ROGER SIMON: Is Obama Imploding?

Roger Kimball: Obama By The Numbers.

Related: Alarm Grows Among Dems About Obama’s Chances.

Don’t get cocky, kid.

BECOMING YOUR OWN WEIGHT LOSS BOSS. I favor the Gary Taubes approach myself, with a strong admixture of Mark Rippetoe. A calorie-counting app (I use Livestrong) is also helpful.

LIKE THE FEMINISTS DID FOR BILL CLINTON BACK IN 1998. Van Jones: Yeah, we enviros took a dive for Obama during the Gulf oil spill.

What’s the environmentalist equivalent of a Groper’s Support Group? Er, all of ‘em, I guess. . . .

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21ST CENTURY REPRODUCTION: Parents Are Paying To Freeze Their Adult Daughters’ Eggs.

AN INTERVIEW WITH NAOMI SCHAEFER RILEY, author of The Faculty Lounges: And Other Reasons Why You Won’t Get The College Education You Pay For.

FASTER, PLEASE: Latest simulation shows that the magnetic nozzles required for antimatter propulsion could be vastly more efficient than previously thought–and built with today’s technologies.

LONGEVITY UPDATE: Gene Therapy Extends Mouse Lifespan.

WITH LUCK, BY THEN THE U.S. WILL BE THE WORLD’S BIGGEST OIL EXPORTER: IMF Sees Oil Price Doubling in 10 Years.

ANOTHER READER BOOK PLUG: Night Music, by Tobias Cabral.

FAILING THE TEST: Teen Arrested After Homework Left At Crime Scene.

AT THE LONDON OLYMPICS, a “mankini?”

FASTER, PLEASE: New Drug Trial Seeks to Stop Alzheimer’s Before It Starts.

THIS IS THE WAY the Higher Education Bubble ends. “The higher education bubble ends with inevitable disaggregation of classes from the universities that offer them, and soon.”

Someone should write a book on this subject.

A HARBINGER? Life Under Capital Controls. Jim Bennett emails: “This article is interesting first as a comment on the strength of the economy of the more pro-capitalist part of North America, and second as a picture of life in Iceland under capital controls. People read the term but younger readers have no real feel for what it means in terms of day-to-day life. There have been no capital controls in Europe since the fall of the Berlin Wall, and none in Western Europe for some time before that. But even Britain had capital controls for quite some time after WW2.” Yes, and by a curious coincidence, the U.S. government has been making it steadily more difficult for Americans to move money offshore.

IN THE MAIL: From Peter Berkowitz, Israel and the Struggle over the International Laws of War.

WALTER RUSSELL MEAD: Home HIV Test about Putting Patients in Charge of Health. “According to the Washington Post, the FDA is currently considering approval of a new home HIV test, which could be purchased over the counter and administered within 20 minutes by performing a simple gum swab. . . . Beyond the AIDS struggle, giving people more control over their health is a necessary part of creating a sustainable health care system in this country. A dependency culture—waiting passively for the doctors to take care of it—both infantilizes people and raises costs. Naturally, there are limits to how much responsibility you can expect from people, but a health care system that unnecessarily restricts individual choice and costs so much that it will bankrupt the country is also a bad idea. More power in health care and more responsibility needs to go to individuals; they will sometimes make bad decisions, but doctors and public health ‘experts’ are also mistaken from time to time.”

Indeed they are.

CIVIL RIGHTS UPDATE: Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin signs open-carry gun bill into law. “Oklahoma is the 25th state with either ‘permissive open carry’ laws, which means no permit required, or ‘licensed open carry,’ which requires a permit. Oklahoma now joins Utah, North Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Indiana, Tennessee, Georgia, Mississippi, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Hawaii and Massachusetts as a ‘licensed open carry’ state.”

PORKBUSTERS UPDATE: Earmarks Still Have Friends In High Places.

REMEMBERING DONALD “DUCK” DUNN.

