WALTER RUSSELL MEAD ON KHADDAFY: The End Of The Great Loon. “There is one conclusion we ought to draw from the inglorious end of the Great Loon: the Bush agenda in the Middle East is alive and well. The United States is, as Bush and Cheney so forcefully announced, a revolutionary power in the Middle East no longer seeking to prop up the status quo at any cost. (The Saudi exemption still holds.) Regime change remains on the table; the military forces of the United States stand ready to take out thugs whose viciousness has become insupportable, or who align themselves against the vital interests of this country.” They told me if I voted for John McCain, the United States would . . . oh, hell, you know the rest.

HOW’S THAT HOPEY-CHANGEY STUFF WORKIN’ OUT FOR YA? (CONT’D): “Misery Index” Hits 28-Year High. But 28 years ago it was on the way down. Today, it appears to be on the way up.

INVESTOR’S BUSINESS DAILY: “If Republicans are to take back the White House and Senate, they need to do a better job tying Democrats and Washington to the subprime crisis. It’s not hard, yet even their front-runner struggles to make the case.” Here’s a handy graphic:

METAPHOR ALERT: House Democratic Caucus Charged Taxpayers to Clean Its Dirty Laundry.

OR OBAMA, WHATEVER: Is Your Partner Cheating On You? Blame the Economy! “Researchers at the University of Kansas just found one more piece of bad news about this so-called recovery: A crummy economy could prompt men, even those in monogamous relationships, to seek out more sex partners.”

AUSTAN GOOLSBEE: Hey, maybe that “Cash For Clunkers” thing was a mistake.

WASHINGTON POST HIT PIECE FAIL: Marco Rubio punches back twice as hard, and even the WaPo’s own Jennifer Rubin comments: “If this is the best they have on Rubio, he’s in no peril whatsoever. To the contrary, Rubio, having gone through a mainstream press attack, will likely endear himself to an even greater degree to the conservative base. If there’s one thing that all conservatives can agree on, it is their loathing of mainstream media.” With reason, apparently.

PRESIDENT MILLSTONE: Politico: President Obama Could Be A Drag On Senate Democrats. “In every major race next year featuring a Senate Democratic incumbent, Obama is polling worse than the incumbent — in some cases, by a substantial margin — according to publicly released surveys.”

Related: Obama Job Approval: Worst Quarter Yet.

HEALTH NEWS: Gel Cuts Women’s Risk of Herpes, Study Finds. “A vaginal gel that sharply reduces a woman’s risk of infection with the AIDS virus is even more effective against genital herpes, a much more common risk for young American women, a new study has found. The study, by researchers from the National Institutes of Health, Gilead Sciences Inc. and universities in Belgium and Italy, suggests that the microbicide gel, which was originally developed to fight AIDS in Africa, could lower the incidence of herpes in many women.” Presumably there are benefits for men, too, though that wasn’t studied.

AT AMAZON, markdowns in Patio, Lawn & Garden.

THE COUNTRY’S IN THE VERY BEST OF HANDS: Inspector General: IRS Allowed $3.2 Billion in Erroneous Education Credits in 5-Month Period.

“THEY ARE DEFECATING ON OUR DOORSTEPS:” Local Residents Hate Wall Street Occupiers. Funny, remember how the Tea Party protesters left things cleaner than when they arrived? That’s the difference between a bourgeois revolution and the usual suspects. One suspects it’s also an indication of how the country would fare under their respective programs. . . .

UPDATE: Brian Dunn is not reassured that the Occupiers are creating a Committee Of Public Safety.

CHANGE: France Faces Credit Downgrade.

A CHALLENGE FOR CONGRESS: If You Favor a Policy, Please First Figure Out What it Is. “I moderated a panel on infrastructure and jobs at the Bipartisan Policy Center this morning, and one of the topics that came up was an infrastructure bank. Asked about it, one of the panelists said ‘what I’d like is to make all the members of Congress write a 100 word essay on what an infrastructure bank is.’ It was a good line, and the audience laughed because it hints at something all too true when it comes to discussing policy: there are a lot of ferocious advocates of policies they can’t explain.”

