WHILE SUPPLIES LAST: Steep markdowns on headphones.
UPDATE: Reader Dan McAfee writes: “Thanks so much… my wife’s a medical transcriptionist and not only needs quality headphones, but runs through several sets a year… you just saved me about a hundred bucks or more.” More than covering the cost of your InstaPundit subscription — hey, wait . . .!
“SOMETIMES THE SMARTEST OF US CAN BE THE MOST CHILDISH.” Just watched the Simpsons episode where Springfield is ruled by a self-appointed junta of its smartest citizens. Seemed kinda familiar, somehow.
ANOTHER DEMOCRATIC RETIREMENT: Rep. Marion Berry, D-Ark.
If the Democrats are looking for a wake-up call from Massachusetts, the big rooster in the room is the plethora of underwhelming candidates they are fielding.
In Illinois, where Barack Obama’s former Senate seat is on the line, the leading Democratic contender is a 33-year-old who spent almost all of his adult life working for the bank that his family owns. Perhaps the president forgot that last week when he told Massachusetts voters that “bankers don’t need another vote in the Senate.”
Ouch.
FROM HOPE AND CHANGE TO THIS, IN THE ECONOMIST: Stop! The size and power of the state is growing, and discontent is on the rise.
America’s most vibrant political force at the moment is the anti-tax tea-party movement. Even in leftish Massachusetts people are worried that Mr Obama’s spending splurge, notably his still-unpassed health-care bill, will send the deficit soaring. In Britain, where elections are usually spending competitions, the contest this year will be fought about where to cut. Even in regions as historically statist as Scandinavia and southern Europe debates are beginning to emerge about the size and effectiveness of government. . . .
The Economist will return to these areas in coming months. All raise different issues; and different countries may need to deal with them in different ways. But one large general point links them: a great battle about the state is brewing. And, as in another influential revolution, the first shot may have been heard in Massachusetts.
Read the whole thing. And I love the illustration . . . .
UPDATE: Reader C.J. Burch writes: “I think deep down inside the rest of us are beginning to understand how that little fella in the illustration that’s about to get eaten feels. Heretofore it’s been the journalist’s job to level the playing field for him. Now he has to do it himself. That’s why there are tea parties.”
BUILDING SAFER SCHOOLS in poor, shaky places.
ROGER KIMBALL: How Stupid Do They Think We Are?
MESSAGE DISCIPLINE BREAKS DOWN: White House Advisers Give Three Different Numbers on ‘Saved or Created’ Jobs.
These guys can’t even lie convincingly. The country’s in the very best of hands!
Related: White House Fumbling Jobs, Obamacare Message.
UPDATE: A reader emails: “One of the crimes McCarthy is still attacked for (60 years on) by the Left is making up the number of communists as he went along. NPR would have a fit if a conservative did this.”
BRUCE SCHNEIER: U.S. Enables Chinese Hacking Of Google. “In order to comply with government search warrants on user data, Google created a backdoor access system into Gmail accounts. This feature is what the Chinese hackers exploited to gain access. Google’s system isn’t unique. Democratic governments around the world — in Sweden, Canada and the UK, for example — are rushing to pass laws giving their police new powers of Internet surveillance, in many cases requiring communications system providers to redesign products and services they sell.” Great.
ED SCHULTZ VS. ROBERT GIBBS.
Chris Matthews vs. Alan Grayson.
Jack Cafferty vs. Political Correctness on terrorism.
Plus, Total Protonic Reversal: Dennis Kucinich Defends Tea-Partiers, Shreds Democrat Hacks and Chicago-style Politics. Guess somebody crossed the streams. Normally that’s not recommended, but it has been known to save the day in extreme crises. There’s definitely a very slim chance we’ll survive. . . .
WELCOME TO Harrison Bergeron High.
NISSAN LEAF UPDATE: In Race to Market, Nissan’s Electric Car Takes Shortcuts. “Nissan’s confidence on this matter aside, early purchasers of the Leaf should consider taking the company up on its offer to lease the battery, which would leave any financial risk of early battery degradation where it belongs — with Nissan.”
CNN POLL: 56% of Americans Oppose “Stimulus” Program. Well, since most of the money remains unspent, it could be stopped. . . .
UPDATE: Washington Post: Political push-back stalls stock market rally on Wall Street. “Washington spent months nursing the financial system back to health after the 2008 economic crisis, stabilizing then reviving battered markets and ultimately restoring trillions of dollars in investor losses. Wall Street’s political fortunes have not fared as well. Now, an aggressive stance against the bankers, financiers and even government officials popularly blamed for causing the crisis is gaining political momentum, and there are signs it is eroding the very financial stability the government championed.”
PHOTO GALLERY: U.S. Military Presence In The Haiti Relief Effort.
ANNOUNCING THE NOMINEES for the National Book Critics Circle Awards.