WALTER RUSSELL MEAD: Egypt Death Spiral Watch Continues.

An economic death spiral is like a straitjacket: the more fitfully you try to get out, the tighter it gets. That seems to be precisely what civil unrest, spurred in large part by Egypt’s economic woes, is doing to the country’s economic prospects: popular riots on the ground are driving away tourism and foreign investment, which eventually harms the country’s credit rating, which worsens the economic woes, which drives more people into the streets…

Uncertainty about the IMF’s loan and parliamentary elections makes the situation even worse. It’s unclear whether the government has the financial or political resources left to keep buying more time. Via Meadia is hoping for the best, but this is not looking good.

Life is tough. It’s tougher when you’re stupid.

INVESTOR’S BUSINESS DAILY: Obama’s 5 Unintentionally Comical Lines. My favorite: “It is not a bigger government we need, but a smarter government.” Amen to that. Not seeing much evidence, though.

ANNALS OF THE ONE PERCENT: Unpaid Internships Are a Rich-Girl Problem—and Also a Real Problem.

AT AMAZON, Save Up To 25% on Rifle Scopes. I favor the Aimpoint M4 myself, but I’ve shot with an EOTech that’s pretty nice.

Also, pistol holsters.

INSTAVISION: Right On Crime: A Conservative Approach To Criminal Justice Reform. I talk with Marc A. Levin, of the Texas Public Policy Foundation, about the Aaron Swartz case, overcriminalization, and what to do about it.

POINTS AND FIGURES: European GDP Takes A Nosedive. “The multiplier effect of government spending is 0. You cannot tax and spend your way to economic prosperity.” Somebody tell Obama.

WHY YOU SHOULD DOUBT Human Rights Watch.

THE COUNTRY’S IN THE VERY BEST OF HANDS: Twitter Valentine oops: House Democrat’s ILU to young model.

ROLL CALL: Kentucky Democrats Fear Ashley Judd May Drag Down Ticket.

Actress Ashley Judd’s movement toward a Senate run against Minority Leader Mitch McConnell makes Democrats in Washington, D.C., happy.

But back in Kentucky, for many Bluegrass State Democrats, a potential Judd run brings a different feeling: heartburn.

“If she runs, I think that it would be a catastrophe for a lot of downballot races in Kentucky,” said Jimmy Cauley, a longtime Kentucky Democratic strategist who doesn’t believe Judd can win a general election. Among Democratic state legislators, he said, “there is significant worry about Ashley being on the ballot.”

Democrats plugged into the Frankfort, Ky., zeitgeist publicly and privately confirmed those sentiments. The crux of their worry is this: As a celebrity and strong supporter of President Barack Obama, Judd’s position at the top of the ticket could nationalize state and local races. They see her losing the Senate contest — an uphill climb for any Democrat — and potentially poisoning the conservative brand of some state Democrats.

I’ve got a document to drop on her if she runs.

JAMES TARANTO: The House of His Dreams: Obama campaigns for a Democratic Congress. Good luck with that. “Of course unprecedented things do happen in politics. Never before 2010 had a party captured the House while leaving the Senate in the other party’s hands. And last year Obama became the first president to be elected to a second term with a smaller popular-vote total than in his first election.”

#GREENFAIL: Another dud in federal battery program. “President Barack Obama used his fifth State of the Union address to extol the virtue and job-creating power of federal investment in solar, wind and advanced battery development. Maybe he should have consulted his Department of Energy first. In a scathing report issued Wednesday, the department’s Office of Inspector General said LG Chem Michigan Inc. misused most of $150 million in federal grants to build its battery cell manufacturing plant in Holland. The company used taxpayer dollars to pay employees to volunteer at local nonprofits, play games and watch movies.”

And, effectively, to vote Democratic. I’ll bet they delivered on that one.

OBAMA’S STATE OF THE UNION not looking so hot in the ratings department, according to Nielsen. More here: “As disliked as he was in his second term, Dubya never sank below 37.5 million viewers; according to Nielsen, O’s audience last night was 33.5 million. . . . One other intriguing footnote, per Noah Rothman at Mediaite: According to Bing’s massive real-time viewer tracker, the most negatively received section of Obama’s speech was — ta da — gun control.”

