JAMES TARANTO: ObamaCare vs. The First Amendment. “Catholic institutions filed a series of lawsuits yesterday seeking to vindicate their rights under the First Amendment and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. At issue is the regulation mandating that all employer-provided insurance policies cover birth control, including sterilization procedures and abortifacient drugs, in violation of church teachings.” Democrats are upset: “To summarize Leahy’s message: If you don’t uphold this law, passed on a party-line vote, my party will accuse you of partisanship. The intent is so transparent, and the argument so ridiculous, one is half-tempted to admire its sheer brazenness.”

PRIMARIES: Politico: Obama struggles in Kentucky, Arkansas. “The president didn’t even have an opponent in Kentucky, but with 99 percent of the vote counted, Obama took just 57.9 percent of the vote, with the remaining more than 42 percent of ballots cast for ‘uncommitted.’ In Arkansas, with 70 percent of the vote tallied, Obama nabbed just 59 percent of the vote. His opponent there, John Wolfe, was able to take 41 percent of the vote at that point, according to The Associated Press. Wolfe, an attorney from Tennessee whose platform includes repealing Obamacare, was able to win several counties.”

CHANGE: OBAMA’S WAR ON COAL HITS YOUR ELECTRIC BILL.

Well, that’s one promise he’s kept: “Under my plan . . . electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket.” I think it’s close enough to score as a kept promise.

BUT REMEMBER, TALKING ABOUT OBAMA’S CHURCH IS RACIST OR SOMETHING: Another NYT article about Mormons and the presidential election.

CENSORSHIP IN THE 21ST CENTURY: Harvard Law succeeds in taking down anti-Holder Fast and Furious protest website.

STEPHEN GREEN: Pay Up, Suckers! “It’s not like you weren’t warned, proles.”

BRYAN PRESTON: They’re Going To Blame This On Racism.

JOHN HINDERAKER: Democrats Violate Budget Control Act.

IN CHINA, fear at the top. “Why has ownership of wealth become so important for the Chinese elite? And why have so many Chinese leaders sent their children abroad for education? One answer surely is that they lack confidence about China’s future.”

WINSTON CHURCHILL, Harvard Minority.

I had somehow forgotten that Winston Churchill’s grandmother was one-quarter Iroquois indian, which makes Winston (if I’ve done my genealogical math correctly) one-sixteenth native American–twice as much as Elizabeth Warren supposedly is. Let’s see the diversity-mongers explain this away.

Roosevelt commented to Churchill during one of WSC’s wartime visits, “You know, Winston, my Dutch ancestors were among the very first settlers in what was then called Nieuw Amsterdam.” Churchill answered: “But, Franklin, it was my ancestors, the American Indians, who greeted them.”

Maybe now Obama will feel comfortable putting the Churchill bust back in the Oval Office.

Heh.

DAVID BARON, CALL YOUR OFFICE: Mountain lion euthanized after wandering into downtown Santa Monica.

TEA PARTY VICTORY: Kentucky: Thomas Massie Wins GOP Nomination. “In a stinging rebuke of the Kentucky Republican establishment, tea-party-affiliated Lewis County Judge-Executive Thomas Massie won tonight’s GOP primary to replace retiring Rep. Geoff Davis (R) in the 4th district.”

UPDATE: Reader Michael Formica writes: “‘Uncommitted’. It’s the new ‘present’, and perfect for the Obama campaign.”

And reader Chris Garrett emails:

My cousin, Tea Party favorite, Thomas Massie just won today the Republican primary for Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District with an overwhelming percentage of the vote.

He has an amazing life story. Plus, he will be glad to release his SAT scores to anyone who asks

You mentioned him before on your blog. He continues a great trend of engineers running for elective office. They have to do better than the lawyers have done.

I wish I could disagree.

SOPA’S RETURN: White House calls for new law targeting ‘offshore’ Web sites.

ARTUR DAVIS:

It’s hard to imagine a more instructive couple of days for those who want to know where the Democratic Party’s head is at: its only high-profile African American moderate just got a brushback pitch for leaning in too close to the Independent thought zone; the Obama camp looks ominously like a cult of personality that tolerates no dissent; and the reelection campaign just doubled down on the European leftist notion that business is fair only when it operates in a sanitized, risk free manner.

As for Booker, my hope is that the pushback won’t turn him into just another faux centrist who won’t risk offending his base. He already looks a little less brave and a lot more conventional after the forgive me video from the bunker he released on Sunday. In fairness, a public servant with his gifts and history with Obama deserved much better.

Yes, Booker has diminished himself by backing down.

DID BARACK OBAMA HAVE LOWER S.A.T. SCORES THAN GEORGE W. BUSH? “If Obama’s SAT scores were near the average of the transfer students entering Columbia in the fall of 1981, he would have scored significantly lower than George W. Bush.” Of course, we know Bush’s scores, but Obama’s are locked away along with the rest of his transcripts. Because of their awesomeness, no doubt.

VIDEO: Breitbart Is Here! At The Anarchist Anti-NATO Protest 2012.

HUMILIATION: In Kentucky, 42 percent of Democrats pick ‘uncommitted’ instead of Obama. “The results come on the heels of West Virginia’s Democratic primary earlier this month where a felon incarcerated in Texas took 41 percent of the vote from the president.”

THE ONE ECONOMIC SECTOR OBAMA HAS MANAGED TO STIMULATE: Gun Sales Continue To Boom.

SCIENCE: New Automated Process Dissects Inner Mechanics of Neurons in the Brain. “MIT and Georgia Institute of Technology researchers have created a new automated method that pinpoints certain characteristics of neurons in the brain. . . . This automated process could potentially help those with brain disorders like schizophrenia, autism and Parkinson’s disease because the technique could allow researchers to distinguish between abnormal and normal cells.”

THEODORE DALRYMPLE ON exercise and laugh expectancy.

AT AMAZON, up to 55% off on Blu-Ray and DVD.

HOW’S THAT HOPEY-CHANGEY STUFF WORKIN’ OUT FOR YA? (CONT’D): Poverty Increasing Among Retirees.

ROCKETEERS: Bi-Liquid Success at Copenhagen Suborbitals. “Copenhagen Suborbitals successfully test fired the largest amateur-built bi-liquid rocket engine in the world. In short, the TM65 engine fired for about 30 seconds and was still standing after the test with almost no trace from the magical transformation of 700 liters of propellant turned into pure power.”

YOU DON’T NEED A WEATHERMAN TO SEE WHICH WAY THE WIND IS BLOWING: Not when you can watch a weathervane like Colin Powell, anyway. “That Powell is now contemplating withholding his support for the once-‘transformational’ Obama says nothing about Mitt Romney, and everything about which way the wind is blowing in Washington. No one who fancies themselves as a wise elder and who hopes ever to serve again in government (especially on a well paid and lightly attended board or commission) has the nerve to defend Obama’s record robustly. Privately, many roll their eyes in disgust. But better to be mum for now, since everyone who is anyone or who might be helpful to another’s career will certainly understand not wanting to come right out and say the emperor has no clothes. I mean, how many people in government have Mayor Cory Booker’s integrity?”

PUBLIC EDUCATION: NC student on pro-Obama teacher who berated him: “She doesn’t want to hear anything but what she believes in.” Key bit: “It’s not just the attempt at indoctrination that made this a hit online; Rogers didn’t end up being indoctrinated, after all. It’s the fact that his teacher really might not have known that you can’t be arrested for criticizing the president. . . . If YouTube clips start revealing incompetence, that’s a much bigger threat to their institutional prerogatives. The obvious solution: A ban on student cell phones. As Ace says, it’s coming.”