Jack Klugman, Dead at 90

Jack Klugman, dead at 90.

It Actually Matters

Two good pieces on what’s at stake in Chuck Hagel’s possible (non?) nomination to run the Pentagon. In short, Hagel would likely lean toward putting some pressure on Israel on the peace-making front (a good thing) and would likely resist a move to war with Iran (also a good thing). Washington neoconservatives don’t want either; ditto for AIPAC and the Israel lobby. And now it seems they’re going to win this one. Which is really unfortunate.

A couple pieces to read on this. One by Peter Beinart, another by Andrew Sullivan. I’ll be posting others.

Reason to Believe

Karl Rove’s election night freak out on Fox gave Romney enough hope to delay his presidential concession for another hour on election night.

Teddy Jr Opts Out

Ted Kennedy, Jr., son of the late senator, says he will not run for John Kerry’s seat in the Senate.

I must say that I still have a bad feeling about how this is going to work out.

Man with a Mission

Meet the man leading the NRA’s push for guns in schools.

Sen. Crapo Arrested for DUI

Sen. Michael Crapo (R-ID) was arrested last night just after midnight in Alexandria, Virginia for driving under the influence. According to police statements to CBS news, Patch and WTOP, Crapo failed multiple field sobriety tests and was arrested without incident.

Alexandria police stopped Crapo after he ran a red light.

Apology statement after the jump.

A Spectacle Not Good for Anyone

Michael Hirsh says President Obama is now “considering candidates other than [Chuck] Hagel for Defense secretary.”

The Ban on Studying Gun Violence

You’ve probably noticed this. But a big part of the gun violence/regulation debate is the lack of good scientific studies on the subject. And a big reason for that the CDC and NIH have been banned from funding any such studies. Here’s a good run-down on the topic.

Holy Crap

Looks like the NRA has lost the New York Post.

“My final offer is this: nothing”

I don’t know whether this is accurate. If anything it doesn’t square with my read on what happened or President Obama’s negotiating style. But it makes for entertaining reading.

From the Journal …

Wow

I’m still amazed, angry, shocked that Wayne LaPierre actually tossed a ‘have you no decency’ at like 80% of the country today.

Onion Invading Real Life

The Iowa Supreme Court has ruled that a dentist was within his rights firing an assistant who he found attractive simply because he and his wife thought she was a threat to their marriage. That seems a bit iffy to me. But perhaps he could be held culpable simply for saying the following. And I don’t just mean for harassment – that seems kind of like a given in this case, just for being maybe the weirdest dentist ever, in addition to being a harasser.