FORMER DETROIT MAYOR KWAME KILPATRICK CHARGED BY SEC:  For influence peddling.  “The SEC complaint alleges Kilpatrick and former Treasurer Jeff Beasley solicited and received $125,000 worth of private jet travel and other perks paid for by [investment advisor] MayfieldGentry.”  I had the distinct “honor” of teaching Mr. Kilpatrick in my very first semester as a law professor.  Shoulda seen it coming.

AU REVOIR, LES ENFANTS: At the Corner, Michael Walsh writes, “Yesterday’s forced retirement of Senator Richard Lugar of ‘Indiana’ should prove a bracing lesson in the use of the pike for didactic purposes. It’s also one of the best arguments for the repeal of the 17th amendment in a long time:”

As I’ve said before, senators no longer represent their states to Washington, they represent Leviathan to the states, handing out either goodies or punishments as their whim and the political winds dictate. Their primary allegiance is not to the voters back “home” but to their cloakroom colleagues (hence the “bipartisanship” fetish that is particularly virulent in the Senate) on Capitol Hill, and to the Beltway parasites who feed off them.

Indeed, Lugar didn’t even live in Indiana. According to this story, he stayed in a hotel in Indianapolis, at taxpayer expense, whenever he deigned to visit:

Lugar didn’t help his campaign when it came to light that he no longer owned a residence in Indiana. He instead stayed in an Indianapolis hotel when he returned to the state – using taxpayer funds. Mourdock’s campaign said the revelation symbolized how Lugar had become too entrenched in Washington.

Regarding out of touch, local residence-challenged representatives on the side of the aisle, Moe Lane writes that the freshness dating has long expired on Pete Stark of California. Perhaps Solyndra could offer him one of their fine electric cars as a lovely parting gift.

NEWS FLASH! OBAMA ADMITS HE SUPPORTS GAY MARRIAGE (*YAWN*):  Is anyone seriously surprised by this “revelation”? Is it not patent that he supported it all along, but didn’t think it politically expedient to admit? He needs to scrape together every single vote to win this November; hence the sudden confession.

FAMED HAIRSTYLIST VIDAL SASSOON DEAD AT AGE 84.

THE ANCHORESS: “Obama Comes Out…what does this mean for the black churches?”

Back in 2008 it was the black Christian vote that defeated gay marriage in California. African Americans voted for Obama, but while they were there, they voted against gay marriage. It’s one of those stories no one wanted to talk about. Now, things become interesting: do African American churches, hearing the president say that “my Christian beliefs” inform this newly declared viewpoint, simply give up their own beliefs to support his do they stand for their own? And then, who’s Christian beliefs are right? That’s a whole ball of wax I bet no one wanted to deal with in this election.

Plus this:

I have wondered ever since Joe Biden and Arne Duncan came out in favor of gay marriage, whether it wasn’t his own administration trying to push him. Mark Knoller at CBS is saying “no dispute that his hand was forced”. I’ll leave it to others to determine what that says about the president.

That brings us to S.E. Cupp’s column today in the New York Daily News, where she writes, “the LGBT community shouldn’t feel too bad: Gay marriage is hardly the only casualty of the President’s political paralysis. In recent months, he’s made a habit of equivocating on tough issues, preferring to remain either cautious or cowardly, depending on how you want to see it.”

RELATED: David Harsanyi on Obama as ‘Progressive federalist.’ Does the president support federalism on the issue of abortion as he does on gay marriage? If not, why? Harsanyi hints that Jake Tapper might want to broach the issue with Jay Carney at the next White House presser.

MORE: Related thoughts from Bryan Preston at the Tatler.

LET THEM EAT PREMIUMS: Dr. Scott Gottlieb at AEI previews the impending financial catastrophe for the middle class, known as Obamacare.  He rightly observes that, under the individual mandate, families making under $88,000 per year will get no subsidies for the cost of their mandatory health insurance:  “Under the Obama plan, many of these families could instead find themselves buying their health insurance on the new state-based exchanges that get started in January 2014. For a family of four, premiums on even one of the lower priced “silver” options could still cost more than $15,000 annually on the exchanges.”   Cha-ching!

PREACHING TO THE CHOIR: Bay Area blogger Zombie responds to Roger Simon’s post this morning at PJM:

The problem is not making good arguments or having a good approach: The problem is access.

The Left’s intentionally imposed monopoly on discourse prevents the average liberal of even becoming aware that there is an opposing viewpoint. Only the weakest and most ill-spoken conservative notions even get presented in the liberal media, as token examples to laugh at and scorn. We at PJM (and similar sources) could have the best and most convincing and most brilliant arguments and positions ever, and it would do no good because no liberal would ever see them. This is by design.

The problem is not to come up with better ideas: The problem is how to get those ideas onto the liberal menu.

Another issue to consider: “Deprogramming” never happens in a group setting; it happens in private, individually. Peer pressure prevents people from declaring their new-found views publicly at the time of the conversion. Thus, it’s difficult to “covert” masses of people at once, and it’s basically impossible to ever see any evidence that you may have been successful. You could go to Speakers Corner and have 99 people jeering at you and throwing rotten tomatoes; but neither you nor the tomato throwers will ever notice the silent person at the back of the crowd who internalized your message and walked away a changed man.

And that’s the best we can hope for. One at a time. Silently, privately, little by little. We may already be much more successful than we realize.