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Also, today only: NCIS, seasons 1-8, for $124.99.

JENNIFER RUBIN: 10 Things About Deb Fischer’s Win in Nebraska.

I WOULD HAVE BUILT A GIANT WOODEN BADGER, MYSELF: Greeks Apologize to Europe with Huge Horse.

MICHAEL BARONE: Rattled Obama Team Making Miscues. “As a supporter of same-sex marriage, I am glad Obama took the step that Dick Cheney took several years ago. . . . But Gallup reports that 26 percent of voters say they’re less likely to vote for him because of this issue, exactly twice the 13 percent who say they’re more likely to do so.”

WELL, AT LEAST THEY’RE CONSISTENT: Democrats On Track To Extend No-Budget Streak: “Senate Democrats are poised to continue their impressive streak of budgetary negligence on Wednesday by unanimously rejecting as many as five different budgets, including the one offered by President Obama. Republicans, meanwhile, are hoping that voters will pick up on the disturbing trend.”

SMALL BUSINESSES THRIVING thanks to Amazon customers.

Small may be the new big, but when you’re small, big entities can help. I wrote about this phenomenon years ago, and it’s still true.

INVESTOR’S BUSINESS DAILY: Narcissism update: Obama now inserts himself into online bios of past presidents. Actually, this isn’t narcissism, exactly, but something worse. Given that Obama surely didn’t insert these changes himself, it suggests an attitude within his staff, not just a personal failing of Obama’s.

UPDATE: And the Rutherford B. Hayes meme is back!

More Hayes fun here. In retrospect, I think the Hayes blooper, and the response, was the beginning of Obama’s social-media collapse.

ANNALS OF THE ONE PERCENT: Obama Disclosures Reveal Account at JPMorgan.

President Barack Obama has a fat account at JPMorgan Chase & Co. and a mortgage on his Chicago home that he should probably refinance.

Obama’s financial disclosure forms, released today, show assets of at least $2.5 million, including a JPMorgan account worth at least $500,000. . . .

Obama’s disclosures also show he has a more than $500,000 mortgage on his Illinois home with a 5.625 percent interest rate he took out in 2005. That’s much higher than current rates, which can run below 4 percent. Ironically, Obama has pushed refinancing as a part of his Congressional “to-do list,” saying the average family would be able to save thousands of dollars a year.

That would certainly be true for Obama if he took his own advice.

No one’s ever accused Obama of being good at handling debt.

AD: A Few Of The 23 Million. “Today, in the Obama economy, twenty-three million Americans are out of work, underemployed, or have stopped looking for work. These are the stories behind the statistics. These are a few of the twenty-three million.”

IF ONLY STUDENTS GOT SCHUMPETER INSTEAD OF HOWARD ZINN: “The difficult truth that virtually no politician is prepared to acknowledge is that the road to job creation runs through job destruction.”

DEBT PROBLEMS: Boehner Questions Obama’s Courage. “The difference between knowing what’s right and doing what’s right is courage, and the president, I’m sorry to say, lost his.”

WALTER RUSSELL MEAD: Remember when Occupy Wall Street was sweeping the nation? “The media branded it the left’s answer to the Tea Party, the start of a grand national mobilization; depending on who you ask, half of America once supported the OWS protestors, double the amount who back the Tea Party. The Huffington Post even launched a separate page devoted entirely to coverage of OWS. How the mighty have fallen. . . . OWS has essentially fallen apart. It is not a significant presence on the streets; it is not a significant presence in Democratic Party politics; it is not a significant presence in the national conversation.”

OWS was never mighty. It was always a bubble full of media hot air, and it collapsed when its actual behavior damaged it to the point that even the media’s best effots couldn’t keep it inflated, at which point the press started pretending it had never existed. . . .

MY A DUE PROCESS RIGHT TO RECORD THE POLICE, coauthored with John Steakley, is still charting at #1 on SSRN. Thanks for the interest!

