TEST-DRIVING THE 2012 Audi R8 GT.

A TEA PARTY PLATFORM for space. “It’s time to return NASA to its roots as an R&D agency instead of serving as a slush fund for a few influential members of congress. This platform provides that plan.”

Rand Simberg comments: “I still don’t think that space is likely to be a big election issue, but I hope that to the degree it is, Republicans are paying attention to this.”

LARRY SOLUM: The Interpretation-Construction Distinction.

BIG EMBARRASSMENT FOR THE WAPO? Washington Post Wrong On Issa Knowledge Of Project Gunrunner.

A COMPILATION OF “Unexpectedly” Headlines.

CLAIRE BERLINSKI: Thoughts on the recent Turkish elections, mostly ignored around the world. “In a gesture either lacking sensitivity to historic resonance or perfectly attuned to it, Prime Minister Erdoğan delivered a victory speech from the balcony of his headquarters in Ankara.”

JIGSHA DESAI ON COVERING BONNAROO with a tricked-out iPhone.

WARNING: Sex with creatures from the future is a bad idea.

GEORGE PATAKI edges closer to running for President.

CNN POLL: Plurality Of Americans Call Obama’s Presidency A Failure So Far.

UPDATE: Ack! This poll is from last year. Somebody — who I assume didn’t notice the date — sent it to me and I didn’t notice the date either. Hmm. Think he’d poll better today? Upside — he killed Osama bin Laden! Er, and after that, what, exactly? Thanks to the many readers who swiftly pointed out the error.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Michael Lotus emails: “Measured in seconds, how many orders of magnitude is your speed of retraction of errors better than the New York Times? So much for those wild, irresponsible bloggers.” Well, I fix ’em as soon as I notice ’em, which given the number of watchful readers emailing is usually pretty fast. I don’t know how the NYT does it. My eight-year wait for a correction is surely longer than average.

MORE: Reader Tom McCobb emails: “The interesting question on that old poll you linked to is, Why haven’t they re-polled it? It has been a year and a half, after all. Is CNN afraid of the results?” I dunno — maybe they have and I missed it. Anybody know?

THE COUNTRY’S IN THE VERY BEST OF HANDS: Detroit Neighborhood: John Conyers’ House Is An Eyesore.

JOHN BAKER on Medical Malpractice And Fair Weather Federalism. “House Republicans hope to nationalize medical malpractice law, which is traditionally a matter of state tort law, by passing H.R. 5, a bill that would wipe out all state medical malpractice laws and complete the nationalization of healthcare. Passage of H.R. 5 would undercut arguments that Obamacare is unconstitutional. To justify their efforts to nationalize medical malpractice law, House Republicans are stretching the Supreme Court’s New Deal Commerce Clause jurisprudence almost as far as Democrats did for Obamacare. Both national medical malpractice reform and Obamacare are radically at odds with our constitutional structure of federalism, though Obamacare is especially radical because it represents the first time that the federal government has required people to purchase a product (health insurance).”

POSTAL SERVICE DEATH SPIRAL? Lawmakers say USPS cost-cutting plan is insufficient. Judging by my mailbox, it’s mostly become a subsidized delivery service for junk mail. But note this: “In its latest bid to shave costs, the Postal Service has said it will stop contributing to the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS), a move it says will save roughly $800 million this fiscal year.”

SARAH HOYT: Running Out Of Options, Portugal Turns Right.

MICHAEL WALSH: The King’s Speech: “So now we know: After 10 years, billions of dollars and thousands of American casualties, victory in Afghanistan come 2014 will consist of having killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. The rest is process, as we wind down our foreign wars and get on with the really important work — domestic infrastructure repair and clean energy.”

TODAY ONLY, a sale on the Sony Dash Personal Internet Viewer. It’s no iPad, but it’s a lot cheaper.

INSTAVISION: I talk with Nick Gillespie and Matt Welch of Reason, the authors of The Declaration of Independents, about the importance of independent voters. Can libertarians really fix America? (Bumped).

SHOCKER: U.S. Jobless Claims Rise Unexpectedly. Again!

Plus this: “The previous week’s figure was revised up to 420K from 414K.” Meaning that last week’s “good news” — a slight drop — was essentially bogus. More here, including this: “A Labor Department official said technical problems had resulted in claims for six states being estimated last week.”

AMAZON ROLLS OUT a new fashion site.

DAVID LIMBAUGH IS not so hot on the idea of a Constitutional Convention.

He might feel better about it if he read these ideas for constitutional reform, which I think are more productive than Fareed Zakaria’s. (Bumped).

MICKEY KAUS on Newsweek’s astonishing new business plan.

TAXES ARE FOR THE LITTLE PEOPLE: Personal financial woes on file for Cook County recorder. “The Cook County politician in charge of keeping records of federal income tax liens and mortgage foreclosure notifications now finds himself slapped with both. Recorder of Deeds Eugene ‘Gene’ Moore faces a lien for nearly $78,000 in unpaid income taxes. And a bank is seeking to foreclose on his Maywood home because he has fallen behind on mortgage payments.”

It’s the Chicago way!

THREATS OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE FROM A DEMOCRATIC OFFICEHOLDER IN LOS ANGELES: “Gloria Molina, L.A. County Supervisor, Said She’d Like to ‘Cut the Testicles Off’ Agency Executive Under Her Authority.”

I hope the Department Of Justice will investigate this egregious civil rights violation. For that matter, I suspect it’s a violation of California state civil rights law. Gloria Allred, call your office!

HEZBOLLAH’S MISCALCULATION IN SYRIA: “Helping President Assad with his crackdown has put the terrorist group in an awkward position domestically and internationally.”