ROADBLOCKS FOR ROTC: “When the federal government repealed the Pentagon’s ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy last year, it seemed to remove the chief obstacle keeping the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program from returning to many elite universities. But the debate on ROTC’s return has been bumpy and the result not a foregone conclusion, reinforcing criticism that higher education remains inhospitable to the military.”

THIS IS WHAT a broke democracy looks like.

PETER SUDERMAN:

Since I disagreed with with Ezra Klein earlier today, and since I don’t often get the opportunity to agree with him, I should note that I’m basically with him on one of the biggest problems with deferred compensation in the public sector: “Workers think their pension is a fact when it’s really just a promise—and promises can be broken.” That’s especially true when you bring the vagaries, rivalries, and petty disputes that drive most of our country’s politics into the equation.

I’d add, however, that the broken promises of politicians are also something more people should think about when it comes to another realm of domestic policy: entitlements, especially Social Security. As Cato’s Michael Tanner pointed out last year, one of the problems with the current Social Security system is that “workers have no ownership of their benefits. This means that they are left totally dependent on the goodwill of 535 politicians to determine what they’ll receive in retirement.” In other words, when the government makes promises about what it will do in the future but subjects those promises to the political process, it’s usually a good idea to be wary.

If only we could have a society where people could replace those promises with some kind of . . . I don’t know . . . ownership instead.

THIS DOESN’T SOUND GOOD: Fleeing Egyptians Tell of Qaddafi’s `Bloodbath’ Across Libya. “Many of those arriving said they had seen mercenaries from Africa and elsewhere, some dark-skinned and some fair, some speaking French. They had been deployed to attack anti- government protesters in Libyan cities, including the capital, Tripoli, and Benghazi, which has seen some of the worst violence since the uprising began last week, the eyewitnesses said. Pro-Qaddafi supporters, largely mercenaries, were indiscriminately attacking anyone in Tripoli who was on the streets, said Nabil Abdel Raouf, 35, an Egyptian construction worker who lived in Derna about 240 kilometers (150 miles) from the border. “

A CALL FOR A SUPREME COURT CODE OF ETHICS? This looks like more battlespace preparation in anticipation of an ObamaCare challenge reaching the Supreme Court.

Funny that when it was William O. Douglas with — rather extensive — financial and sexual conflicts, there weren’t a bunch of lawprofs calling for Congress to create a code of ethics. And can we get Nan Aron of the Alliance for Justice to weigh in on Common Cause ralliers’ calls for Clarence Thomas to be lynched? You know, speaking of “ethics.”

UPDATE: Clarice Feldman: “Flop Sweat On ObamaCare.”

TALKING ABOUT THE HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE in the U.Va. Cavalier Daily.

BOSTON HERALD: Capuano ‘bloody’ comment becomes flashpoint in union flap.

During the Tuesday rally – a gathering of more than 1,000 union supporters protesting a proposal by Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker to diminish the collective bargaining rights of public sector workers in that state – Capuano, speaking in front of the State House, fired up the crowd by saying, “I’m proud to be here with people who understand that it’s more than just sending an email to get you going. Every once and awhile you need to get out on the streets and get a little bloody when necessary.”

After Republicans took aim at his rhetoric, Capuano issued a statement expressing regret for his language, although at the time it drew wild applause and cheers from the throngs of union supporters.

And people certainly seem to have followed his advice.

OBAMA BACKTRACKS on support for striking state workers. “President Barack Obama, after initially lending his support to organized labor, has stepped back from the fights spreading in state capitals from Wisconsin to Tennessee, leaving union officials divided about his tactics.”

JIM TREACHER ON THAT VIOLENT THUG FROM THE COMMUNICATIONS WORKERS OF AMERICA:

This violent creep is with the Communications Workers of America, one of the groups that protested in front of FreedomWorks today, where Tabitha works.

“Get a little bloody.” “Take ‘em down.” Assault a young woman who’s doing nothing but videotaping you. All part of the New Tone.

I know Tabitha. She’s one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. I’m sick of this crap. We get months of “Teabaggers are violent” — hell, years — when in reality, Tea Partiers have been the recipients of violence. Meanwhile, these union guys are ratcheting up the violent rhetoric and now actually assaulting people in broad daylight. Come on, somebody defend this violent jackass. I dare you.

Indeed.

SO IS THIS HOPE, OR CHANGE? Troubled banks rise to highest level in 18 years.

SO, HOW’S THAT WHOLE “NEW CIVILITY” THING GOING? In The Last 24 Hours Dem Protesters Have Assaulted a Young Woman, Tortured a Camel, Called Opponents “Bad Jews” & Attacked Gay Black Tea Partier… They Must Be Very Proud.

WELL, THAT WOULD BE A GOOD THING: House GOP Could End Copyright Lawsuit Abuse.

MEGAN MCARDLE ON OBAMA’S DECISION NOT TO DEFEND DOMA: “Maybe it was always thus, but it seems to me that both parties are increasingly resorting to procedural tricks rather than politics, and it worries me. Maybe this means that our political system is broken, maybe it means that the parties are getting increasingly ruthless–or maybe I’m overestimating the extent of the change. But as I say, it worries me. I think it would be disastrous on a whole lot of levels if the GOP managed to undo ObamaCare with this sort of thing. But if the precedent stands, I think you can expect them to try it the next time they have the presidency.”

PROFESSOR BAINBRIDGE IS unimpressed with Jonathan Chait’s “Bullshit.” Quoth Bainbridge: “In attacking my argument, Chait engages in a very selective editing of my post. Specifically, he edits out my discussion of Terry Moe’s research, which shows that ‘there is ample evidence’ that unions behave in precisely the way I described in that post.”

SARAH PALIN: Libyans Should Be Protected By NATO.

PAJAMAS MEDIA refuses to release its CEO “succession strategy.”

SHUNNING: Restaurant At Seattle Airport Refuses To Serve TSA Workers.

UPDATE: This story may be a hoax. More on that here.

TIM CARNEY: Democrats Just Don’t Understand The New Populism. “The Left has misread the postbailout populist sentiment all along, assuming public anger was directed at the rich. But American anger, I suspect, is directed not at some people who have money or success, but at those who profit through cronyism and their connections to power. In other words, anti-bailout anger is not anger at the rich, but anger at those unfairly getting rich — at the taxpayer’s expense.” Yes.

AT AMAZON, markdowns on bestselling knives.

SHOCKER: Public Employee Union Uses Tax Payer Resources to Organize a Political Rally.

THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN MEDICAL SCHOOL says that some doctors connected in Internet accounts with the bogus-excuse story actually had nothing to do with it.

PROFESSOR JACOBSON: Southern Poverty Law Center Still Peddling Lie That Giffords Shooter Was Right-Winger. At this point, they haven’t just jumped the shark — they are the shark.

CBS NEWS covers the ATF’s gunrunner scandal. “‘Project Gunrunner,’ an operation run by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, was designed to stop the flow of guns from the U.S. to Mexico’s drug cartels, but had the opposite result.”

COVERING THE SPACE SHUTTLE LAUNCH — AND MUCH MORE — at SpaceTimesNews.

ONLINE POLL: SHOULD STATE EMPLOYEES HAVE COLLECTIVE BARGAINING RIGHTS? A reader emails that the Teamsters are mailing this link out to their members.