JAMES TARANTO: It’s Obama vs. The New York Times. “It’s not the first time the New York Times has been accused of bias, but it may be the funniest.”

Plus, why Frank Bruni is a bigot.

WILL MASSACHUSETTS DEMS dump Elizabeth Warren for Marisa DeFranco?

SWEETHEART DEAL? Senator wants answers on Google air fleet leasing at NASA field.

JOHN HINDERAKER: The High Cost Of Regulation.

Remember when President Obama said that his policies would cause the cost of electricity to skyrocket? Well, the cost has skyrocketed, but not only because of Obama. In February, Robert Bryce of the Manhattan Institute released a study of the cost of renewable energy mandates. In most states, regulatory authorities have required utilities to obtain a specified portion of their power from renewable sources–wind, solar, and so on. Those energy sources are nowhere near as efficient as coal and natural gas, which means they cost far more per kilowatt hour. But the utility has to buy that energy by law, and it passes the higher cost on to its ratepayers. Generally, the ratepayers–i.e., all of us–have no idea that they are paying extra to subsidize “green” fantasies.

There’s too much regulation, for too many lousy reasons. If regulation isn’t clearly for the common good, it’s just bossiness — a deprivation of freedom for no good reason — and should be remedied by tar, feathers, and such other means as get the message across.

EUROPE: Italy’s banks shaken as economic slump deepens. “As Greece erupts, Italy is moving into the eye of the storm. Its economy is contracting at speeds not seen since the depths of the slump in 2009 as draconian austerity bites, greatly increasing the risk of social revolt and a banking crisis.”

MORE OBAMA PRIMARY PROBLEMS? California Dems Planning to Vote For “Mickey Mouse” In June Primary. Well, he’s got the ears. Plus this:

In New Hampshire: Obama lost 20% of the primary vote; the #1 write in name was Ron Paul.

Tuesday nights election results in West Virginia has a convicted felon getting over 40% of the vote in the DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY and garnering at least a delegate. LMAO, indeed.

Over 20% of North Carolina DEMOCRATS selected “No Preference” as the Presidential nominee.

Ouch.

GEORGE ZIMMERMAN UPDATE: Broken Nose, Broken Narrative. “This doesn’t prove that George Zimmerman acted lawfully, but it breaks the narrative that Zimmerman was not injured, pushed by the Martin family attorneys, left-wing blogs, LGF, and many others with an agenda.”

Related: Autopsy Reveals Trayvon Martin Had Bloody Knuckles When He Died.

UPDATE: More from Tom Maguire.

FORGET “PEAK OIL:” Have we reached Peak Government? Well, they do seem to be running out of other people’s money. . . .

VOTER FRAUD UPDATE: New O’Keefe video exposes non-citizens on voter rolls in NC, voter fraud comfort at UNC.

OH MY: MoveOn: DNC Pulling Out of Wisconsin Recall. If this is true, it’s a major debacle for the Dems.

Related: New Daily Kos/PPP poll: Walker 50%, Barrett 45%. Obama’s chickens are coming home to roost. Everywhere at once, apparently . . .

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: These days, a law degree comes with $150,000 of debt — and no guarantee of a job after graduation. “I know that I am better off than a lot of these younger lawyers. I get job interviews. I can afford the apartment I share with my friend. I have a great resume. I am an excellent researcher and writer. I rarely go to bed hungry anymore.”

Plus: “Approximately half of the 45,000 people who will graduate this year from ABA-accredited law schools will never find jobs as lawyers. . . . All this adds up to a completely unsustainable system.” And yet most of those law schools are on campuses with sustainability centers.

If only there were something that explained this phenomenon.

UH OH: Urban Radio Callers Slam Obama Over Gay Marriage Support.

CHANGE: Yikes! Dem Presidential Candidate John Wolfe Closes in On Barack Obama in Arkansas.

