I'm still not quite up to full speed, but I am recovering from the wicked cold that has laid me low these past few days.

Here's some browser tabs that I've had open for awhile and meaning to blog about.

• "Our Generals Almost Cost Us Iraq" by Mackubin Thomas Owens points out that the generals complaining to Bob Woodward in his new book "The War Within" about President George W. Bush are the ones who were losing the war there.
  

  If Mr. Woodward's account is true, it means that not since Gen. McClellan attempted to sabotage Lincoln's war policy in 1862 has the leadership of the U.S. military so blatantly attempted to undermine a president in the pursuit of his constitutional authority. It should be obvious that such active opposition to a president's policy poses a threat to the health of the civil-military balance in a republic.

• Michael Barone reinforces a point I've made before about Sen. Barack Obama's tendency to use legal threats to silence his opponents.
• Bill Dyer analyzes the "Tasergate" report on Gov. Sarah Palin and points out a certain logical disconnect.
  

  Here are the two key "findings," however (from page 8 of the .pdf file; boldface mine):

  Finding Number One For the reasons explained in section IV of this report, I find that Governor Sarah Palin abused her power by violating Alaska Statute 39.52.110(a) of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act. Alaska Statute 39.52.110(a) provides

  The legislature reaffirms that each public officer holds office as a public trust, and any effort to benefit a personal or financial interest through official action is a violation of that trust."

  Finding Number Two I find that, although Walt Monegan's refusal to fire Trooper Michael Wooten was not the sole reason he was fired by Governor Sarah Palin, it was likely a contributing factor to his termination as Commissioner of Public Safety. In spite of that, Governor Palin's firing of Commissioner Monegan was a proper and lawful exercise of her constitutional and statutory authority to hire and fire executive branch department heads.

  Here's a note to Mr. Branchflower, who clearly is verbose, but obviously none too keen a scholar of logic: Gov. Palin's so-called "firing" of Monegan (it wasn't a firing, it was a re-assignment to other government duties that he resigned rather than accept) can't simultaneously be a violation of the Ethics Act and "a proper and lawful exercise of her constitutional and statutory authority." This, gentle readers, is a 263-page piece of political circus that actually explicitly refutes itself on its single most key page! [all emphasis in original]

  Read the whole thing.

• The New York Times finally takes a look at Barack Obama's campaign financing, and finds some problems there.
  

  Last December, someone using the name “Test Person,” from “Some Place, UT,” made a series of contributions, the largest being $764, to Senator Barack Obama’s presidential campaign totaling $2,410.07.

  Someone identifying himself as “Jockim Alberton,” from 1581 Leroy Avenue in Wilmington, Del., began giving to Mr. Obama last November, contributing $10 and $25 at a time for a total of $445 through the end of February.

  The only problem? There is no Leroy Avenue in Wilmington. And Jockim Alberton, who listed his employer and occupation as “Fdsa Fdsa,” does not show up in a search of public records.

  An analysis of campaign finance records by The New York Times this week found nearly 3,000 donations to Mr. Obama, the Democratic nominee, from more than a dozen people with apparently fictitious donor information.

  The contributions represent a tiny fraction of the record $450 million Mr. Obama has raised. But the questionable donations — some donors were listed simply with gibberish for their names — raise concerns about whether the Obama campaign is adequately vetting its unprecedented flood of donors.

  And there may be far more questionable contributions, because federal election law requires disclosure of a person's identity only if their total combined contributions climbs above $200. McCain releases information about all of his donors -- no matter how small the contribution -- something Obama has refused to do. You don't really need to wonder why.

• There's another interesting tidbit in that Times story that is contrary to the media narrative of the Obama and McCain campaigns.
  

  Federal candidates are not required to itemize such contributions to the F.E.C. unless the donor’s cumulative total adds up to more than $200. Roughly 70 percent of these contributions to Mr. Obama are not reported, compared with more than 75 percent of Mr. McCain’s.

  Which candidate is getting more, small contributions? According to media reports about Obama's fundraising prowess you'd guess it was Obama. Nope, according to the Times it's actually McCain.

• There's been charges that the Yes on Prop. 8 campaign here in California that would re-establish the definition of marriage as being one man/one woman has been scaremongering. Campaign ads claim that same-sex marriage would get taught to elementary school students.

  Hogwash! Say same-sex marriage supporters.

  And then ... it wasn't hogwash.

  A group of San Francisco first-graders took an unusual field trip to City Hall on Friday to toss rose petals on their just-married lesbian teacher - putting the public school children at the center of a fierce election battle over the fate of same-sex marriage.

  The 18 Creative Arts Charter School students took a Muni bus and walked a block at noon to toss rose petals and blow bubbles on their just-married teacher Erin Carder and her wife Kerri McCoy, giggling and squealing as they mobbed their teacher with hugs.

• A few wackos (current count "few" = 5) at McCain/Palin rallies have yelled out "not nice" things about Barack Obama. This has prompted Democratic Rep. John Lewis to liken McCain to noted segregationist George Wallace and various liberal pundits to decry the "raging right." Michelle Malkin points out that the left needs to work on the log in their eyes before worrying about the speck in the right's eye.
• Kim Strassel has a funny article on Obama's magical plans for the economy.