No flights in tomorrow — have to fly in to D.C. and make our way up to Baltimore; and no flights back out for a while — 4th of July weekend, it turns out, is very busy, travel-wise, so we’ll have to stay in Baltimore until the 4th, and fly out then when everyone else is sitting on beach towels watching fire works and sucking down overpriced microbrews. As you

My father has passed away. Will be gone for a bit. Hold the fort, “purists”. OUTLAW!

Sure, you only live once. But if you don’t do your part for the planet, it may only live another couple of billion years. So, you know. Sacrifice. For the greater good and all. **** update: Just so you know, not everyone who goes to bed early is cutting carbon emissions — even if he wants you to think otherwise. God. The smell. (thanks to JHo)

TSI sent me this link a week or two back, and I meant to post it then. Consider this a rectification of that oversight. It’s a letter from JD Salinger to a producer, explaining to him why he wouldn’t sell movie rights to Catcher in the Rye. The letter is especially interesting when one recalls that early versions of Catcher, appearing as chaptered short stories in the New Yorker, used

Well, I’m guessing the upspoken caveat here is, “provided these small-government insurgents don’t say anything, you know, unhelpful.” But be that as it may. Chris Stirewalt, Washington Examiner: Republicans may manage to find a way to fail in the most favorable political climate for their party since the New Deal Democratic majority got bounced out on its ration book in 1946. But the signs for November continue to point to

So. Turns out maybe “hope and change” isn’t all it’s cracked up to be: Americans are more pessimistic about the state of the country and less confident in President Barack Obama’s leadership than at any point since Mr. Obama entered the White House, according to a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll. The survey also shows grave and growing concerns about the Gulf oil spill, with overwhelming majorities of adults

The Hill: Democrats are looking at the possibility of raising taxes on families below the $250,000-a-year threshold promised by President Barack Obama during the election. The majority party on Capitol Hill does not feel bound by that pledge, saying the threshold for tax hikes will depend on several factors, such as the revenue differences between setting the threshold at $200,000 and setting it at $250,000. “You could go lower, too

Patterns emerge: Last night’s primaries had a theme, it was a theme of victory for conservative candidates. It was also a night in which establishment endorsements and old party names were no help. More’s the pity. The same old-same old is just so comfy, you know?

Hope and change? (h/t Darleen)

Color me shocked. There are those who act as though Barton’s choices were to remain mute or say it the way he did. Not so. There was a third way: make the point . . . just don’t make the point stupidly. Emanuel was right about one thing: Barton’s remarks were prepared. He knew full well that they were going to be controversial because he specifically took care to state