GAY RIGHTS AND YAWNS: Sexual Orientation ‘Nonissue’ on Campaign Trail. “A gay candidate for Congress walks into a bar. No joke: Nothing happens. A record number of openly gay candidates are running for Congress this cycle, and the reaction, among a huge swath of voters, has been a collective yawn. . . . All across the country, serious contenders for Congress who are openly gay — Democratic and Republican — said their sexual identity plays almost no role in their election efforts.”

CUBA: Romney questions whether Castro 
regime had hand in activist’s death. “The difference in tone is emblematic of a larger disagreement on Cuba policy between Obama and many Republicans. The administration has called for closer trade and travel ties to bring Cuba out of its isolation and encourage democratic change, while Romney has vowed to reinstate the 2004 travel and remittance restrictions that Obama lifted shortly after taking office.”

UPDATE: More here.

I POSTED ON DANGERS TO THE ELECTRICAL GRID THE OTHER DAY, and Herschel Smith reminded me of this post on a terrorist attack that America cannot absorb.

HOW’S THAT HOPEY-CHANGEY STUFF WORKIN’ OUT FOR YA? Another Year, Another Trillion-Dollar Deficit.

RICHARD FERNANDEZ: The New Middle East.

ABC NEWS: President Obama Praises Self for Ending War in Iraq on Bloodiest Day of the Year in That Country. How’s that hopey-changey stuff workin’ out for ya?

Related: Iraq Update: Al Qaeda Delivers The Bloodiest Day Of The Year.

A TYPICAL WEEKEND IN CHICAGO: 3 killed, 28 hurt in shootings since Friday night. Despite some of the strictest gun-control laws in the country.

BUT OF COURSE, A STRIPPER WHO POSED AS MICHELLE OBAMA WOULD BE RACIST OR SOMETHING: Tampa Strip Club Hires Sarah Palin Lookalike Stripper For Republican National Convention.

AT AMAZON, Digital Game Downloads. Some of them free.

SALLY RIDE HAS DIED.

SAN DIEGO UNION TRIBUNE: Barack Obama: Worst President Ever?

I’M STILL STUCK AT #4 on the most-popular list, but that’s not bad for a column that’s over 5 years old. . . .

YEAH, WELL, IF SOMEBODY SHOT ‘EM MAYBE THEY’D FEEL THEY’D GOTTEN ENOUGH ATTENTION: “Three teenagers accused of killing a 62-year-old father-of-12 in West Rogers Park were playing a game called ‘Pick ’em out and knock ’em down’ when they videotaped themselves punching him in the face…”

“They see something on YouTube and say, ‘I want to get that sort of attention, too.’ They don’t think about the person they’re attacking maybe hitting their head.”

And it’s too bad this guy didn’t shoot them. Maybe then others would look for better ways to seek attention.

PROF. JACOBSON: Elizabeth Warren damages two campaigns with one rant.

JAMES TARANTO: Okay, Let’s Debate Gun Control! A Second Obama Term Could Kill The Second Amendment. “Now, there’s a very good reason why coastal elites’ arguments for gun control fall on deaf ears in most of Middle America. Those who value the Second Amendment suspect that people like Dionne and Bloomberg advocate ‘reasonable’ gun restrictions as a camel’s nose to a total or near-total ban on private ownership of firearms and their use for self-defense. This suspicion is entirely justified.”

MICKEY KAUS ON killing the welfare-reform work requirements: “I still suspect this wasn’t a ‘reelection’ move. It was something Obama-appointed welfare reform opponents in HHS (like Mark Greenberg) have been wanting to do, so they did it. The question is why Obama let them.”

HAMMERING IT HOME: New Brown ad attacks Warren over “you didn’t build it” argument. “Fear not, Reaganauts, Ronald Reagan gets some quality time in the ad, too. It’s the use of traditional Democrats that’s most effective, though, and one suspects the claiming of the Kennedy mantle that will most sting Warren and the Democrats in Massachusetts. The ad reminds voters that this isn’t their fathers’ Democratic Party any longer — a point Joe Lieberman made last week — and that Warren and Obama represent extremes on the Left that remain very much disconnected with mainstream American attitudes about enterprise and the role of government.”

#OBAMAKIDSBOOKS: My Little Crony is now an e-Book!

Still waiting for Clifford, The Big Red Delicious Dog. And, of course, Heather Has Two Mommies Without Jobs.

HUMA ABEDIN STANDS BY HER MAN.

Related: The Problem Is Obama, Not Huma Abedin.

21ST CENTURY JOBS: Space Travel Agent.

NICE TO SEE MY REVOLVING-DOOR TAX ON FORMER GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS continue to get attention.

NEWS YOU CAN USE: 19 Hats That Will Not Get A Dude Laid.

ASKING THE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS: I like sex — does that make me a slut?

THE FORMULA for funny.

AT AMAZON, bestselling sport watches.