FLYPAPER, VORTEX, whatever. Just think of all the energy that’s being absorbed and dissipated. . . .

UPDATE: Yes, the Duncan Black fact-checking is hilarious. There’s fact-checking someone’s ass, and there’s just plain being one. The lefty bloggers seem especially anxious to go after righty bloggers these days. Maybe it’s “battlespace preparation” for the 2008 elections. Or maybe they’re just being jerks. Your call.

A.C. KLEINHEIDER DEFENDS AL GORE against charges of greenhouse hypocrisy:

Al Gore is not the average American. He comes from power and money and he has achieved power and money in his own right.

Al Gore lives a life different from most folks. I’m not one to defend elitism, not as a matter of practice, but some elitism is inevitable. There must be a leadership class. There always has been and there always will be. Even societies organized around the principle of the equality and preeminence of the proletariat have had an elite class. It is the natural order of things. The key for a society is to create a responsible, responsive and fluid elite.

Could Al Gore do more to be “Green” in his personal life? No doubt. I’m sure we all could. Regardless of your position on global warming, none of the steps greens suggest you take in your personal life are gonna hurt anything. It may be unnecessary but not detrimental.

However, his life and most of ours are not coordinate — nor need they be.

Moralists are especially vulnerable to charges of hypocrisy — ask any backsliding fundamentalist preacher. If Gore were less moralistic in his approach — as he gains weight, he’s even starting to look a bit like a younger Jerry Falwell — the charges of hypocrisy would have less bite. But is this the kind of defense he wants?

UPDATE: More on this story from ABC News. And some related thoughts from Gerard van der Leun.

GIVE US MONEY OR WE’LL HATE YOU: Well, it works for teenagers, sometimes.

THOUGHTS ON “SCALPING,” from Ann Althouse.

IN THE MAIL: Eric Flint’s latest Grantville Gazette, an anthology of stories — mostly by other people — set in the universe he created for his novel 1632.

THE LONELINESS OF JOE LIEBERMAN. But at least he’s not struggling to come up with a position. I guess that’s the difference between knowing what you believe, and trying to figure out what will sell.

UPDATE: Ouch.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Further thoughts on messages and principles, here.

THE CARNIVAL OF THE RECIPES IS UP: It’s a slow-cooker edition. I don’t have a contribution, but there’s always this.

PORKBUSTERS UPDATE: This is a pretty substantial victory:

The Federal Railroad Administration is denying a $2.3 billion loan to the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad, Rep. Tim Walz announced Monday in Rochester.

The denial, by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Credit Council, was on grounds of creditworthiness. Walz learned of the denial Monday afternoon in a telephone conversation with DOT Secretary Mary Peters.

“This is a victory for good government and accountability,” Walz said. “The citizens of this district demanded close scrutiny of this loan, and they got it.”

The decision outright ends the DM&E’s loan request. There is no appeal process, Walz said.

The railroad sought the loan to finance a $6 billion construction project. DM&E wants to upgrade its entire, 600-mile line through Minnesota and South Dakota, and extend it west to coal fields in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming. DM&E would haul coal from there to eastern markets.

More like this, please.

UPDATE: Here’s some background on the deal — and John Thune’s championing there of — for those who haven’t been following it.

ENVIRONMENTALISM EVOLVES:

Stewart Brand has become a heretic to environmentalism, a movement he helped found, but he doesn’t plan to be isolated for long. He expects that environmentalists will soon share his affection for nuclear power. They’ll lose their fear of population growth and start appreciating sprawling megacities. They’ll stop worrying about “frankenfoods” and embrace genetic engineering.

He predicts that all this will happen in the next decade, which sounds rather improbable — or at least it would if anyone else had made the prediction. But when it comes to anticipating the zeitgeist, never underestimate Stewart Brand.

I hope this is right. Environmentalism should be about good planetary hygiene and honest science, not romantic Luddism. And this seems right:

“There were legitimate reasons to worry about nuclear power, but now that we know about the threat of climate change, we have to put the risks in perspective,” he says. “Sure, nuclear waste is a problem, but the great thing about it is you know where it is and you can guard it. The bad thing about coal waste is that you don’t know where it is and you don’t know what it’s doing. The carbon dioxide is in everybody’s atmosphere.”

Burning coal is nasty. As I’ve said before, you don’t even have to care about global warming to be against burning fossil fuels.

THE SEA LAUNCH DISASTER: Not so disastrous after all, it appears.

