Scareplane: If you're wondering why we only fear terrorism at airports, it's because al-Qaeda is failing. David Brooks on The God That Fails: It would be nice if we reacted to the inevitable failures of centralized agencies with resiliency instead of rabid denunciation and cynicism. Steve Coll reads “U.S. Counter-Terrorism Strategy and al-Qaeda: Signaling and the Terrorist World-View”, by Joshua Alexander Geltzer. Will profiling make a difference? Here are 5 myths about keeping America safe from terrorism. The dual role of the U.S. as a liberal democracy and a legitimately aggrieved superpower at war creates a necessary anomaly in how justice is applied. The Carter Syndrome: Barack Obama might yet revolutionize America's foreign policy, but if he can't reconcile his inner Thomas Jefferson with his inner Woodrow Wilson, the 44th president could end up like No. 39 (and more). From Time, here's a report card on Obama's first year. Stress Reliever: How Obama's best economic policy of 2009 cost us exactly nothing. The Washington Post has run a "news" article about deficit reduction penned by The Fiscal Times, an outlet backed by Pete Peterson, the Wall Street millionaire who wants to loot Social Security. A year after the biggest bailout in US history, Wall Street lobbyists don't just have influence in Washington — they own it lock, stock, and barrel. E.J. Dionne Jr. on what Harry Reid's detractors get wrong. How — and when — can Democrats get even with Joe Lieberman? Um, pathetic: Hendrik Hertzberg on Obama and the Left. What liberal revolt? Claims that Obama's base have turned on him are based on scant evidence.
