Grassley: Murkowski measure to block EPA rules unlikely to pass

The Hill "Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) said that not even all 40 Republicans may be on board with a proposed measure from Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) to forestall the EPA from regulating emissions."

EARTHQUAKE IN MASSACHUSETTS

Neal Boortz "How will Republicans react to this? Will they get cocky? Look .. this election didn't go this way because Scott Brown was a particularly brilliant campaigner, or because Martha Coakley was a complete dud. Sure, those were factors --- but the driving influence was this horrendous health care bill and the special deals Obama and the Democrats were willing to make to get it passed. This sense of desperation on the part of Democrats sounded an alarm in the voters of Massachusetts. Add to this the tripling of the deficit, massive debt that our children won't be able to pay off .. and this is the cake you bake."

Obama’s Blessing in Disguise

Stephen Spruiell, NRO "President Obama doesn’t know it yet, but Scott Brown did him a huge favor. If, as expected, he becomes the next senator from Massachusetts; and if, as expected, his election dooms the Pelosi-Reid health-care-reform bill, Obama will have an opportunity to lay the entire fiasco at the feet of that troublesome Democratic duo. If he’s smart, he’ll take it. "

It’s the Enemy, Stupid / National-security strength lifts Scott Brown.

Andrew C. McCarthy "The laws of war are the rule of law. They are not a suspension of the Constitution. They are the Constitution operating in wartime. The Framers understood that there would be wars against enemies of the United States — it is stated explicitly in the Constitution’s treason clause ...The American people understand that we have enemies, even if Washington sees them as political “engagement” partners waiting to happen. Americans also grasp that war is a political and military challenge that the nation has to win, not a judicial proceeding in which your enemies are presumed innocent. The rule of law is not and has never been the rule of lawyers — especially lawyers we can’t vote out of office when they say we must let trained terrorists move in next door." h/t to NRO

Why the Great and Growing Backlash?

Victor Davis Hanson "Dream up a gargantuan backlash against Barack Obama’s left-wing gospel, and you still could not invent the notion of a relatively unknown, conservative Scott Brown knocking off an Obama-endorsed, liberal, female attorney in liberal Massachusetts — in a race to fill the seat once held by Ted Kennedy. If a liberal senatorial candidate can be defeated in Massachusetts, eleven months after the Obama hope-and-change blitzkrieg, it is hard to believe that any liberal seat is necessarily safe anywhere."

Accused Al Qaeda Terrorist Hauled Out of Courtroom in N.Y. Over Outbursts

CNS News "Aafia Siddiqui, a reputed al-Qaeda supporter, is charged with trying to kill U.S. military officers and federal agents in Afghanistan in July 2008. Her outburst came less than two hours after her trial began in federal court in Manhattan. U.S. Army Capt. Robert Snyder testified that documents found in Siddiqui's purse included targets for a mass casualty attack, including the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, Wall Street and the Brooklyn Bridge." What does this tell you?

White House Looks Again to Senator Snowe

NY Times "The White House says it hasn’t given up on getting Senator Olympia Snowe, Republican of Maine, to vote in favor of a health care overhaul. “We’re still working hard on that,’’ Robert Gibbs, President Obama’s press secretary, told reporters Tuesday at his regular daily briefing, when asked why the White House hadn’t worked harder to secure Ms. Snowe’s vote. Mr. Obama had a lengthy telephone conversation with Ms. Snowe on Friday, but Mr. Gibbs did not provide details. "

Massachusetts: Olbermann Cries Racism

Newsbusters "Amidst the innumerable excuses we're bound to hear for Martha Coakley's defeat, credit Keith Olbermann with likely the most loathsome. The Countdown host would explain away Scott Brown's victory by accusing his supporters of . . . racism." And "Law & Order" promotes this stuff? Then this: Sad Sacks at MSNBC by Jennifer Rubin .

Martin Luther King and Today

George Joyce, AT "How does one determine when a law is just or unjust? A just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law. To put it in the terms of St. Thomas Aquinas, an unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal and natural law. Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust."

What to watch for in the Massachusetts special election

Washington Post "To make that process slightly more palatable, we talked to a number of senior strategists in both parties in search of the key geographic areas and demographic groups to keep an eye on as results roll in tonight in order to best understand what's happening and why. A sampling of their thoughts is [enclosed].

Black Conservatives Take Lead Role in Tea Party Movement

FoxNews h/t to Lucianne

"Lloyd Marcus' conservatism started when he was 9. His family had just moved out of the "ghetto" to a brand-new high rise in Baltimore -- within months, he said, the "dream come true" turned into a nightmare, as the building of welfare-collecting black residents became a den of crime. His father moved the family out as soon as he got a job with the city fire department, but "my cousins never escaped," Marcus said. He cried as he told the story."

White House Keeps Up War on Fox News

Newsmax "He added that the Obama administration has no intention of treating Fox News equally. "We don't feel the obligation to treat them like we would treat a CNN, or an ABC, or an NBC, or a traditional news organization, but there are times when we believe it makes sense to communicate with them," [White House communications director] Pfeiffer told the Times. Pfeiffer confirmed that the confrontational approach favored by Dunn, who labeled Fox News a "wing of the Republican Party," will continue." If only Fox had the fairness of MSNBC. Speaking of: Olbermann's rant against Brown.