“Attorney General Eric Holder today announced that self-proclaimed Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammad and his four alleged co-conspirators will be tried in a military commission… The attorney general forcefully blamed Congress for compelling the Justice Department to make this decision by interfering for political gamesmanship.” [CBS]

Obama email, this morning:

Today, we are filing papers to launch our 2012 campaign.

We’re doing this now because the politics we believe in does not start with expensive TV ads or extravaganzas, but with you — with people organizing block-by-block, talking to neighbors, co-workers, and friends. And that kind of campaign takes time to build.

Reuters, this morning:

Obama amassed a record $750 million as he surged to victory in 2008. His 2012 campaign total is expected to hit $1 billion or more, even without a major Democratic primary opponent or the emergence of a strong Republican contender…

Jim Messina, a former White House deputy chief of staff who will run Obama’s [campaign], has been telling big supporters they will need to collect $350,000 each.

Yes, well, we’ll pitch in where we can. Tell us when you’re within $25 of ten figures.

We have no business being in Afghanistan.

Almost ten years in, that’s not a particularly bold statement. Ten years ago, we may have preferred an investigation to an invasion. Eight years ago, we may have preferred keeping our eyes on the prize, instead of diverting our attention to Iraq. If we were a close student of the situation, we might offer any number of substantial reasons why our adventure there is a bust.

But what finally settles our judgment is a simple point: We can’t handle the responsibility.

We, meaning We Americans. That our government can’t handle it was proven years ago.

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“Once something is online, it can be very difficult, if not impossible, to delete. So tweaking one’s online reputation usually boils down to gaming the search engines.” [NYT]

Also useful: Having a name so ridiculously common that it’s shared by a wacky Senator from Utah.

“Charlie Sheen unleashed his Violent Torpedo of Truth Tour on the Motor City on Saturday night before a crowd that greeted the actor with an adoring standing ovation and concluded with booing and walk-outs.” [Entertainment Weekly]

Title: “Speak Like Churchill, Stand Like Lincoln: 21 Powerful Secrets of History’s Greatest Speakers”

Author: James C. Humes

Rank: 88

Blurb: “Ever wish you could captivate your boardroom with the opening line of your presentation, like Winston Churchill in his most memorable speeches?”

Review: “Each chapter of the book is divided into chapters that start with the word power.”

Customers Also Bought: “On Speaking Well”, by Peggy Noonan

Footnote: Endorsed by Chris Matthews and Roger Ailes. Which explains everything.

Speak Like Churchill, Stand Like Lincoln [Amazon]

Buy or Die [Stinque@Amazon kickback link]

Let us begin by acknowledging that burning books isn’t a particularly Enlightened thing to do. Nor is it practically effective: Where centuries ago you might stand a chance of torching an entire print run, today your chances of removing the suspect document from existence are practically nil.

Any residual value a book-burning has today is totally symbolic: You’re making a statement. And what that statement amounts to is usually this: I am the kind of person who burns books.

Which we think adequately describes Terry Jones of Florida.

Terry Jones burned a book a few weeks ago. As it happens, that book was the Koran.

And by now, you probably know the rest of the story.

It can be argued that Terry Jones set off a chain of events that culminated in the murders of twenty-one innocent people (so far) in Afghanistan. It can be argued that Terry Jones is responsible for those murders. If Terry Jones hadn’t burned that book, those twenty-one people would still be alive.

The first and third of those statements are true.

But they don’t demonstrate the second.

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