IN THE EARLY INSTAPUNDIT: A precursor of today’s federal budget strategy.

STANDARDS: Tina Brown: Obama Would “Be Impeached By Now For Drones, If He Was George W. Bush.” Luckily for him, he’s not, so he can get away thing things Bush never dreamed of. Which is why if you care about civil rights and human rights, you should always vote Republican in Presidential elections. Because, while they may or may not be better, they definitely get away with a lot less.

Related: Eleanor Clift: Drones are “a blessing.”

TOM MAGUIRE ON GUN CONTROL JIGGERY-POKERY:

Ahh, but what is “gun violence”? Well, when gun control advocates are dramatizing their case they cite 30,000 deaths per year (E.g., NY Times editorial, the Atlantic, the Violence Policy Center, Media Matters).

That figure is composed of roughly 19,000 suicides and 11,000 homicides. One might imagine that a notable proportion of the suicide victims qualify as mentally ill. But for some reason, when the subject is mental health, “gun violence” seems to mean exclusively homicides, at least at the Times, and in the piece linked above.

Yet more evidence that I will never have the mental acuity or agility to make it as a lib.

Or a journalist. But I repeat myself.

THE BEST AND THE BRIGHTEST: Pelosi claims First Amendment protects right to bear arms.

WHY A CRISIS FOR BOYS is a crisis for all.

ARGENTINA’S FINANCIAL COLLAPSE: What’s Past Is Prologue.

THE HILL: Sen. Inhofe threatens filibuster to block Hagel.

UH OH: New York Times: Details Emerging In Menendez Case. And they’re not pretty. “Senator Robert Menendez sought to discourage any plan by the United States government to donate port security equipment to the Dominican Republic, citing concern that the advanced screening gear might undermine efforts by a private company — run by a major campaign contributor and friend of his — to do the work. The intervention with the Department of Homeland Security last month came even though Mr. Menendez has publicly chastised the Obama administration for not doing more to combat the surging drug traffic moving through Dominican ports. And it came shortly after the senator’s friend, Dr. Salomon E. Melgen, arranged to meet with a senior State Department official, accompanied by a former aide to Mr. Menendez, in a related push to protect the port security contract, which is worth as much as $500 million over 20 years.”

For “friend,” read “procurer,” I think.