Nancy Pelosi's logic - William "Cold Cash" Jefferson: no good for Ways and Means but trustworthy enough for Homeland Security. Brilliant.

From pensions to 401(k)s - Here's Bull Dog Pundit on ABP "Goodyear phases out defined benefit plans": "Perhaps one day the politicians will realize that there’s a reason that private corporations are doing this, and take the same tack with public employee unions. But don’t hold your breath. Unlike Goodyear, which actually has shareholders to answer to, and would go out of business, the government can just look to that amorphous entity “the taxpayer” to shell out more an more for fiscally unsustainable programs."

Condi knows football (HT: New Editor)

Giuliani convicts, Clinton lacks conviction

From the Boston Globe: "Pardons re-emerge as issue in Clinton run"

President Clinton's pardons have been a political issue for Hillary Clinton because of her ties to a number of the cases. In addition to the people who paid her brothers, those receiving pardons included commodities trader Marc Rich, a fugitive who was prosecuted for tax evasion by then-US Attorney Rudolph Giuliani and fled to Switzerland. Rich was pardoned after his former wife, Denise Rich, contributed heavily to Hillary Clinton's Senate campaign.

Controversy over the pardons was reignited last week after Hollywood mogul and former Clinton supporter David Geffen criticized the Clintons for the Rich pardon.

"It is a legitimate campaign issue," said Stephen Gillers, professor of legal ethics at New York University School of Law. He said that Hillary Clinton should answer questions about her brothers' and her own involvement in the pardons because "the stench of the Marc Rich pardon still stinks and it has never been adequately explained."

Boy howdy, can you imagine this issue coming up during a Rudy-Hillary presidential debate? That's hot.

Extra - From RCP Blog: "Giuliani out front, Obama gaining on Hillary"

Stuck in line at Walmart

I stopped to get the following items: Hartz Joint Maintenance for my ancient dog, a box of Special K, and a can of WD-40. At the checkout, the cashier (ridiculously) asked if I was over 18 as the register display waited with a "Y/N". Huh? I had to ask and it turns out that you need to verify your age to purchase a can of WD-40 now.

I can only assume this is to keep kids from "huffing" the ubiquitous lubricant, but c'mon already. There must be a can of WD-40 available in every American home. Once again, the good intentions of the nanny state override the rough reality.

Frankly, I can't believe that anybody reads those guys - Patterico: "Glenn Greenwald, Thomas Ellers, and Rick Ellensburg: The Three Most Hypocritical Men on the Planet"

Move along, nothing to see here - From Pajamas Media: "Rewriting Herstory - Huffpo Expunges, Edits 100s of Comments at the Cheney Hate Festival"

It's bizarre to believe in this age of Google caches and screen shots that the Huffington Post thinks it can get away with mass censorship. What were they thinking? They'll probably claim they were trying to avoid a call from the Secret Service.

Extra - From Red State: "A parable for the Huffington Post"

Shanghai surprise

From Fox News: "Wall Street Slammed After China Stock Woes"

Stocks had their worst day since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks Tuesday, briefly hurtling the Dow Jones industrials down more than 500 points on a worldwide tide of concern that the U.S. and Chinese economies are stumbling and that share prices have become overinflated.

Every time the stock market drops, the anti-entitlement reform forces always point and cry: "See! You can't let people invest their own money!" Of course, the larger problem is that because of runaway entitlement obligations, the United States will be increasingly dependent on foreign lending from Asia to prop up our spiraling spending. So now when China gets a cold, America gets the sniffles. (Or is that vice versa?)

"All about the money"

That's how the New Republic's Marty Peretz describes Bill and Hillary Clinton in this acerbic attack:

But David [Geffen] is certainly correct to call our attention to the Clintons' last act of presidential hauteur, and that is the pardons Bill and Hillary gave in the 24 hours before leaving office. First of all, there was the case of Marc Rich, zillionaire oil trader and tax felon whose ex-wife was a huge contributor to Clinton causes and one of Hillary's best pals. Rich also was living in Zug, Switzerland because he couldn't come in to the US without fear of being arrested. Now he can. Then there were the cases related to Hillary's brothers as lawyers and advocates. And the pardoning of Bill's brother. And on and on. Go to Google again, and type in "presidential pardons," "bill clinton," and "hillary clinton." You will be basting yourself in hog water. These are tell-tale enormities, more than 140 of them. Yuk.

I believe that deep-down the country agrees with Geffen. It does not want to relive the Clinton years. It was a tacky presidency, and the president's tackiness kept us from facing many dangers--including the perils of Muslim terrorism.

Hillary is deluding herself if she believes she can escape the tawdriness of the Clinton years by cutting off questions on impeachment, or pardons, or suddenly discovered Rose Law firm files.

