CLARICE FELDMAN ON I.F. STONE: “I am not in a position to argue for or against the assertions that for at least some period of time he served as a KGB agent. I can say that he and his lovely wife Esther were my neighbors from 1976 to their deaths, and they were lively, interesting, and very nice neighbors.”

MICKEY KAUS: NAMELESS SCAPEGOAT WATCH: “WaPo‘s Erik Wemple wonders why NBC didn’t quickly come clean about its so-bad-it-seems-intentional mis-edit of the Zimmerman 911 call. Why not immediately “go into detail on exactly what had happened and what disciplinary measures would be taken”? I suspect the answer has something to do with the possibility of a libel suit from Zimmerman. . . . Also, did NBC offer a can-we-still-be-friends monetary… cushion along with the dismissal?”

BENJAMIN WITTES: The New York Times Editorial Page’s Bizarre Legitimacy Dance. “The Times seems to be suggesting—probably accidentally—that a trial’s legitimacy may not depend on its constitutionality.”

Well, that’s already their position on ObamaCare, isn’t it?

DEADBEAT: Bank wants Missouri Rep. Cleaver to pay $1.5 million on car wash loan.

U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver’s car wash headache is raging once again.

The bank that loaned the Kansas City congressman and his wife $1.3 million in 2002 to buy the Grandview Auto Wash at 12204 Blue Ridge Extension is now demanding payment of more than $1.5 million, after the Cleavers repeatedly fell behind on repaying the loan.

The suit, filed last week in Jackson County Circuit Court, said the demand for repayment came after three attempts to delay foreclosure. Bank of America also is seeking attorney’s fees and a receiver to protect collateral.

Actually repaying loans is for the little people. Duh.

UPDATE: Reader Charlie Gallo writes: “Notice it only takes to the eighth paragraph before they mention his party. Want to bet if he was a Republican, there would have been a (R) after the first mention, if not the headline.”

WERE THERE ANY WOMEN IN HIS FOURSOME? The Hill: Obama Heads To The Golf Course.

UPDATE: Several readers email that you never had to ask this question with Bill Clinton!

THANKS FOR ALL THE DOWNLOADS: My Second Amendment Penumbras piece, which just came out in the Southern California Law Review, is now #1 on SSRN’s top downloads list.

AT AMAZON, it’s the Kindle Deal Of The Day.

Also, today only: Weider 100-Pound Adjustable Speed Weight, $369.99. Adjustable dumbbells, though alas they don’t work via antigravity.

UPDATE: Reader Andrew Morriss recommends this: Robotech: The Complete Original Series for $35.99.

EASTER THOUGHTS from Roger Kimball.

WALTER RUSSELL MEAD: Obama Nails His Blue Colors To The Mast. “The past few years have seen a number of blue-state Democratic governors—from California to New York to Vermont—driven by dire fiscal situations to attack the blue model. Yet this tide of reform washing over the Democratic Party at the state level still hasn’t gone national. . . . The difference between national and local Democrats on this issue has a lot to do with printing presses. States don’t manage their own currencies and so can’t run up debts like the Feds. Governors and mayors have been disciplined by reality: when there isn’t any money, you have to learn to do more with less (and in some cases, you just have to do less).”

The Gods Of The Copybook Headings are still there. Printing money just puts off the reckoning, while interest accrues.

ELIE MYSTAL: The Baylor Law Data Dump, Now With Race And Scholarships.

On Wednesday, we reported on Baylor Law accidentally releasing personal academic information for its entire admitted class. It was a massive screw-up, and on Wednesday, we showed you the GPA and LSAT scores for Baylor’s admitted students (with the students’ names redacted, of course).

But there were other fields available in the accidentally released spreadsheet, including racial categorizations for each student and scholarship information. I didn’t include the race field earlier this week because, frankly, I didn’t want the entire news story (of the screw-up) to be overrun by a discussion about race and affirmative action.

But, I ain’t afraid of you people. Getting a complete racial breakdown of the class to go along with their grades and LSAT scores is a look inside the law school admissions process that we don’t often get to see.

So, let’s play our game. Looking at the Baylor numbers, you can see the affirmative action “bump” in LSAT scores, and to my eyes, it really shows how foolish the opponents of affirmative action really are.

Read the whole thing.

UPDATE: Reader Steven Webb writes: “Looking at the range of data in their LSAT run, it goes from 156 to 173. If you cut off the top two and the bottom two outliers from this batch of 442 numbers, you get a range of 159 to 171, or 12 points of LSAT score. Contrary to the protestations of the author, a four point bump in a 12 point range is huge, and completely obliterates his point. A four point bump could vault you over literally hundreds of competing students.”

UNDER THE FEDORA: Thoughts on counterboycotts and more, from Da Tech Guy.

OBAMA APPOINTEE ACCUSES REPUBLICANS OF “Legislative Violence Against Women.” Debasing the moral currency, yet again. But then, debasing the currency is what these people do best, apparently.

NEWS YOU CAN USE: Proper Etiquette When You’re Under Arrest.

RASMUSSEN: Only 15% Think Supreme Court Limits Government Too Much.

While President Obama cautioned the U.S. Supreme Court this past week about overturning his national health care law, just 15% of Likely U.S. Voters think the high court puts too many limitations on what the federal government can do.

In fact, a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that twice as many–30%– believe the Supreme Court does not limit the government enough. Forty percent (40%) say the balance is about right, while 15% more are undecided.

Just one of many reasons why this is not 1937, and Obama is not FDR. If he picks a fight with the Court, he’s likely to lose, and they know it.

OUCH: Memo to WSJ: Thanks for the stereotype.

TRUTH: Van Jones: We’re in ‘a post-hope Democratic Party.’

I THOUGHT PAUL KRUGMAN SAID THESE STORIES WERE FICTIONAL: Sentenced to death for being old: The NHS denies life-saving treatment to the elderly, as one man’s chilling story reveals.

BALTIMORE: Crowd Beats, Strips & Robs Tourist On St. Patrick’s Day; Incident Caught On Camera.

ANOTHER 99-CENT KINDLE BOOK BY AN INSTAPUNDIT READER: The Last Eagle, by Michael Wenberg. Polish submariners in World War II — sounds very interesting.

TEN YEARS AGO ON INSTAPUNDIT: The Nobel Peace Prize: “You know, they could’ve given the prize to Arthur C. Clarke that year. I nominated him. It would have been a better choice. But I think they had issues with the fact that he’s gay.”

AT AMAZON, it’s the Spring Outlet Event.

ADVICE: 9 FIGHTS TO HAVE WITH YOUR HUSBAND. Of course, if you follow this advice you may not have a husband anymore.

NEWS YOU CAN USE: How to buy your first gun for defense.

AT AMAZON, bestselling cordless telephones. I’ve been very happy with my Panasonic system.