The U.S. Supreme Court rules that greenhouse gas emissions can be regulated by the EPA. While this is a victory for the states that filed the lawsuit, along with environmental groups, it does not order the EPA to impose any regulations. I expect that the EPA will not issue any new regulations, reflecting the policy of the current administration to rely on voluntary controls. I also expect this to be an issue used by the Democrats to their advantage in the next election.

Heather MacDonald says the recent controversial police shooting in NYC should be the catalyst for an honest discussion about Black crime. I won't hold my breath waiting for such a discussion.

Even though he sees encouraging signs of progress (as does Bill Roggio in this report), and is heartened by the level of competence of the people now running the show, Max Hastings still cannot shake his feeling of doom about the Iraq War. His instincts are true, as the salient fact is not about the tactical situation in Iraq but, rather, the political situation here in the United States. The American people have already decided that we should abandon Iraq. This will, inevitably, lead to our retreat from that country by mid-2009 at the latest. Retired General Barry McCaffrey, who has been one of the most strident critics of the conduct of the war, says we have no choice but to stay the course in Iraq. He is correct, looking at the situation from a military and geopolitical standpoint. But, as I said, the domestic political component has already been decided. In the future, U.S. policymakers need to take into account the fact that America cannot win a long war without maintaining morale and resolve at home. We failed to do so in Vietnam, and we have failed again in Iraq.

Here is an article, written by a former Islamist terrorist, that explains why the radical, Salafi vision of Islam has such power within the Muslim community, and also why it is able to avoid condemnation from liberal, secular Western intellectuals.

Michael Ware says Matt Drudge got it wrong. He says, on the Raw Story website, that he has video to show he did not heckle John McCain in Baghdad. It sounds as if an official who has it in for Ware decided to take a whack at Ware by dropping that story into Drudge's lap. The video seems to confirm that there was no heckling or laughing. Whether or not Ware was visibly making faces, or smirking, one cannot tell from the video. If he was, that would not rise, in my opinion, to the level of unprofessional conduct at a press conference (and I have attended many over the years as a reporter). In any case, it cannot be shown by the video. Score one for Ware.