As a pioneering blogger wrote a decade ago:

As the old saying has it, the left looks for heretics and the right looks for converts, and both find what they’re looking for. The effect is no doubt subliminal, but people who treat you like crap are, over time, less persuasive than people who don’t. If people on the Left are so unhappy about how many former allies are changing their views, perhaps they should examine how those allies are treated.

Or to put it another way, Krauthammer’s Law posits that “To understand the workings of American politics, you have to understand this fundamental law: Conservatives think liberals are stupid. Liberals think conservatives are evil.” The latter stance seems like a pretty potent firewall against opposing ideas.

NBC: OBESITY ‘NO LONGER A QUESTION OF INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITY,’ GOVERNMENT MUST ACT: At Newsbusters, Kyle Drennen writes:

Touting new recommendations from an Institute of Medicine panel on obesity on Tuesday’s NBC Nightly News, science correspondent Robert Bazell proclaimed to viewers: “…a sea change in how we perceive obesity. No longer a question of individual responsibility, but a need to change what’s called an ‘obesity-promoting environment.’ Calling on corporations, government and individuals to act.”

NBC itself is in a perfect position to do so, by refusing all advertising from beer manufacturers, fast-food retailers and junk food purveyors. Not to mention banning coverage of sporting events where these products are sold by concessionaires. Think they’ll do so? Well, much like the wealthy who call on the IRS to raise their taxes, and yet refuse to voluntarily mail in larger checks, I don’t recall the network stopped airing Sunday Night Football games in klieg light-illuminated stadiums in addition to calling on individuals to turn their household lights off at the peak of the global warming scare of 2007…

RELATED: Good Grief! Obama Food Czar Now Making National Security Speeches.

MORE: In contrast to NBC’s corporatism, Massachusetts House overturns school bake sale ban:

The Herald first broke the story about the new school nutritional requirements, which go into effect in August. Since then, the news has fueled a nationwide debate about the role schools should play in battling childhood obesity, which supporters have said is an epidemic threatening to shorten the lives of the country’s youngest generation.

CNN’s Anderson Cooper mocked the rules on his primetime show earlier this week.

When you’ve lost a legendary gourmand like Anderson Cooper…

ASKING THE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS: Yogurt: The secret to male sexual prowess?

FOR EVERY PROBLEM, THERE’S A SOLUTION!:  Governing through the eyes of progressives: An overview

Problem (Americans are….)/Progressive Solution:

Too fat?  Ban bake sales and junk food; mandate broccoli

Too ignorant?  Censor journalists; control the curriculum

Too rich?  Tax the greedy bastards

Too white?  Favor non-whites whenever possible

Too individualistic?  Encourage dependency

Too uninsured?  Mandate health insurance

Too carbon-y?   Ban incandescent lightbulbs; loan billions to friends who start “green” companies; cap and trade; demonize energy consumption

Too unemployed?  Raise taxes to pay for temporary government jobs; discount jobless numbers by excluding those who have given up on finding a job

Too American?     Cede U.S. sovereignty to supra-national U.N. bodies whenever possible; use international and foreign law when interpreting the U.S. Constitution

JENNIFER RUBIN ON THE LIFE OF #JULIA: It should be called ‘Life of a dependent liberal.’

Plus this quote from Bill Bennett:

For Republicans, Julia’s story might seem like a joke too good to be true, but they should take it very seriously. Because buried within “The Life of Julia” is the ideological vision of modern liberalism — to create a state that takes care of its people from cradle to grave. The story of Julia is a microcosm of Obama’s vision for America and emblematic of his view of the government’s role in an individual’s life.

Or to put it another way, all within the state, nothing outside the state.

I, ME, MINE: Victor Davis Hanson on “Presidential Narcissism:”

In Clinton’s defense, he spoke not just from his own selfish instinct to see presidential survival as more important than the fates of those who actually took the physical risk. Rather, a year ago Obama himself had already hijacked the mission with a flurry of self-referential pronouns: “Tonight, I can report . . . And so, shortly after taking office, I directed Leon Panetta . . . I was briefed on a possible lead to bin Laden . . . I met repeatedly with my national security team . . . I determined that we had enough intelligence to take action. . . . Today, at my direction . . . I’ve made clear . . . Over the years, I’ve repeatedly made clear . . . Tonight, I called President Zardari . . . and my team has also spoken . . .These efforts weigh on me every time I, as commander-in-chief . . . Finally, let me say to the families . . . I know that it has, at times, frayed . . .”

I suggest reading the whole thing.

UPDATE: In Allahpundit’s post at Hot Air on Obama’s announcement to ABC that he’s finally squared his private and public stances on gay marriage, this note, which dovetails perfectly with VDH’s article:

Some buzz on Twitter for this blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment in O’s remarks: “when I think about those soldiers or airmen or marines or sailors who are out there fighting on my behalf…” His behalf?

(Bumped to top.)

THE WEEK: North Carolina’s gay marriage ban: 4 takeaways.

Statism CAN be deadly, even at a smaller scale than the Federal Government. Alabama apparently objected to “non approved” road signs directing people to tornado shelters.  Sometimes I wonder if we are that much better than the muslim guardians of morality sending girls back into a burning school because their heads were uncovered, or if our insanity is just of a different kind.

THEY TALK ABOUT HIM LIKE A DOG — an underdog.

PRESIDENT OBAMA’S FLIP-FLOP ON GAY MARRIAGE: Fodder for mockery on Twitter.

TUCKER MAX: WHY YOU SHOULDN’T GO TO LAW SCHOOL: at the TaxProf blog.