled breaks, only works intermittently — have they unionized the robots too, now?

DOES “DRIVER ASSISTANCE” MAKE US WORSE DRIVERS? “Though these ‘semiautonomous’ systems are sold as safety equipment, researchers argue that they create a sense of reliance that actually makes drivers less safe (unlike ‘secret’ safety systems like stability control and ABS, which operate consistently without the driver’s knowledge). And, somewhat counterintuitively, these researchers argue that the rise of semiautonomous driver aids actually increases the need for life-long driver education.”

MEGAN MCARDLE: What Happens If We Don’t Raise The Debt Ceiling?

TIME FOR ANOTHER THRILLING INSTA-POLL: As always, you can click through and add your thoughts in the poll comments.