PRESIDENT FLIPFLOP: Politico: President Obama at war with himself over Wall Street. “First, the White House signaled it would make anger toward Wall Street central to President Barack Obama’s reelection campaign. But then, Obama warned against demonizing all of Wall Street — only a few days before he sympathized with the Occupy Wall Street protesters who do exactly that. And that’s just what the president and his team have said since Saturday.”

INVESTOR’S BUSINESS DAILY: Sliming The Tea Party. “The president makes an odious comparison between the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street, unable to tell the difference between those who work to change the system and those who would destroy it.”

THE HILL: Influence Industry Officially In A Funk. “After a banner year in 2010, many of K Street’s biggest shops have seen their lobbying revenue decline this year, a trend that has continued in recent months.” Good.

TIM CARNEY: Does killing a dictator make an illegal war legal? Only if you’re a Democrat.

Pictured here is a tweet from liberal blogger Markos, of the Daily Kos. It reads: “GOPers who criticized Obama’s approach in Libya … wrong again.”

The implication: If you objected to the President for illegally entering a war where vital U.S. interests were not at stake, you were wrong, because we killed Gadafhi. More briefly: Might makes right.

The liberal Center for American Progress made the same unliberal argument in August when Gadhafi lost control of the country, asking on twitter: “Does John Boehner still believe U.S. military operations in Libya are illegal?”

This disregard for the rule of law is particularly audacious because Kos and CAP helped bring Democrats to power by attacking Bush for his cowboy foreign policy.

Audacious, pathetically hypocritical, whatever.

“WHY CAN’T I GET A JOB IN MY FIELD?”

HOW’S THAT HOPEY-CHANGEY STUFF WORKIN’ OUT FOR YA? (CONT’D): Pension Woes Complicating Retirements. “Deteriorating conditions in the pension system are jeopardizing the lump sum payouts workers count on, and pushing some workers to retire ahead of schedule. Stock market losses began dragging down pension assets a few years ago, but the current near-zero interest rates — intended to spur the American economy — have worsened the problem and created the largest gap in assets and liabilities since the end of World War II.” Subsidizing borrowers, punishing savers.

If this were a Republican administration, we’d have endless tear-jerking press reports of how senior citizens are being squeezed by record low CD rates. Luckily, it’s not, so — happy happy joy joy!

KAY HYMOWITZ: Don’t Believe the Hype, College Educated Women Are Still Getting Married.

RICK MORAN: Obama’s Woes In The Buckeye State. “The president has lost middle America. Michigan, Wisconsin, and even Minnesota are also up for grabs, with Pennsylvania competitive at this point. The path to 270 electoral votes is still there, but the window is narrowing.”

NITA GHEI: Outlook Beige: Lackluster economic news showcases problems of aimless policy.

RIGHT TO THE END: Steve Jobs Biography Reveals He Told Obama, ‘You’re Headed For A One-Term Presidency’.

Jobs, who was known for his prickly, stubborn personality, almost missed meeting President Obama in the fall of 2010 because he insisted that the president personally ask him for a meeting. Though his wife told him that Obama “was really psyched to meet with you,” Jobs insisted on the personal invitation, and the standoff lasted for five days. When he finally relented and they met at the Westin San Francisco Airport, Jobs was characteristically blunt. He seemed to have transformed from a liberal into a conservative.

“You’re headed for a one-term presidency,” he told Obama at the start of their meeting, insisting that the administration needed to be more business-friendly. As an example, Jobs described the ease with which companies can build factories in China compared to the United States, where “regulations and unnecessary costs” make it difficult for them.

Jobs also criticized America’s education system, saying it was “crippled by union work rules,” noted Isaacson. “Until the teachers’ unions were broken, there was almost no hope for education reform.” Jobs proposed allowing principals to hire and fire teachers based on merit, that schools stay open until 6 p.m. and that they be open 11 months a year.

Unsurprisingly, things didn’t go especially well thereafter.

STANDING UP FOR MUSIC: Cooper, Blackburn seek protection for musicians after Gibson raid.