POLLING: Chuck Hagel Not Winning Over The Public. “The Post-ABC polls show 42 percent of Americans approve of the Chuck Hagel nomination. This is poor by any historical measure. At the time of her nomination, Hillary Clinton got the support of 71 percent of Americans in a CNN poll taken in December, 2008, while 83 percent approved of Robert Gates continuing as secretary of defense. Defense secretaries, and to an even greater extent secretaries of state, have generally enjoyed excellent ratings from the public, perhaps because they are seen to be above the political fray. Even at the time of his resignation, Donald Rumsfeld’s approval hovered in the 50 percent range.” (Emphasis added).

HEH: “Obama speaks today on the anniversary of Prohibition going into effect. I bet Prohibition saved at least one child’s life.”

All dumb policy ideas are sold the same way. And Obama’s just happy if you talk about gun control instead of his debt/deficit debacle.

UPDATE: “I loathe the absurd argument that if there is only one life to be saved then we must do something. Obviously, we do not follow that logic generally. For good reason!”

HEY, RAHM: TRY DOING SOMETHING ABOUT THOSE RAMPANT CHICAGO BEDBUGS. Bloomberg, you might try working on that issue too.

ANDREW KLAVAN: What We Talk About When We Talk About Guns.

As with the death penalty, the argument of the progressives is that times and people have changed. Our democratic institutions and traditions are now engraved upon our hearts, they say, and no longer require the elaborate constitutional safeguards the founders provided for us. Civilized by the years, our leaders no longer pose the threat of tyranny, and guns only serve to give the anarchic power of death to individual lunatics and rednecks when it should be reserved to the state.

The conservative argument is, to put it succinctly: “Not so much.” Once again, we aggravating creatures of the right can’t help pointing out that human nature has changed neither a jot nor a tittle since we hightailed it out of Eden. Those who in ancient days sought to rule us in the name of our own good are still among us, and the only thing that keeps them on their side of the Rubicon is, in the words of that great patriot Neo from The Matrix: “Guns. Lots of guns.”

Gun control is a way of rubbing Middle America’s face in the fact that it doesn’t run things. That’s the actual appeal.

WELL, THAT’S COMFORTING: Walter Russell Mead: Mali — Dien Bien Phu All Over Again? “It’s too early to tell whether Mali will really become a quagmire; insurgents always make grand claims about their power, but only some are able to make good on it. Even so, France clearly underestimated the initial jihadist military strength in Mali, and the country is already turning to the US for logistical support.”

Remember when the press mocked Mitt Romney for bringing up Mali in a debate? Because, you know, they had no idea anything was brewing there. I keep saying that we have the worst political class in our history, and we do, but today’s press is the very worst part of the worst political class in our history.

Related: Belgians and Danes Join French-Led Mali Intervention With American Goodies.

UPDATE: Prof. Stephen Clark writes: “WRM’s invocation of Dien Bien Phu is amusing. More annoying however is the failure of the media to connect the Islamist takeover of northern Mali with the NATO-led overthrow of the Gaddafi. Mali is a knock-on consequence of a failed north-African policy. Just such consequences were the fear expressed by some with US interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan. Those failed to materialize. Now that they have materialized as a consequence of Obama’s policies the grand-high poobahs and their courtiers are as silent as church mice.”

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Also, today only: Lorex LIVE Ping Wireless Network Camera, $99 (48% off).

ROBERT MCMANUS: Andrew Cuomo’s Empty Gun-Control Win. “Politics, not policy, looks to have been the point of Cuomo’s so-called SAFE Act of 2013, a gun-control bill marinated in rhetoric certain to please those liberal Democrats who pick presidential candidates — but which promises to make New Yorkers only very marginally safer. That is, it’s cosmetically correct, but it’s substantively — and perhaps constitutionally— a cynical exercise. Pure Cuomo, in other words — a man for whom it’s always all about the polls.”

STANDING UP AGAINST ELIMINATIONIST RHETORIC: Rep. Sensenbrenner calls on Obama to denounce ‘Bullet to the Head of the NRA’ video game. “Wisconsin Republican Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner is calling on President Barack Obama to denounce an online video game that encourages players to shoot and kill National Rifle Association officials.”

