NYTimes.com: The Post-Hispanic Hispanic Politician

Mark McKinnon is prepared to be more explicit about the long-term stakes. An early member of George W. Bush's inner circle in Austin, he knows Texas political talent when he sees it. "Julián Castro has a very good chance of becoming the first Hispanic president of the United States," he says flatly.

From WSJ.com: How to Boost Book Sales? For "Get a Grip on Physics," Tiger Woods' Crash Helped

The book, a layman's guide to physics by British science writer John Gribbin, appeared in a photo of Woods' crashed SUV, lying on the vehicle's floor. Since yesterday, the book's Amazon sales rank has jumped from 396,224 to 2,268 -- a fortuitous turn for the author. "Anytime a book gets highlighted, you get a spike of a day or two," Jim Milliot, a senior editor at Publishers Weekly, said. "It happened when President Bush was carrying some books on vacation. It happened with Obama." Asked if there was an industry term for such a notoriety-induced sales boost, Milliot replied, "dumb luck."

From NYTimes.com: Petulance and the Prize

The wailing and gnashing of teeth that you hear among Republicans is 68 percent envy and 32 percent sour grapes. Here is an idealistic, articulate young president who is enormously popular everywhere in the world except in the states of the Confederacy, and here sit the 28 percent of the American people who still thought Mr. Bush was doing a heckuva job at the end, gnashing their teeth, hoping and praying for something horrible to happen such as an infestation of locusts or the disappearance of the sun, something to make the president look bad, which is not a good place for a political party to be, hoping for the country to slide into chaos. When you bet against America, you are choosing long odds.

I couldn't agree more with Garrison Keillor's editorial.

Ok, I had to do this.  It's the Obama Vulcan!  It's made from the official Obama portrait.  This autoplays with sound, so I'm putting it in the next section.

Genius!

HuffingtonPost.com: What Not To Wear To The Inauguration

Nice, classy, and tasteful. 

From NYTimes.com: Bush v. Gore Set to Outlast Its Beneficiary

The Supreme Court's decision in Bush v. Gore, issued eight years ago this month, was widely understood to work like that tape recorder in "Mission: Impossible." It was meant to produce a president and then self-destruct.

"Our consideration is limited to the present circumstances," the majority famously said, "for the problem of equal protection in election processes generally presents many complexities."

This is an interesting article regarding the legacy of the Supreme Court decision of Bush v. Gore that helped decide the election in 2000.  While the decision was only meant for the specific case, it is currently being invoked in many other election cases.  Whenever the Supreme Court gets involved their words and decisions carry a great deal of weight.

"Whatever else Bush v. Gore may be," Judge Boyce F. Martin Jr. wrote for the majority, "it is first and foremost a decision of the Supreme Court of the United States and we are bound to adhere to it."

From Huffingtonpost.com: Yankees Sign Iraqi Hurler

In their latest bid to beef up their pitching rotation for the 2009 season, the New York Yankees today signed Iraqi journalist Muntadar al-Zeidi to a three-year deal worth $32 million.

The right-handed al-Zeidi, 28, impressed the Yankee scouts with his performance in Baghdad yesterday when he threw both of his shoes at President George W. Bush.

While neither of the shoes hit their target, both throws "had great velocity and good movement," said Yankee owner Hank Steinbrenner.

I'm seriously impressed with President Bush's reflexes.  But where is the Secret Service?  You'd think that after the first throw, the Iraqi would be on the ground tied up in a pretzel, but no, he manages to get off a second pretty good throw.  And where's the agent that's supposed to jump in front of the President?  Does that only happen in the movies?

From WSJ/NBC Poll (PDF)

How can 2% think that George W. Bush is one of the very best Presidents?  I don't think Bush himself even thinks that.