Hip Shake

No Man-up for Manning
A mental health specialist recommended that Bradley E. Manning, the Army private accused of leaking classified material to the anti-secrecy Web site WikiLeaks, not be deployed to Iraq, but his immediate commanders sent him anyway, according to a military official familiar with a new Army investigation. That decision, and commanders' failure to properly discipline Manning, may have contributed to one of the most high-profile classified military network breaches in decades, an Army investigation has concluded, according to the official. (Washington Post, 2/2/11)

The evolution of the defense for suspected U.S. traitor Manning. First, we had the “he’s being tortured in prison” canard. Now his lawyers will seize upon this report and employ the “it’s all his commanding officer’s fault” excuse. Last we checked, you serve in the armed forces on a voluntary basis. A reasonable person who enlists might assume that he will be sent to Iraq.

Four Strikes
Obama's economic program is in ruins. His healthcare bill is unconstitutional. His financial regulation bill (Dodd-Frank) has so harassed small and community banks that they have stopped lending to small businesses. And, on top of all that, he is losing Egypt to radical Muslim fundamentalists. What a presidency! (Dick Morris, 2/2/11)

Succinct summary from RedStateVT’s 2010 Cheney Award winner.

Alchemy
Cars that can run on sunlight and water. A million electric cars on the road by 2015. High-speed rail. A faster, more accessible Internet. Renewable technologies paid for by eliminating subsidies to oil and gas companies. These, all mentioned by the president in his address, are just a small sampling of what awaits an America that rededicates itself to scientific pursuit over the next decade. (Katrina vanden Heuvel, Washington Post, 2/1/11)

Heck, if America rededicates itself to scientific pursuit as vanden Heuvel urges, perhaps we can change lead into gold!