The Good News

… is she doesn't own a shotgun so I guess I got off cheap.

  • Many people noted President Obama's cluck-clucking about silly anti-science attitudes last month:
    "Part of the reason that our politics seems so tough right now and facts and science and argument does not seem to be winning the day all the time is because we're hardwired not to always think clearly when we're scared," Obama said Saturday evening in remarks at a small Democratic fundraiser Saturday evening. "And the country's scared."
    So yesterday's news was more than a little amusing:
    The White House rewrote crucial sections of an Interior Department report to suggest an independent group of scientists and engineers supported a six-month ban on offshore oil drilling, the Interior inspector general says in a new report.
    Obviously, the White House doesn't think clearly when it's scared.

  • Liz Mair will make you despair that the GOP is clueless about what to do with its week-old electoral gains: Senate Still-Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is defending earmarks, while Representative Jerry Lewis (who is no fiscal conservative) is making noises about reclaiming his previous chairmanship of the House Appropriations Committee. Because he did such a stellar job last time.

    (Via Shawn Macomber at AmSpecBlog.)

  • Here's another bad idea: Rep. Fred Upton for chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

  • So take your good news where you can find it: New Hampshire's Senator-elect Kelly Ayotte has called for eliminating earmarks, in opposition to Senator Mitch. Her co-conspirators read like a MSNBC anchor's nightmare: DeMint, Cornyn, Coburn, Rubio, Ensign, Enzi, Toomey, Mike Lee, Ron Johnson, and Rand Paul. So good for Senator-elect Ayotte.

  • I can't get too excited about Juan Williams or Keith Olbermann—two guys I don't pay attention to—getting in trouble at NPR or MSNBC—two media outlets I don't patronize. But when Iowahawk gets suspended from the Iowahawk website, then it's time to take action, preferably accompanied by hot-headed and incoherent rage. But who's the real bad guy here? Iowahawk, or the bigwig who suspended him (also Iowahawk)? Hm.