As the youth of America get fatter and fatter, the U.S. Army changes the way it does physical training to deal with the problem.

Meanwhile, the British are looking to share an aircraft carrier with the French to save money. Lord Nelson is spinning in his grave.

The Left is trying to figure out Glenn Beck now that he has shown he is not losing any popularity after drawing over 100,000 people to a rally on the Mall in Washington. Perhaps he is just in it for the publicity, which drives ratings and revenues, as this article asserts. As a former radio talk show host myself, I am inclined to believe that he is doing it to raise his profile, ratings, and revenue. But I am also willing to believe that, while he may have started the process looking simply to build the biggest audience possible for his radio and TV shows, he is now caught up in the belief that he is becoming a historical figure, on a mission from God to help restore America's greatness. So long as he does not jeopardize their broadcast licenses or reputations, his employers will care little about Beck's personal motivations that allow him to put on a good show. Just keep building the audience Glenn, and we will keep counting the money, is almost certainly their conclusion.

Even though some of the wealthy owners of mainstream media outlets are Conservative Republicans, as in Rupert Murdoch of Fox News Corporation, the vast majority of the people who actually create the news product on ABC, NBC and CBS are Democrats, as witnessed by this story concerning the political contributions made by network employees.

Ross Douthat has some thoughts on Glenn Beck's rally in Washington.

Rejecting Obamaism.

Why are the polls sometimes wrong? In the case of primary elections, it is all about who turns out.

Rich Lowry explains why the Democrats have lost the center, and are losing their minds in the process.

Ralph Peters explains why our laws are not sufficient to deal with the threats we face as a nation.

John Podhoretz explains why Liberals love the Imam who wants to build that mosque near Ground Zero.

David Brooks examines the differences between the German approach to the financial crisis and the American approach, and finds that the Germans have the advantage, so far.

Paul Krugman continues to bang the drum for a bigger stimulus package to combat unemployment.

The New York Times takes a look at FreedomWorks, formerly known as Citizens for a Sound Economy. They are attempting to channel the energy of Tea Party folks into campaign clout. I expected a hit piece when I started reading, but it turns out to be a fairly good article.

Some Democrats are now saying privately that they think they will lose the House in November. All the signs are pointing in that direction, but we won't know for sure until we get within a week of the election, and maybe not even then.

John Stossel writes about why businesses are not hiring.

E.J. Dionne believes recent primary election results indicate that the Republican Party is moving too far right.

George Will thinks the Mideast peace process is a mirage, and a dangerous one at that.

Amity Shlaes writes about a study that compared New Hampshire and Maine, and describes why New Hampshire's economy has performed better than Maine's. I live in New Hampshire, and I went to school in Maine. I love both states. All other things being equal, New Hampshire's tax environment is simply far superior to Maine's. End of story. Read the article anyway, even if you (like me) knew the answer before reading it.

Sean Trende analyzes the voting electorate that helped Republicans win in Virginia, New Jersey and Massachusetts. If the trends continue, Republicans could take over the Senate, as well as the House.

Another newspaper reporter tries to understand the Tea Party movement.

Dan Quayle's son wins a Republican congressional primary in Arizona.

Meanwhile, also in Arizona, John McCain buries J.D. Hayworth in the Senate GOP primary. I have met McCain, interviewing him several times when he ran for President the first time. He is smart, funny, personable, and one of the most focused and determined men you'll ever meet. What gets me is why so many people thought Hayworth, a talk show blowhard, had a chance against a guy who used to spit in the eyes of his Vietnamese captors (getting a merciless beating in the process). In politics, it is not just about the issues, or the economic climate. It is also about the candidate, and how the public perceives that candidate.

In Alaska, a GOP incumbent is losing her primary, but votes are still to be counted.

In Florida, Kendrick Meek wins the Democratic primary, and will face Republican Marco Rubio and Independent (former Republican) Governor Charlie Crist.

Katrina vanden Heuvel writes about the efforts her fellow Progressives are undertaking to combat a recent Supreme Court decision that seemingly loosens the restrictions on corporate spending in political contests. Free speech can be an annoying thing, no?

Speaking of free speech, here is the latest in the never ending battle over political campaign signs along New Hampshire's roadways.

Fred Barnes writes about polling data which looks very similar to the data seen prior to the mid-term elections of 1982, 1994 and 2006. In each case, the party holding the White House suffered severe losses in the House (and significant Senate losses in 1994 and 2006).

One big reason why the Democrats are seeing poor numbers is their standing among self-identified 'independent' voters.

John Podhoretz says the whole mess surrounding Ground Zero in New York City, including the mosque fiasco, can be laid at the feet of George Pataki who, while Governor of New York, bungled the process which should have led to a swift rebuilding of the area.

Arthur Herman reminds us that the 'broken window' theory of community disorder can also be useful when looking at international relations. If the United States and the other powerful nations of the Earth look the other way while rogue nations build nuclear weapons, then we can expect more nations to go nuclear, just as the broken window not swiftly repaired leads inevitable to more broken windows.

George Will is tired of hearing Western politicians lecture the Israelis on the sacrifices required for peace. If the Israelis make an error in their dealings with their hostile neighbors, Western politicians attend another conference. Meanwhile, Jews die. The Israelis are quite well aware, in ways we cannot imagine, that there are plenty of people out there who wish to complete Adolph Hitler's dream of a Jew-free world.

