1.) Washington’s Funniest Celebrity tries new routine on ‘This Week’ — White House economic advisor and stand-up comic Austan Goolsbee told some really bad jokes yesterday on “This Week,” alleges David Frum. “I don’t see why anybody’s talking about playing chicken with the…with the debt ceiling.” Goolsbee said yesterday. Also: “If we hit the debt ceiling, that’s…essentially defaulting on our obligations, which is totally unprecedented in American history” and that it would “be the first default in history caused purely by insanity.” While the aforementioned superlative is debatable, the rest of Goolsbee’s claim is not. As David Frum points out, Goolsbee is jousting with windmills: Two weeks after the election, Rep. John Boehner said, “Whether we like it or not, the federal government has obligations and we have obligations on our part.” More likely, writes Frum, is that Obama is playing chicken not with debt, but with Americans’ confidence. That’s not funny at all. (more)
In a shift in tactics, the U.S. military in Afghanistan plans to rely more on old-fashioned surveillance, as compared with new-age technology, to stop the biggest killer of American service members in the field. (more)
The Rev. Sun Myung Moon is regaining control of the Washington Times after allies of the South Korean spiritual leader agreed to acquire the paper for just $1 and assumption of most if its debts, according to an internal memo. (more)
Rep. Darrell Issa, California Republican, is blasting the Obama administration in a new report, charging the administration has engaged in an “unprecedented” propaganda effort to sell the president’s health care and other policies. (more)
The U.S. military is banning personnel from visiting the WikiLeaks website, which recently released more than 70,000 classified diplomatic and military messages on the long war in Afghanistan. (more)
A Pentagon strike against Iran would rely heavily on the B-2 bomber and cruise missiles to try to destroy the regime’s ability to make nuclear weapons, analysts say, after the top U.S. military officer said a war plan is in place. (more)
The Republican National Committee will invite Andrew Breitbart to its rescheduled “big donor” fundraiser in Southern California, which had been set to feature the conservative columnist and online-media mogul, along with numerous California Republican politicians. (more)
Sarah Palin’s speech to the 2008 Republican convention impressed more than a few doubters, including even some members of Journolist, an online community for liberal journalists. (more)
The Obama administration’s rapid release of 10 Russian intelligence officers removed the prospect of a public trial revealing embarrassing facts about Russian influence operations, like the targeting of a key Democratic Party financier close to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. (more)
With Republican National Committee Chairman Michael S. Steele facing a barrage of calls to resign, North Dakota Republican Party Chairman Gary Emineth, a social conservative, told The Washington Times on Friday he is quitting his post to prepare a possible challenge of Mr. Steele after November’s midterm elections. (more)
The greatest hockey game ever played has come to be known as the “Miracle on Ice.” It happened in the 1980 Winter Olympics when the United States with its team of amateurs took on and beat the Soviet Union, which had won the gold every year since 1964, and was considered invincible. I remember it like it was yesterday. (more)
President Obama this week brought his unique brand of leadership to the U.S. Military Academy. Speaking to the West Point graduation, the commander-in-chief outlined a foreign policy that sharply differed from the Bush Doctrine that was proclaimed from that same podium eight years ago. (more)
An investigation that found thousands of dollars in unauthorized purchases of clothing, gold coins, flat-screen televisions, gym memberships and college tuition payments by employees of the Federal Protective Services using government purchase cards has resulted in no disciplinary action. (more)
Washington Times executives are negotiating to sell the newspaper, after the Rev. Sun Myung Moon’s family cut off most of the annual subsidy of about $35 million that has kept the Unification Church-backed paper afloat, company officials said. (more)
Conan is getting a new late-night gig with TBS, an excellent cable network to be sure, but not network television. He had been in talks with Fox, and media observers are surprised and disappointed he didn’t work out a deal. Well, I’m not surprised. (more)