#WARONWOMEN: “I work in this administration, and I have to admit that I’m slightly annoyed by the lack of women around him in those key meetings.”

JOHN HINDERAKER: Obama: An Elitist Hypocrite.

IN HIS CASE, ACTUALLY, I THINK IT’S ASPIRATIONAL: Obama to Switch to ‘Taxation Without Representation’ Plates. “Though critics called the effort futile and symbolic, a campaign by the D.C. Council and local activists to get President Barack Obama to adopt the city’s standard license plates with the ‘Taxation Without Representation’ motto has succeeded. On the heels of a WhiteHouse.gov petition, a council resolution and a White House meeting Friday, all presidential vehicles will be fitted with the new plates this coming weekend, just in time for the start of Obama’s second term in office.”

Given that Washington is flourishing while the rest of America suffers, this isn’t likely to have much impact.

MORE ON ALLEN WEST’S MOVE TO PJ MEDIA.

SO PUNISH THEM WITH A BUDGET CUT: The Hill: Lawmakers slam DOJ prosecution of Swartz as ‘ridiculous, absurd.’

And make sure the cut is to something like conference travel, so they’ll care.

L.A. TIMES: Aaron Swartz was ‘killed by the government,’ father tells mourners. “Although his indictment on 13 felony counts was announced by U.S. Atty. Carmen M. Ortiz in Massachusetts, accounts from Swartz’s supporters say much of the behind-the-scenes negotiations were handled by Assistant U.S. Atty. Stephen P. Heymann.”

FUNDAMENTALLY TRANSFORMING AMERICA: Reader Kent Chitwood writes: “An unintended consequence of President Oboma’s reelection is that within the last two months, I have bought a handgun and joined the NRA. Both are firsts for me and I am 47 years old. Based on the people I talk to, I am not alone.”

JEFF SOYER could use some help. I donated.

INVESTOR’S BUSINESS DAILY: New Math: President Obama Exaggerates Deficit Savings.

MARIO LOYOLA: States And The Gun-Control Fight.

TRIFECTA: Are Hollywood Liberals Blacklisting Zero Dark Thirty?

CNN: Not Enough Support For New Gun Laws In Democratic-Controlled Senate.

But they hope you’ll talk about gun control instead of their budget/debt debacle.

UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES: Study: Environmental regulations turning outdoorsmen into eco-felons.

Five Gulf Coast states have over 1,000 laws that allow prosecutors to target people with criminal sanctions over rather minor infractions related to the environment and outdoor living, a new study shows, even in cases where the accused did not cause any harm or knowingly break the law.

More examples for my Due Process When Everything Is A Crime piece. You can download the report here.

A CHEERFUL TAKE: Obama Is Making Things Easy For The Next Reaganite.

THIS EXPLAINS A LOT: Science: Debt Promotes Reckless Behavior. “The psychological burden of debt not only saps intellectual resources, it also reinforces the reckless behavior, and quickly, Dr. Shafir and other experts said.”

SUPERSTITION: “It occurred to me, after the Sandy Hook murders, that blaming guns is a secular substitute for blaming the devil. People find it too challenging to figure out why a human being would do this terrible thing and they latch on to the idea that the gun made it happen. Suicide presents a similar challenge, and one way to fathom it is to say: It was the gun. Isn’t it like saying the devil made him do it? The gun/the devil is a great go-to answer, freeing you from wracking your brain about the workings of the human mind.”

ANOTHER WRONG-HOUSE RAID: Police Shoot, Kill Dog When Going To A Home By Mistake.

UPDATE: A reader objects: “During my years working patrol, bad information from radio calls was common. Also, I love dogs, and I never had to shoot one, but I did have some very close calls. A common theme in your blog is to point out and ridicule errors made by law enforcement. Certainly there are instances where such scorn is earned (e.g., a wrong-door no-knock SWAT raid), but I don’t see how you can conclude that this cop made a mistake from the information provided. Though it may offend your sensibilities, sometimes cops encounter aggressive dogs, and sometimes the only way to stop one is deadly force.”

Fair enough — as long as you’d cut a private citizen the same slack.