WHY SO SERIOUS? Is conservative despair justified? Maybe not, but sometimes it sure seems that way. Liberalism would be a lot more tolerable if there was a hunting season on them.

JAMES CAPRETTA: The Budget Battles Ahead. It'n not what I'd really like, of course, but it matches with an earlier suggestion of mine ... fight with delaying tactics for the next two years, make sure the Democrats are held responsible for their tax increases, and prepare legislation addressing tax reform, Social Security reform, and Medicare/Medicaid reform in the next Congress in which they have a majority.

PEOPLE AREN’T STUPID. "That’s why, as the illiberal-liberal establishment embarks on another orgy of 'ban the guns' rhetoric, people are rushing out in unprecedented numbers to arm themselves. It’s not only to protect themselves against the thieves who might creep into their houses at night to steal the family silver; it’s also to protect themselves against the suit-wearing thieves who practice their trade by wielding the levers of state power."

HOSPITALIZED IN NYC? You may have to 'suffer a bit'" to prevent extra pain pills from piling up in the cabinets of New Yorkers who no longer need them, where they can pose a health risk if they’re abused."

Megan McArdle has more.

This is standard liberal philosophy: punish the innocent for the sins of the guilty.

THE RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS is a critical component of feeling competent and autonomous as individuals, rather than relying on the goodwill of a super-powerful, unassailable government.

AUSTRALIAN gun control. Do we really want to go there?

COLIN POWELL: There’s ‘a dark vein of intolerance’ in the GOP. Well, if he means that Republicans don't suffer fools gladly, there's probably an element of truth in that statement. But that doesn't make the GOP racist; it makes the Democrats fools.

OLD MEDIA discovers that elections have consequences. More Obama => less consumption => less advertising => less journalists.

I'm pleased to announce that I'm only partly to blame; I gave up my subscription to the Washington Post in order to resubscribe to National Review (and buy a few hundred extra rounds of ammunition with the change).

HOW TO AVOID THE DEBT CEILING: issue IOUs. California did, and look at where they are now....