DOG BITES MAN: MSNBC panel agrees media will be in the bag for Obama at the debates.

YOU KNOW WHO HAS MORE PRIVATE-SECTOR BUSINESS EXPERIENCE THAN BARACK OBAMA? Yeah, Mitt Romney, sure. Everybody knows that. But also Rush Limbaugh. And I don’t mean for his radio show — his iced tea business is the real deal. I ordered tea Sunday night, and (with free shipping) got it this morning. That’s the kind of service I normally expect from Amazon and not much of anyone else. I don’t know how much tea he’s selling, but it’s probably a lot, and it’s certainly more product than Obama has ever sold. It’s good tea, too . . .

SCUBA QUESTIONS ANSWERED: (1) What kind of equipment do I have? Mostly old. I have a fairly new Atomic Aquatics M1 regulator which replaced my old Dacor Viper a couple of years ago. I have a SeaQuest Passport travel BC that I need to replace soon as it’s getting kind of worn after ten years or so. I have a prescription dive mask (Genesis, I think) that’s the best money I’ve spent on gear (my vision’s not that bad, but it’s really nice to be able to see clearly) and a 7-year-old Suunto Vyper computer. (Before that I had a Suunto Favor-S).

(2) Who do I like to dive with? My favorite dive operator on Cayman is In Depth Watersports. I’ve known Nat Robb for quite a while (you can see him in this rebreather video I did back in 2006). The service is great, the boat (a Navy SEALs Rigid Inflatable Boat) is great, the whole experience is delightful. I also like Ocean Frontiers and Sunset Divers. But once you’ve done the “boutique dive operator” thing you won’t want to go back.

(3) Where do I like to stay? Usually on dive trips I stay at Sunset House, which caters to divers. When I took the family with me for a speaking gig in January they put us up in a nice beachfront condo, of which Cayman has many. Let TripAdvisor be your guide and you’ll do pretty well.

(4) What’s the best way to get started? Try a resort course, which will let you get some instruction in a pool and then dive with an instructor. Once you’ve done that, you’ll know if it’s worth going to the trouble of getting certified.

BRAVE BLOGGER STANDS UP TO COPYRIGHT-INFRINGING NEWSPAPER. You know, the trad-media folks get all self-righteous about copyright, but I’ve noticed that they’re quite willing to lift copy, and even photos, from blogs without permission.

NEWS YOU CAN USE: Belly Fat and Bikinis–A Bad Combination.

ANDY MCCARTHY: Moderation Happens To Islam, Not In Islam.

Related: Michael Totten on Tunisia.

TAR. FEATHERS. Man Loses $22,000 In New ‘Policing For Profit’ Case.

WELL, GOOD: New look at prolonged radiation exposure: Study suggests that at low dose-rate, radiation poses little risk to DNA.

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JIM TREACHER: “I need to start this off with a confession: Sometimes I feel guilty about mocking Obama’s narcissism. It’s not like he can help it. It’s just who he is.”

TOM BLUMER: Social Security’s Implosion Continues.

SHOCKER: Popular Surveillance Cameras Open to Hackers, Researcher Says.

Three of the most popular brands of closed-circuit surveillance cameras are sold with remote internet access enabled by default, and with weak password security — a classic recipe for security failure that could allow hackers to remotely tap into the video feeds, according to new research.

The cameras, used by banks, retailers, hotels, hospitals and corporations, are often configured insecurely — thanks to these manufacturer default settings, according to researcher Justin Cacak, senior security engineer at Gotham Digital Science. As a result, he says, attackers can seize control of the systems to view live footage, archived footage or control the direction and zoom of cameras that are adjustable.

“You can essentially view these devices from anywhere in the world,” Cacak said, noting that he and his security team were able to remotely view footage showing security guards making rounds in facilities, “exceptionally interesting and explicit footage” from cameras placed in public elevators, as well as footage captured by one high-powered camera installed at a college campus, which had the ability to zoom directly into the windows of college dorm rooms.

