BENCHED.

Less than a year ago, top Republican Party officials boasted of an all-star lineup of experienced candidates poised to breeze through their Senate primary elections and put the hurt on vulnerable Democrats in November. The roster included Charlie Crist in Florida, Jane Norton in Colorado, Trey Grayson in Kentucky, Rob Simmons in Connecticut and Sue Lowden in Nevada.

After [August 10th]'s primary votes, not one member of the dream team will be the Republican nominee in November.

Let’s hope the Republican Party got the message.

THE GULF RECOVERY Obama doesn’t want to see.

If the President really wanted to see the economic damage his policies are causing in the Gulf, he could first stop in Pascagoula, Miss., where idle oil rigs in the Signal International shipyard have formed an eerie floating ghost city that locals have dubbed “Rig Row.” Instead of being deployed at sea where they could be creating wealth for this country and jobs for Gulf residents, these rigs are wasting away idly in port as a direct result of President Obama’s oil drilling moratorium – a moratorium that when first issued on just deep sea rigs, a federal judge ruled was “arbitrary and capricious.” Undaunted, the Obama administration doubled down, issuing a broader oil drilling injunction that is killing even more jobs than the first ban.

Of course not; there are no good campaign visuals.

RASMUSSEN: sixty percent say repeal Obamacare.

NOT LOOKING TOO GOOD. Hypocrisy never does.

As chairman and chief executive of OneUnited Bank, Kevin L. Cohee has sought to build a company that is about more than just money. He promoted the bank, now at the center of a House ethics case against Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), as a uniquely responsible investor in impoverished minority communities and urged prospective clients to live modestly.

Customers ought to focus on "real connections, real relationships," Cohee urges in a recording on the bank's Web site. Avoid "people who want to be with you based on the things that you have."

"Do you really need a Mercedes-Benz?" he asks. "Houses don't make you, cars don't make you."

Cohee, 52, took a somewhat different view in his own life. His bank bought or leased luxury real estate he used and, until federal regulators complained in 2008, paid for his Porsche. Cohee's East Coast spread was an $880,000 condominium on Miami Beach's Ocean Drive, and out west the bank leased a $26,500-a-month mansion for him on Palisades Beach Road in Santa Monica, Calif., owned by Bruce Springsteen's drummer, Max Weinberg.

Maxine Waters needs to choose her “friends” more carefully.

EITHER YOU ARE WITH THE PRESIDENT, NANCY PELOSI AND HARRY REID, or you are against them. Vote accordingly, in every race for every office.

IN THE COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS, your improved chance of living may not be worth $8,000 a month.

But there will be no “death panels.”

SURPRISE! Liberals discover the Obama administration is thin-skinned.

It hurts when the table is turned on them.

“PICTURE A SATURDAY MORNING during one of those endless summers of the late 1950s and early '60s. A boy climbs on his red Schwinn bicycle and rides like the wind to the public library, then to several drugstores and thrift shops. He is on a mission. He is looking desperately for a book, any book, by Robert A. Heinlein (1907-1988), the greatest science-fiction writer in the world.”

My bicycle wasn’t red, but other than that, the paragraph is accurate. His science fiction was probably the single greatest influence on my decision to become a scientist/engineer.

A THOUGHT ON PROGRESSIVISM AND THE NANNY STATE: Visiting the Great Smoky Mountains National Park a few weeks ago, we had the unique opportunity to experience a key failure on our Honda Pilot at a scenic view site deep in the park. Yes, a key failure – in a mere 70K miles, the metal key wore away enough to be unable to engage the tumblers in the ignition lock. I’ve lost keys before; I’ve broken keys before, but I have never, ever, had a car key just plain wear out.

There was a spare key available, so all was not lost and we returned home with no problems. But here’s where it gets interesting. The broken key has one of the RFID chips embedded, and they’re neither easy -- or cheap – to replace. It requires an electronic reader/writer to read the key ID and transfer it to the new key. Not a device you typically find at the nearest Tru-Value hardware store.

The Honda dealership wanted $200 for a new key; they also wanted the car, auto registration, and a driver’s license before they’d replace it. I found another locksmith who just wanted (a lot less) money.

And that got me thinking about the Progressive’s nirvana.

Suppose I didn’t have a replacement key and had to call Roadside Assistance, who might have to call the police to verify the car wasn’t stolen; the police again to verify there are no any outstanding tickets or warrants against the driver; the DMV to verify the title and lienholder; the bank to ensure the auto loan is current; the insurance company to verify the auto insurance is in force; the State to verify that all taxes and fees are paid; Electronic Health Records to verify recent physical and eye exams; the pharmacy to verify prescriptions are current and don’t interfere with driving; and ... finally ... authorize a Government-certified locksmith to replace the key.

Did I miss anything?

OBESITY: the bright side.

WILL BARACK OBAMA BE A ONE-TERM PRESIDENT? Yes, he might last that long.

IT’S OUR FAULT HE FAILED. “What doomed Obama politically was the way he dealt with the financial crisis in the first six months of his presidency.... [H]e allowed the right wing to define the terms.”

Excuses, excuses.

Linked from Hot Air.

PROPERTY “RIGHTS” IN NEW YORK: another case of misuse of eminent domain.

BUILDING DIALOG (last Twitter item).

EXCELLENT QUESTION: "How do you screw up so titanically that even an opposition held in disgrace as recently as two years ago starts to look good by comparison?"

DEEP THOUGHT: "Yes, the 9/11 attacks were horrific, but they were more about optics than actual harm. The economy was already taking a hit before the Twin Towers fell. The reaction of the nation to seeing two major buildings in New York fall on T.V. has boosted the attack out of proportion."

And they wonder why we think they're irrational.

SIXTY PERCENT OF CURRENT WORKERS believe they’ll never see a dime from Social Security.

Hopefully they’re right and that Social Security will have been privatized by the time they reach retirement age. They’ll get a much better deal than I’ll get in just over 3 months.

THE LEFT IS unpopular, undisciplined and ill-tempered.

BACKING AWAY: "I was not commenting and I will not comment on the wisdom of making the decision to put a mosque [near Ground Zero." You’d think after the “beer summit” Obama would have learned to shut up.