GINGRICH ON JUDICIAL REVIEW. On the one hand, everybody’s dumping on Gingrich, for mostly good reason. On the other hand, who can seriously argue that the constitutional law that comes from the Supreme Court is in fact very closely related to the text of the Constitution itself? I mean, if the Court were doing such a great job, would we see strange bedfellows arguing for a constitutional reset? Indeed, I was talking to a fellow lawprof the other day, and one who’s certainly no right-winger, who said he’d hate to have to teach Constitutional Law because of the hash the Supreme Court has made of things over the past 50 years or so. I was surprised to hear that, but it suggests a certain shakiness to current foundations.

Gingrich is very good at tossing a stinkbomb over the transom, and letting the ensuing reaction demonstrate that there’s something rotten about the status quo. It’s not so clear that this talent is desirable in a President, however. And, even if it is, it’s even less clear that it’s conducive to being elected President. What’s more, I’d say that Gingrich, if elected President, will share one of Barack Obama’s flaws: The tendency to say things that might be interesting if said by a professor, but that have a lot more impact than is desirable when said by a President.

TEN YEARS AGO ON INSTAPUNDIT: Toy guns suddenly popular again.

HERE’S A CHEERY TAKE: “While certainly humorous, entertaining and very, very childish, the recent war of words between France and Britain has the potential to become the worst thing to ever happen to Europe. Actually, make that the world and modern civilization.”

J. CHRISTIAN ADAMS IS NOT HAPPY: How the New York Times and Charlie Savage Lie.

UPDATE: Conor Friedersdorf argues with the context but not with the premise.

CENK UYGUR: Obama Worse Than Bush.

As I’ve said before, if you’re a civil libertarian you should always want a Republican in the White House because they face so much more press scrutiny.

Related: Bachmann: Obama Acting Like U.S. Is A “Banana Republic.”

Well, Obama’s in bed with Chiquita.

DON SURBER: Top 10 Things Obama Got Wrong.

WELL, I CERTAINLY WON’T MISS HIM: Report: Kim Jong-Il is dead.

UPDATE: “The death triad of Christopher Hitchens and Vaclav Havel deserved a better third, but… good riddance.”

STATE VS. SOCIETY: Why The Chinese Are Rebelling In Wukan.

GREAT STOCKING STUFFERS: Holsters For Concealed Carry.

Also, laser sights. As I’ve noted before, I’ve installed several of these myself and it’s quite easy.

WAR ON SCIENCE: U.S. Will Not Finance New Research on Chimps.

TERRORISM BY THE NUMBERS in Spain. “The only agreement about the ETA body count in Spain is that it is long and grim.”

AT AMAZON, top holiday deals on all kinds of things.

Plus, big markdowns on Samsung LED HDTVs.

A. BARTON HINKLE: Democratic Fairfax Embraces Its Inner Tea Party: Even people who benefit from big government love it less when they have to live under it.

That’s not the only way in which heavily Democratic Fairfax sounds sympathetic to the Tea Party rabble. Like those grassroots conservatives in tricorner hats, the county also thinks it is Taxed Enough Already.

Fairfax is one of the richest counties in America. With a median household income in six figures, it comes in second only to the nation’s richest county, next-door Loudoun. And yet, as reported recently in The Washington Post, the county’s wish list “includes other perennial desires: that Northern Virginia taxpayers see more of the money they send to Richmond, for example.”

“Overall, the county would be pleased if the Virginia General Assembly would stop using Northern Virginia as its piggybank,” continues The Post. Translation: Fairfax does not want to “spread the wealth around,” as Barack Obama put it to Joe the Plumber. But wait – Obama says spreading the wealth around is “good for everybody.” Does the county disagree?

When asked why he robbed banks, Willie Sutton famously replied that that’s where the money is. Same goes for Northern Virginia: The heavily populated, high-income region generates a big chunk of the state’s wealth. Where else should legislators look for revenue – Pearisburg (population 2,700, median household income $40,000)?

What happened to making the rich pay their fair share?

They mean those other rich people.

HARBINGER OF DOOM: Back in 2002, the Eurotrash blog tracked the introduction of the Euro.

AT AMAZON, TOMORROW IS THE LAST DAY FOR free Super Saver shipping in time for Christmas.

Also, they’re offering free one-day shipping on select products through Wednesday.

FROM A YALE LIBRARIAN, a true shocker. Who could have seen this coming?

MORE CRITICISM: National Transportation Safety Board, home of the road nannies. “Is there an epidemic of fatal crashes caused by texting and talking on cell phones? NTSB Chairman Deborah A.P. Hersman implied as much. She noted that cell phones and Personal Digital Assistants are ubiquitous. She cited a study suggesting that 21 percent of drivers in the Washington, D.C. area admit to texting while driving, and she stated flatly that 3,000 people lost their lives last year due to texting in the driver’s seat. Is that true? No. In a detailed report on distracted driving issued earlier this year, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that only 995 deaths resulted from distraction by cell phones in 2010. The 3,000-person figure refers to all distracted driving. The Chicken Littles in D.C. notwithstanding, the roads are getting safer, not more dangerous.”

JEFF WISE: What Really Happened Aboard Air France 447.

AT AMAZON, markdowns in the Camera, Photo & Video outlet.

Plus, they’re still offering $100 off on Canon PowerShots.

Also, a special markdown on the Noco Genius battery charger and maintainer.

UPDATE: Wow, when I posted this the Noco was $50.95. When I went back to buy one it was up to $60.95. I guess that’s more of the dynamic-pricing thing. . . . Next time I’ll order before I post. Or at least shortly thereafter.

COMPROMISE AND BIPARTISANSHIP: A Democrat Reaches Across The Aisle On Medicare.

BRITAIN: Out of Europe and Back to the Anglosphere?

MARRIAGE EQUALITY: Why Not A Marriage Tax? “The educated and rich are marrying more and getting richer; the uneducated and poor are marrying less and falling further behind. ‘Family structure,’ Isabel Sawhill of the Brookings Institution told Marcus, ‘is a new dividing line in American society.’ . . . This new marriage gap seems tailor-made for the Democrats’ tax-and-share approach to all social problems. If about half the adults are married, and are getting richer as a result, and half are not and are thus falling further behind, how long can it be before Obama calls for a marriage tax in the name of “fairness”? In fact, he could make it a progressive, graduated tax by including a Graduate Tax: couples where both spouses have college degrees pay more, those who both have graduate degrees pay even more, etc. Why should some be allowed to make out like bandits while others are condemned to leading miserable lives when their conditions could be equalized, in the name of fairness, by some simple tweaks to the tax code?”

Don’t give ’em any ideas. Irony is lost on this crowd.

ROGER KIMBALL ON the unexpected courage of David Cameron, and the entirely expected risibility of Rowan Williams. The Church of England seems to be doing its best to undermine both churches, and England . . . .

RONNIE SCHREIBER: NTSB Chair Supports Cell Phone Ban With Lies & Obfuscation.

TEN PIECES OF NASTY ANCIENT GRAFFITI, NOW TRANSLATED. “Sydromachos has an ass as big as a cistern.”