ED DRISCOLL: The Week Obama Jumped The Shark.

HOW’S THAT CONTRACEPTION ISSUE WORKING FOR YOU?

Both men and women rate “government policies on birth control” as the least important question in 2012, and 63 percent of them don’t even know where Romney stands on it. About the same proportion dislikes Romney’s position (24 percent) as much as they do Obama’s (25 percent).

On the other hand: “The real gender gap in the USA Today poll is that men think the deficit is the most important issue while women think it’s health care. In short, independent women voters are more exercised about the GOP’s opposition to ‘Obamacare’ than they are its objection to free contraception.” But how many of them, given how generally unpopular ObamaCare is?

Related: S.E. Cupp: Don’t blame Republican men for gender gap: Women seem to prefer big government — and that’s too bad. “When the Eurythmics and Aretha Franklin recorded the song ‘Sisters Are Doin’ It for Themselves’ in 1985, I doubt very much they had that sentiment in mind.”

TOM MAGUIRE: Testing My Resolution.

HOPEY-CHANGEY: The Second Foreclosure Tsunami Is Coming, And Is About To Kill Any Hopes Of A “Housing Bottom.”

TEN YEARS AGO ON INSTAPUNDIT: Anti-Semitism at the International Committee of the Red Cross.

MICHAEL LEDEEN: It’s Not The Constitution, Stupid! “It’s about power. And freedom. Power, because the president and his people think that, since they are smarter and better than the rest of us, anyone who tries to limit their power is bad, and has to be brought into line. Thus, the tough words of warning to any Justice contemplating voting against Obamacare. Freedom, because the accumulation of power in the hands of the executive branch comes at our expense, bit by bit and law by law, precisely as Alexis de Tocqueville feared.”

THEY TOLD ME IF I VOTED FOR JOHN MCCAIN, WE’D HAVE A FULL-BLOWN CHRISTIANIST PRESIDENT: AND THEY WERE RIGHT! “President Barack Obama says the Easter story of Christ’s agony and resurrection has helped him get through the tough moments of an embattled presidency. The president got ‘Amens’ from religious leaders at a White House prayer breakfast in the East Room.”

IOWAHAWK: Hi There, Neighbor!

WORSE THAN CALLING AN ACTIVIST A “SLUT:” DNC WORKER TALKS ABOUT “JEWBAGS” AND THE “JEW CASH MONEY TEAM.”

JUDGE NAPOLITANO: I Think the President Is Dangerously Close to Totalitarianism. Well, happily our system is designed to constrain people in his situation, but he’s certainly revealed his inclinations, as have some of his supporters. It’s pathetic, but it’s certainly been educational.

A SHOCKING TALE: “I Was the Other Woman and He Dumped Me.”

CHANGE: Google’s self-driving car takes blind man on errands.

Related: The Rise Of The Artificial-Intelligence Economy.

AT AMAZON, markdowns on Computers & Accessories.

Also, bestsellers in ultrabooks.

THE VETTING: Valerie Jarrett Keeps Obama Close To His Radical Roots.

U.S./CHINA RELATIONS GETTING UGLY?

An explosive joint report by a top Chinese scholar and a leading American analyst argue the two countries are locked in a corrosive cycle of distrust that, if left unchecked, could lead to outright antagonism within 10-15 years. The idea behind the report was for each co-author to write candidly about how his country views the other.

A grim narrative emerges from their conclusions. Both countries see the relationship as a zero-sum competition. China thinks America’s time has come and gone; that it is on a path of inexorable decline; and although it expects Washington to fight to retain its position in the world, Beijing is confident it will prevail in the long run. The American attitude is equally disturbing. Many senior policymakers and law enforcement officials believe China is seeking to overthrow America from its hegemonic perch and are convinced the Chinese government is designing both its cyber capabilities and its defense systems specifically for American targets. . . .

A zero-sum adversarial relationship between China and America serves neither country well. America’s national interest is achieved via an international system of stability and cooperation among powers great and small. If the opinions expressed in this report are an accurate reflection of what leaders on both sides of the Pacific are thinking then the coming decades will require a considerable commitment of American resources to preserve the global order.

That’s okay. We’ve got “smart diplomacy” addressing this problem now. Uh oh.

AVIK ROY: Once Upon a Time, Liberals Hated the Individual Mandate.

21ST CENTURY RELATIONSHIPS: What to Do when Your Partner Can’t Handle Your Sexual Past.

TODAY’S EUROPE: New poem from German Nobel winner/former SS guard: Israel’s nukes threaten world peace.

MY LATEST POPULAR MECHANICS COLUMN: Why We Need Big, Bold Science Fiction. Featuring interviews with Neal Stephenson, Vernor Vinge, Sarah Hoyt, and non-science-fiction-writer Dean Kamen.

UPDATE: Ed Driscoll comments. “I think in terms of cinematic science fiction, the flip-over date was 1968; as I’ve written before, during that presidential year, Bobby Kennedy explicitly rejected the optimism of his late brother’s New Frontier, instead calling for ‘men who riot’ and producing depressing campaign ads such as this.”

LAWRENCE O’DONNELL’S anti-Mormon bigotry.

UPDATE: A reader emails: “I wonder if he’s mentioned Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s Mormonism?” That keeps being forgotten, somehow.

HEAR ME TALK ABOUT MY FAVORITE TUNES on WUOT’s “Flipside” with Todd Steed. It’s cool that I’m right after colleague Dick Penner, who wrote “Oobie Doobie.”

AT AMAZON, coupons galore.

ANDREW FOX: Hey, as long as you’re rebooting The Munsters, why not cast a real Munster?

BETTER LIFE THROUGH ROBOTICS: Robotic Assist Lowers Bladder Surgery Complications.

YALE’S STAR CHAMBER: ‘Feelings’ as the Measure of Student Misconduct. “Yale extends the concept of sexual assault to cover any ‘worry’ on the part of a complaining student.”