CLAYTON CRAMER: I’m Glad I Don’t Have Canadian Murder Rates Where I Live. “There was a time when Canadian murder rates were low enough compared to the U.S. for American gun-control advocates to argue in favor of Canadian style gun control for our country. This is no longer the case.”

GUN CONTROL INDUCES DEMOCRATIC FRATRICIDE: Obama allies rally against gun-rights Democrat in Illinois special election. “Some key allies of President Obama are working to stop former Rep. Debbie Halvorson (D-Ill.), a pro-gun-rights candidate, from winning a heavily Democratic district in Obama’s Chicago backyard. Halvorson, running in a crowded Democratic primary to fill the seat left open by former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.’s (D-Ill.) resignation, is facing strong opposition from several Democrats and liberal groups, some with close ties to the president.”

Personally, I think there’s racism involved.

TOM MAGUIRE BUSTS KATHLEEN SEBELIUS for bogus numbers on mental illness and violent crime. “Progressives such as Obama will want to poo-pooh the mental health problem and focus on limiting the public’s access to guns. Are they merely misleading the public, which would be troubling but not unheard of in our political class, or are they unaware of the truth and busily misleading themselves? I’d hate to see our President start a war on guns based on phony intelligence.”

JARRETT SKORUP: Five Reasons The Government Shouldn’t Subsidize Higher Education.

IN THE NEW YORK POST NOT LONG AGO, I suggested that Sheldon Adelson or other rich GOP backers would be better off buying women’s magazines and websites than in pouring more money down the GOP-political-consultant rathole. Well, here’s an opportunity: Time Warner in Talks to Spin Off Majority of Magazines. Go on, make ’em an offer!

MARK STEYN: Lars Hedegaard, Defender of Freedom.

LIZ PEEK: Obama Infantilizes Voters, Rubio Sees Their Strengths. “Their convictions are sincere, the product of each man’s upbringing and early life experience.”

DO LAW REVIEWS consider race and gender of authors when selecting articles? And if California public law reviews do this, does it violate Prop. 209?

I’ve been annoyed by the number of law reviews moving to Scholastica, and this doesn’t make me feel better about it.

EARTH & SKY: Think Friday’s close asteroid flyby is sobering? Look at this.

MICKEY KAUS ON OBAMA’S PLAN FOR MEANS-TESTING MEDICARE: “For a long time this idea was unacceptable to liberals, because (the theory went) it would undermine political support for the program. It’s still unacceptable to some. But not, apparently to Obama. Since House Speaker Boehner has also endorsed means-testing, you’d think it would actually happen, right? . . . The main problem, I suspect, is that it’s too simple and easy and too non-ideological Agreeing on means-testing now would deprive the parties of the opportunity to posture for months against unsustainable entitlements or heartless benefit cuts. The press wouldn’t get to report on those fights, and the cable channels wouldn’t get to use them to stoke ratings. It’s something Obama and Boehner agree on–where’s the drama in that?”

MEGAN MCARDLE: Can We Really Give Everyone Access to High Quality Preschool? I’m skeptical that it would make as much difference as claimed. The record of Head Start isn’t very encouraging.

Plus, from the comments: “There’s another way of looking at this: as an overt sop to the teachers’ unions. What a great way to expand the ranks of the credentialed, licensed, and dues-paying members. And don’t forget tenure.”

BRENNAN DRONE KILLINGS UPDATE:

Sen. Rand Paul today announced he is prepared to hold the nomination of John Brennan as the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) until he receives sufficient answers to two letters of inquiry he sent to Mr. Brennan regarding the use of drones.

“I have asked Mr. Brennan if he believed that the President has the power to authorize lethal force, such as a drone strike, against a U.S. citizen on U.S. soil, and my question remains unanswered. I will not allow a vote on this nomination until Mr. Brennan openly responds to the questions and concerns my colleagues and I share.” Sen. Paul said.

A FISH, A BARREL, A SMOKING GUN: Bill Maher Caught Lying To Make Obama Look Better Than Bush.