GORE’S ENERGY USAGE: Al Gore responds to the item on his utility bill, by stressing his carbon-neutral approach.

But if things are as bad as he says, is carbon-neutrality enough? Shouldn’t he be paying for all that tree-planting and cutting back on his energy usage? Why be carbon-neutral, if you can be carbon-negative? (And the whole carbon-offset business is kind of iffy anyway).

Capt. Ed is unimpressed with Gore’s response: “Purchasing offsets only means that Gore doesn’t want to make the same kind of sacrifices that he’s asking other families to make. He’s using a modern form of indulgences in order to avoid doing the penance that global-warming activism demands of others. It means that the very rich can continue to suck up energy and raise the price and the demand for electricity and natural gas, while families struggle with their energy costs and face increasing government regulation and taxation. It’s a regressive plan that Gore’s supporters would decry if the same kind of scheme were applied to a national sales tax, for instance.”

But look what’s been overlooked in all the coverage. I blame the White House spin machine!

THREE BIG QUESTIONS for the electric car’s future. As you might guess, it’s mostly about us needing better batteries. Or better ultracapacitors — which some people are claiming, but the jury’s still out on whether this will work on a large scale.

FIGHTING BUCKLEY’S BATTLES in the 21st Century — Ron Coleman looks at Scott Johnson and Dinesh D’Souza.

MORE ON BLOGGER IMMUNITY FOR LIBEL in posts by blog-commenters, from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. This isn’t earthshaking — I discussed the issue in this article — but it’s certainly more support for the position. Full opinion here.

HERE’S MORE ON THAT NASHVILLE CABBIE STORY:

A Nashville cabbie made anti-Semitic statements and praised Adolph Hitler’s campaign against Jews during a religious argument that culminated when he ran over one of the passengers as he left the taxi, witnesses said during a hearing today.

The cab driver, Ibrahim Ahmed, said Hitler was “trying to rid the world of Jews,” the alleged victim, Jeremie Imbus, told the court.

“I just remember …(being)… I guess the word is ‘shocked,’” Imbus said of the Feb. 18 incident.

Well, that’s one word. And Tom Elia notes a surprising lacuna.

ALL SORTS OF INTERESTING THINGS seem to be turning up in Iraq.

THE CLINTON CAMPAIGN AND THE INTERNET: Rand Simberg has some thoughts in response to Mickey Kaus.

THIS SOUNDS POSITIVE:

The Iraqi cabinet approved a draft of a law today that would set guidelines for countrywide distribution of oil revenues and foreign investment in the immense oil industry. The endorsement marked a major agreement among the country’s ethnic and sectarian political blocs on one of Iraq’s most divisive issues.

The draft law approved by the cabinet allows the central government to distribute oil revenues to the provinces or regions by population, which could lessen the economic concerns of the rebellious Sunni Arabs, who fear being cut out of Iraq’s vast potential oil wealth by the dominant Shiites and Kurds.

The law also grants regional oil companies the power to sign contracts with foreign companies for exploration and development of fields, opening the door for investment by foreign oil companies in a country whose oil reserves rank among the world’s top three in size.

It’s not the oil trust idea, but it will give a lot of people a stake in a more peaceful and prosperous Iraq.

AN INCONVENIENT UTILITY BILL: “Gore’s mansion, located in the posh Belle Meade area of Nashville, consumes more electricity every month than the average American household uses in an entire year, according to the Nashville Electric Service (NES). . . . The average household in America consumes 10,656 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year, according to the Department of Energy. In 2006, Gore devoured nearly 221,000 kWh—more than 20 times the national average. Last August alone, Gore burned through 22,619 kWh—guzzling more than twice the electricity in one month than an average American family uses in an entire year. As a result of his energy consumption, Gore’s average monthly electric bill topped $1,359.”

UPDATE: But look who’s green in Nashville.

A CHEAPER BLU-RAY PLAYER: Of course, dropping the price from $999 to $599 makes it cheaper, but not actually cheap.

JAMES PETHOKOUKIS: What’s worse — the alternative minimum tax, or a recession?

JULIAN KU looks at the ICJ on Bosnian genocide.

THIS WEEK’S BLAWG REVIEW is up!

TWO THINGS WORTH READING, at Power Line.

MICHAEL TOTTEN IS HEADING BACK TO IRAQ: He’s reader-supported, so if you want to support him, you know what to do.