Nile Gardiner gives ten reasons why Barack Obama's presidency is in decline. For me, the key is that Obama is politically tone deaf. He does not connect to the audience in the way that Clinton and Reagan did. Some of us understood this during the campaign. A friend of mine, an iconic American Liberal no less, described Obama as "an empty suit". Bingo. Barack Obama is the real-life version of the Robert Redford character in The Candidate.

Even The New York Times is beginning to understand that the old political rules may not apply in this election.

On the other hand, John Podhoretz points out a Times story that seems to indicate an inability to get beyond wishful thinking.

Karl Rove looks at polling data which indicates a 'blame Bush' strategy won't work.

More data shows an increasing volatility in the electorate in the years since the 9/11 attacks. This, of course, makes sense. 9/11 can be seen as the beginning of a period of instability. First was the fear of terror attacks, and the expansion of the national security state to meet those threats. Then the launch of two wars which seem to have no end. This was all happening while the economy was in a period of increasing volatility, leading up to the financial crisis of '08 and the Great Recession which followed. That led to the election of a 'hope and change' candidate, who turned out to be an empty suit, spewing leftist pablum and, more worrisome, weakening America's standing abroad and expanding the size and scope of government at home. Just more evidence that we will see a big wave in November. Of course, if things don't get any better, there is no predicting what might happen in 2012.

Michael Barone cites President Obama's arrogance (among other things) as his primary flaw when dealing with the electorate. I agree that his aloof, seemingly arrogant personality, once it emerged from behind the smokescreen he and his people, with much help from the media, created during the campaign, has been a factor in the decline in his job approval and popularity ratings. But most of it is being driven by the poor economy. If the economy had rebounded over the last few months in a significant and visible way, most importantly by creating jobs, then people would have given him some credit for it, and his approval ratings would be much better. But that has not happened. If anything, it seems the economy is getting worse. The most recent jobs report is grim. Some financial analysts say a new collapse is coming due to our growing debt to GDP ratio, or due to other factors. Megan McCardle believes we may have reached the end of the road for mass investment in the stock market (if she is right, as people come to believe their retirement is in jeopardy, expect even more explosive political reactions). As the most-read editorial in the history of The Washington Examiner website puts it, "Time to admit Obamanomics has failed".

The bottom line? Pay no attention to the day-to-day gyrations of political fortune in various races around the country. Stay fixed on the "feel' people have about the economy. If they are filled with pessimism, frustration and even anger in November, the Democrats will be swamped.

A columnist for the Las Vegas Sun thinks Harry Reid is in political danger not because his opponent is so skilled and popular, but because Reid is perhaps the most hated man in Nevada.

Everyone will be talking around the water cooler today about the flight attendant who snapped, cursed out the passengers, engaged the emergency slide, took a couple of beers and slid off the plane and walked away (only to be arrested later, allegedly while engaged in the act of love).

Michael Fumento says the 'Toyota defense' got a guilty man released from prison. He thinks that cares do not accelerate of their own accord, but are made to do so by the application of the accelerator (either mistakenly or deliberately) by a human being.

Benny Avni says Hezbollah is behind the murder of an Israeli army officer.

Susan Estrich says a one-term President is a failure, even if he is being true to his principles.

James Carroll says the fault lies not within Islam or Judaism, but within Christianity.

Rep. Paul Ryan fires back at New York Times columnist Paul Krugman after Krugman accused Ryan of being a 'flimflam man'.

Meanwhile, Krugman says the problem is we are not taxed enough.

Robert J. Samuelson says high taxes are the problem in that it discourages people from having more children.

Pat Tillman's mom says "I told you so" on the character of General Stanley McChrystal.

Could the little brown bat, so common in the night skies of New England, be on its way to extinction?

The trustees of Medicare and Social Security have issued their annual report, which shows Social Security in the red, but Medicare in a slightly improved financial position than last year. The main thing to note while reading the story about the report from The New York Times is the fact that liberal groups are mobilizing to defend these programs against any effort to reform them. Unless our economy begins to grow at a tremendous pace, these efforts, I believe, will be politically effective enough to prevent reform, which will mean massive tax increases or cuts in other programs (defense will take a big hit, I think), or both.

Paul Krugman believes GOP Congressman Paul Ryan is a flimflam man. I have been reading Krugman's columns for some time now (after avoiding them for years) and, after some reflection, I can only conclude that he is a close-minded man.

The recent vote in Missouri which, among other things, gave a resounding "no" to a health insurance mandate, is one of many signs that point to a big GOP win in November.

Karl Rove believes that win will extend to statehouses across the land, with some serious political implications for redistricting.

Peggy Noonan believes the American people are at the boiling point.

Michael Gerson thinks the Democrats are not helping themselves by their recent words and actions.

Could the GOP actually win a congressional seat in Massachusetts? This Cambodian immigrant might be the man to do it.

Daniel J. Mitchell says letting the Bush tax cuts expire will hurt the economy. Arthur Laffer agrees, and salts his argument with numerous historical tidbits. On the other hand, Fareed Zakaria says we should let the cuts expire to deal with the deficit. They are all smart men. They all seem to have a handle on the facts. Or do they? Like all of these kinds of arguments, each seems to emphasize only those facts which fit their argument. In the end, I go with my gut, which tells me the people ought to keep their money, as much as possible, and the government should take as little as possible.