Well, that last report will ensure lots of new hacking efforts . . . .

WEARING A COMPUTER IS GOOD FOR YOU: “Fitness trends and health-care problems are creating demand for tiny computers we won’t even notice we’re carrying.” Hey, my Cyborg Wife has been doing this for years.

PREFERENCE CASCADE? USA Today/Gallup poll shows voters more optimistic about economy under Romney than Obama. “That suggests that the months-long effort to paint Romney as a private-equity vampire who banished his dog to roof-riding torment isn’t exactly succeeding. The more people get to know Romney, the more they seem to like him.”

DAN MITCHELL: This Takes “Sucking on the Public Teat” to a Disturbing New Level.

IF SAME-SEX MARRIAGE IS SO POPULAR, why does it always lose at the polls? Even in California.

WALTER RUSSELL MEAD: Greece’s Bank Jog Turns Into A Run: Is Viral Panic Next? “Of course a bank run will hasten the insolvency of the banks and force an earlier Greek exit from the euro: that is all the more reason to panic fast. When there’s a fire in a crowded theater, you want to be among the first at the door. The question now is whether the bank virus spreads to other European countries that are potentially at risk of leaving the euro.”

GALVANIZE: Darwin’s Creepiest Experiment, Brought Back to Life. Don’t hold back. The time has come to push the button.

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BOB OWENS: So You Want To Own a Gun (Part Three).

GARDEN AND GUN: A new generation of women who are redefining the Southern Belle. “Southern women like men and allow them to stay men. Southern women are not afraid to dance.” And who better to write for Garden and Gun than a writer named Glock?

MORE BEACH READING: So I didn’t finish it, but on my trip I also started Tony Daniel’s Guardian of Night. I’m about halfway through, and it’s quite good, with very interesting aliens who use a scent-based language.

MICKEY KAUS: “Maybe I’m missing something, but if Obama’s pal Dr. Eric Whitaker did offer Rev. Wright $150,000 to stay silent for the duration of the campaign, as charged by Ed Klein, how exactly is that different from John Edwards’ pal Fred Baron giving Rielle Hunter money to stay out of the limelight for the duration of the campaign?”

AND THE DOG LOOKS DELICIOUS! Ed Driscoll: Dog Whistle Alert!

CHANGE: “Voters now trust likely Republican nominee Mitt Romney more than President Obama on all five issues regularly surveyed by Rasmussen Reports, especially when it comes to money.”

UPDATE: From the comments: “The audacity of competence.” And, further down, “The preference cascade has started, my pretties.”

ANOTHER READER BOOK PLUG REQUEST: Sabrina Chase writes: “May I request a mention of my latest science fiction ebook The Long Way Home? It’s part of Sarah Hoyt’s Human Wave movement of positive SF — plus it features hidden planets, mysterious aliens, and hotshot pilots.”

Done!

THOMAS SOWELL: A Censored Race War. “Trying to keep the lid on is understandable. But a lot of pressure can build up under that lid.” Meanwhile, some background.

THOUGHTS ON CLASS WARFARE: James Ceaser: Obama, Romney, and Equality.

IN THE MAIL: Vengeance Is Mine.

WALTER RUSSELL MEAD: The California Mess Worsens. “Via Meadia has long thought of California as a failing state. A mix of tight regulatory and environmental restrictions that satisfy the aspirations of rich Californians with an influx of low skilled immigrants who desperately need a wide open economic environment even if that means lax regulations would be difficult to manage under the best of conditions. California’s powerful public unions with their culture of entitlement makes it all much harder; so too does the state’s messy governance with referendums and legislative deadlock combining to produce a truly dysfunctional system. It is all getting worse in a dismal cycle.”

Related: Mike Bloomberg Now Campaigning for Tax Hikes … in California. Because ruining the lives of New Yorkers isn’t enough, I guess.