This one goes to eleven

At the Libby trial today, one juror was dismissed for improper outside contact:

Fitzgerald argued in favor of adding an alternate to the jury, so that 12 could deliberate. That would mean that deliberations would have to start anew. Wells had argued that that would mean that two and a half days of deliberations would be thrown away. Judge Walton just ruled that deliberations will go forward with 11 jurors. If something happens to another juror, then there are two alternates who can be added, although that will mean going back to square one in the deliberations.

This comment from Tom Maguire's blog suggests why the Libby defense didn't want to add the first alternate to the jury:

As [defense lawyer] Ted Wells delivered an emotional argument that Libby made "honest mistakes not deliberate lies" during the investigation, this juror sat with her arms crossed. She also clenched her jaw and rolled her eyes.

Unfortunately for Libby, the Intrade betting odds for "Libby guilty" still stand at 75%. (Check the left column here.)

A step forward - From Fox News "Iraqi Cabinet Approves Draft Law for Oil Distribution": "The Iraqi Cabinet approved a draft law Monday to manage the country's vast oil industry and distribute its wealth among the population — a major breakthrough in U.S. efforts to press the country's Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish groups to reach agreements to achieve stability."

Could it be that the surge is working? It's "fish or cut bait" time for the Democrats.

Oscar night - I'm predicting a "Little Miss Sunshine" sweep. The main page of the Internet Movie Database has a running list of the winners. (P.S. - Paul Dano should have been nominated, too. Just sayin')

Amazing Race update - A hot time in Chile

Teams started out from Ecuador and need to make their way to Santiago, Chile. Before the flight, we're shown Drew suffering from altitude sickness and taking on some oxygen. Rob & Amber are shown checking in for the first flight to Chile and then Rob asks the agent not to tell the other teams about the flight.

What is the purpose of this other than to display Rob's typical annoying impishness? Oh, he's such a competitor. However, in a perfect karmic moment, his connecting flight is delayed and Rob & Amber are stranded with Oswald & Danny.

Once in Chile, it's a Roadblock and teams needed to search a boardroom for letters which, unscrambled, lead to the next destination. One of the Blondies defies stereotype and figures out the clue which leads teams to the largest open pit copper mine in the world ("Chuquicatama"?) Joyce seems oblivious to the other players checking the pictures on the wall which identify the next stop, driving Uchenna crazy as teams come and go. Does it matter? No: everybody's on the same flight to Chile anyway. Rob gets upset because Eric gets into a new line and even Amber is sick of Rob's double-standard silliness.

Once at the copper pit, teams face the Detour: By Hand or By Machine. Teams may either put lugnuts on the tire of a massive dump truck or use a front loader to pile up gravel. Rob & Amber finish first and have to head to the Valley of the Moon and the Pit Stop. David & Mary are last to leave from the Detour but Charla & Mirna ask for directions from a taxi driver and everybody passes them. They freak out like you won't believe, handing over every cent they have to the cabbie. But there's plenty of confusion to go around: Kevin & Drew don’t follow the speed limit rules, the Blondies turn around again and Charla & Mirna try to follow a cabbie yet again but get cut off. In the end, the exhausted team of Kevin & Drew couldn't take the heat and got out of the kitchen.

Final standings:

#1 - Rob & Amber, dammit
Eight other teams
#10 - Kevin & Drew - PHILIMINATED

Next week: Danielle doesn't like fish.

Extra - Check out recaps from Pat and Kris, for sure.

Sunday morning lineup - What's worth watching? It's like the attack of the talking lumps today: Henry Kissinger, Maddy Albright, Carl Levin and Jimmah Carter.

Dagnabbit - This is all I need: "Deadly winter storm heads for East Coast"

Irony overload

If you liked the Big Dig, you'll love Boston's new $800 million convention center which is dripping water onto passersby. From the Boston Globe "Leaks splash visitors inside exhibit center - $800m convention facility has numerous design flaws":

Water seeping through the roof of the $800 million Boston Convention & Exhibition Center dripped on some visitors to the New England Boat Show this week, six months after state convention officials said that the public would never notice leaking and other structural problems in the massive building.

I suppose if you're going to be hit by water, the boat show is the place to be.

Boston is so L7 - First they get their knickers in a wad over the "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" viral campaign. Now those fuddy-duddies in Beantown are peeved over a little grave robbing. Lighten up, dudes.

Should it be considered a word? Meh.

Homer: (after watching Blockoland commercial) All right, kids ... who wants to go ... to ... Blockoland?
Bart and Lisa: Meh.
Homer: But the commercial gave me the impression that …
Bart: We said meh.
Lisa: M-E-H. Meh.

The Simpsons strike again. Heh.

Quote of the day - Publius Pundit on Zimbabwe president dictator Robert Mugabe's birthday party: "Mugabe turned 83 on Wednesday - one year closer to his sweet, sweet death."

Air America's value: $nothing