MIDTERMS MATTER: a look back to before November 2nd. Do Democrats really think in stereotypes?

THOMAS SOWELL on the cult of multiculturalism. Read both parts.

THIS IS WHY the American people have thrown you out of power.

SEVEN YEARS? Hah! Obama's drilling moratorium will last no more than 2 years. Our next president will reverse the moratorium within hours of her inauguration.

DON’T ASK, DON’T TELL. The results are in: 70 percent of service members say that allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly would have a positive, mixed or negligible impact on the effectiveness of the armed forces. That’s not quite true, of course, but I think it’s clear that DADT’s time is limited.

My concern is about moving too fast. As I’ve pointed out before, gays in the military is not the same as gays in civilian life - you can’t leave the gay co-worker behind at the end of the workday. It’s going to take time for the military to adjust, and the military should be allowed the time needed.

Much more on the DoD report here and in the comments.

OFFICIALS AT THE NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY removed a work of video art depicting Christ with ants crawling over him; Washington Post writer Blake Gopnik is upset: “If anyone's offended by any work in any museum, they have the easiest redress: They can vote with their feet, and avoid the art they don't like.”

I’d rather vote with my money.

Get the government out of funding the arts. Gopnik is free to wallow in dung if he so chooses, but his wallowing should not confer on me an obligation to purchase the dung.

[Update] Robert Knight at the Washington Times fires back with both barrels.

GUN RIGHTS FOR TEENS? Well, given the youth voting record in the 2008 election, they’d do less damage having gun rights instead of voting rights.

I WOULDN'T MIND having my pay “frozen” at $193,400 (not including benefits) for two years -- if I had any pay.

OH, REALLY? Federal pay freeze to slam region.

"A federal pay freeze saves peanuts at best, and while he may mean it as just a public-relations gesture, this is no time for political scapegoating," said John Gage, president of the American Federation of Government Employees.

They may be peanuts to you; they’re food for me.

Patricia Niehaus, a 27-year federal employee and president of the Federal Managers Association, said federal workers were told to expect a 1.4 percent raise this year. "Now nothing for two years," Niehaus said. "We are a common target and almost a helpless target in some respects."

At least you’ve still got a job. I don’t. Don’t look to me for sympathy.

THE NEW YORK TIMES’ ethical dilemma:

The New York Times has taken an admirable stand on the potentially-criminal release of diplomatic cables by the online "whistleblowers" at WikiLeaks. Said one Times reporter: "The documents appear to have been acquired illegally and contain all manner of private information and statements that were never intended for the public eye, so they won't be posted here."

Oh, wait. That wasn't in reference to the WikiLeaks documents. That was the Times's former environmental blogger Andy Revkin discussing the so-called ClimateGate emails.

Leaks by your allies - good; leaks by your opponents - bad. Dilemma resolved.

Linked from the Washington Examiner.

RETHINKING POLITICAL CORRECTNESS: ”it is time to 're-think' [Portland’s] rejection of the FBI [joint terrorism] task force.”

Looking back ... it's striking how deeply concerned city officials were with the well-being of possible terrorist suspects, and how relatively less concerned they were with the threat of actual terrorist violence.... The bottom line of all this is that the FBI saved Portland from a potentially horrendous attack. But city leaders weren't involved in saving themselves because they were more concerned about the possibility of discrimination than the reality of terrorism.

Will the city be grateful that the FBI didn’t just “buzz off?” I doubt it.

THIS SHOULD BE INTERESTING: Unmanned Air Force space plane to return to Earth this weekend.

IS INCOMPETENCE JUSTIFICATION FOR IMPEACHMENT?

Now the Republic’s enemies must be asking themselves: where is the bottom to these people’s incompetence? Can they do anything at all? How safe is it to rush ahead? Why don’t we try?

And if they do, what tools will President Obama have left? Diplomacy? Economic incentives or sanctions? Moral authority? Maybe the military. Yes that’s it. But his competence at war is predicted by his incompetence in peace. One would hope he’d have the sense to stay away from truly dangerous tools and that probably means he doesn’t know better.

A political crisis is engulfing the Obama administration.

Obama’s credibility — and by extension America’s — has been downgraded to junk bond status.

IS THE OBAMACARE MANDATE CONSTITUTIONAL? At least one Federal judge believes so. And at least one of the States appears to believe differently.

And please take note: the only reason why ObamaCare is an issue is that Government has demanded the “right” of taxpayers to pay for your healthcare.