WILL HHS REQUIRE EVERYONE TO BE INFORMED OF THIS? ObamaCare May Hurt Medicare Advantage Plans For Poor.

THE UNDISCIPLINED DISCIPLINE: “It’s shaping up to be a rough month for black-studies programs; a new turn of the wheel at UNC-Chapel Hill adds credence to Naomi Schaefer Riley’s assertion that it’s time to reassess their value and intent. Academic fraud perpetrated by the head of Carolina’s Department of African and Afro-American Studies, Julius Nyang’oro, has gotten so bad that North Carolina’s State Bureau of Investigation may be called in to investigate.”

INSECURITY: Pity The Poor President.

Related: Mr. President, stop the whining.

FASTER, PLEASE: Private Sector Edges Deeper Into Space.

It sounds like a routine event for NASA: At 4:55 a.m. on Saturday, a rocket is scheduled to lift off from Cape Canaveral, Fla., and carry cargo — but no people — to the International Space Station.

But if all goes as planned, that morning will mark something transformative for the space industry: a victory for capitalism in what has been for decades a government-run enterprise. The capsule, built by Space Exploration Technologies Corporation — SpaceX, for short — would be the first commercial spacecraft to make it to the space station, and many observers view its launching as the starting gun in an entrepreneurial race to turn space travel into a profit-making business in which NASA is not necessarily the biggest customer.

Already, there are some hints of how the era of commercial space travel might unfold. Companies like Virgin Galactic, XCOR and Space Adventures are booking passengers on suborbital joy rides to space, promised for dates within the next few years, and hundreds of people are signing up. And already there are celebrity tie-ins: Among the people who have signed up for Virgin’s first flights are Ashton Kutcher, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Tom Hanks and Katy Perry.

All is proceeding as I have foreseen.

A FAR CRY FROM THE PLAME AFFAIR: “So the Obama administration, desperate to revive its sagging re-election hopes, deliberately put the life of a British agent in jeopardy–not someone who commuted to a desk job in the CIA, but someone who had infiltrated al Qaeda. ‘Despicable,’ indeed. And damaging to American security, as al Qaeda in Yemen now knows it was infiltrated, and by whom; and knows that we know about its latest bomb technology. Heads should roll, but with the Obama administration investigating itself, don’t hold your breath. Who knows? Maybe someday Hollywood will make a movie.” Don’t hold your breath for that one, either.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Colleges funnel fees to stave off reforms.

DEREK THOMPSON: Why Unpaid Internships Are Immoral.

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I’LL TAKE LEG-TINGLES FOR $200: Chris Matthews Bombs on ‘Jeopardy!’ After Repeatedly Mocking Palin for How She’d Do. Palin-mockery is a symptom of intellectual insecurity. Usually, that insecurity is well-founded. . . .

#OCCUPYFAIL: Police raid Occupy camp on UC Berkeley land after protesters fail to meet deadlines to leave. “University of California police raided a four-week Occupy encampment at a college-owned farm used for agriculture research early Monday, arresting nine people after protesters ignored yet another weekend deadline to leave.”

When you mess up agricultural research — as these protesters did — you’re basically starving poor people. But the Occupy folks don’t care, because the whole Occupy thing is really just intra-elite new-class warfare, in which the Occupy crowd has quite thoroughly lost.

I HAVEN’T WORKED THERE IN OVER 20 YEARS, and the firm I worked for, Dewey Ballantine, hasn’t really existed since the merger. But I still somehow find stories of the Dewey LeBoeuf unraveling sad. I’m not alone, though, as I was talking to a law school dean and fellow Dewey Ballantine alumn last summer and she said she was sad too, and wondered why, exactly, that is . . . . I worked with Alan Wolff, Clark McFadden, and Tom Howell, all mentioned in the story. I wish them well, wherever they land. Nice guys, and I learned a lot from them.

CHANGE: Federal judge strikes down NLRB’s rule approving “ambush” union elections. “Big win, but it’ll probably take electing President Romney to make sure they don’t make it stick on the second try.”

VIRGINIA POSTREL’S THE SUBSTANCE OF STYLE is $2.99 in Kindle version until the end of the month. Don’t miss it.

ED DRISCOLL: Regarding ‘Our First Gay President’ and Other Goofy Recent Newsweekly Covers.

LIFE LESSONS: What I learned about money in my twenties. Key bit: “Looking back on my twenties, I realized that I spent my money mainly because I wanted to feel richer than I actually was.”

This is a common problem.

PORKBUSTERS UPDATE: Earmark recipients filled Akin campaign coffers. “People for whom U.S. Rep. Todd Akin helped secure $31 million in earmarks have paid him back handsomely: The Missouri Republican has raked in nearly $80,000 in campaign cash from people tied to those firms. The five-term representative is in a hotly contested primary race for the Republican nomination to oppose incumbent Democrat Sen. Claire McCaskill, one of the Senate’s most ardent earmark foes.”

STEVEN HAYWARD: Let’s Call Them “Hydrocarbon Deniers.” “Thus we can say that Saudi Arabia is the America of oil, except that we have more than they do. Maybe we should start exporting oil to China and join OPEC?” Don’t get cocky, kid.

#NARRATIVEFAIL: CBS Poll Shows Romney Leading Among Women. If you look at the full results, it’s Romney 44, Obama 42 among women. What’s more, that’s a big improvement for Romney since last month, when it was Obama 49, Romney 43. So apparently this whole “War Against Women” narrative hasn’t played too well for them. . . .

POINTS AND FIGURES: President Obama’s Business Record. “Actually, you can’t attack Obama because he never was in the private sector. He never did anything of note before he was President. I call that a government bureaucrat or hack. My kids have contributed more to GDP already in their young lives than Obama has done in his.”

ANCIENT DISEASES of human ancestors.

JAMES TARANTO: Gay? Yay! Straight news gives way to propaganda.

Paul, Kentucky’s junior senator, “joked about President Obama’s changed postion [sic] on gay marriage in a speech in Iowa Friday: ‘Call me cynical, but I wasn’t sure his views on marriage could get any gayer,’ ” BuzzFeed.com reports. Brown, editor in chief of Newsweek, dubbed Obama THE FIRST GAY PRESIDENT on the magazine’s cover, which featured a photo illustration–at least we assume it wasn’t a straight photo–of the president with a rainbow halo. The New Yorker’s cover is a tamer version of the same joke, showing the White House with its Ionic columns in gay-rainbow colors.

Paul’s joke was widely condemned, with the lefties at ThinkProgress.org crowing that “even Tony Perkins” of the conservative Family Research Foundation found it “unacceptable.” Of course although Paul and Brown made essentially the same joke, the tone was different. Paul’s joke was mocking, perhaps even mean-spirited, while Brown’s (promoting an exultant piece by Andrew Sullivan) was a sympathetic in-joke.

Yet if you think about the substance of the joke rather than the tone, Brown’s version was worse, or at least was representative of something worse. Paul, it seems safe to say, was expressing the views of the majority of his constituents, nearly 75% of whom voted in favor of a 2004 constitutional amendment affirming the traditional definition of marriage. Politicians are supposed to take sides on questions of public policy.

News reporters are not.

Well, that was once the case. Now they’re just unpaid Democratic Party opeatives for the most part. The idea of an independent media has been eclipsed by crony journalism to go with the crony capitalism. As a blog commenter said the other day, “We may not quite be living under communism, but we are certainly living under its media apparatus.”

THE BURDEN OF small-business licensing.

JUDGMENT: Obama: JPMorgan Is ‘One of the Best-Managed Banks.’

BE KIND: “The war messed up ol’ Charley’s mind.”