Republicans, Let's Play Grown-Up  —  Sotomayor's hearings are an opportunity for serious debate.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  “Let's play grown-up.”  When I was a child, that's what we said when we ran out of things to do like playing potsie or throwing rocks in the vacant lot.

Impartiality and Empathy  —  Michael Gerson unwittingly reveals the problem of the distinction between impartiality and empathy that Sotomayor's opponents are trying to maintain.  Gerson, like Charles Krauthammer, argues that the law should be applied as it is, impartially …

Netanyahu: “What the hell do they want from me?”  —  Last night, shortly after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told journalists that the Obama administration “wants to see a stop to settlements — not some settlements, not outposts, not natural growth exceptions,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called a confidante.

Did Erich ‘Mancow’ Muller Fake His Waterboarding for Publicity?  —  Yesterday we showed you video of Erich “Mancow” Muller, a Chicago-based right-wing shockjock, appearing as a guest on Keith Olbermann's show to discuss his being waterboarded.  He claimed it led to an ideological conversion!

EXCLUSIVE: Career lawyers overruled on voting case  —  Black Panthers had wielded weapons, blocked polls  —  Justice Department political appointees overruled career lawyers and ended a civil complaint accusing three members of the New Black Panther Party for Self-Defense of wielding …

More Preferential Treatment?  —  Stuart Taylor digs up another example from Sotomayor's Princeton days: … I went to Princeton but somehow I never got to teach my own class, or grade my own work.  One wonders how Sotomayor judged her work in that class, and whether the grade helped or hindered her efforts to graduate with honors.

The Empathy Issue  —  The American legal system is based on a useful falsehood.  It's based on the falsehood that this is a nation of laws, not men; that in rendering decisions, disembodied, objective judges are able to put aside emotion and unruly passion and issue opinions on the basis of pure reason.

HOT  —  Lady Gaga and Small Wars Journal.  Both hot.  But don't take my word for it.  Rolling Stone: … Yeah, well, anyone with a Y chromosome can see the chick with the Phyllis Diller fright wig and the bubble bikini is hot.  * Glad to see RS is getting hip to how hot Small Wars can be.

Levin: Memos don't show what Cheney says they do  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, says former Vice President Dick Cheney's claims — that classified CIA memos show enhanced interrogation techniques like waterboarding worked — are wrong.

The Big Inflation Scare  —  Suddenly it seems as if everyone is talking about inflation.  Stern opinion pieces warn that hyperinflation is just around the corner.  And markets may be heeding these warnings: Interest rates on long-term government bonds are up, with fear of future inflation …

Inside Cover  —  Muslim Group Shuts Down Conservative Conference  —  The manager of a prominent Nashville hotel cancelled a contract with a conservative foundation to hold a conference this weekend on radical Islam, apparently after learning that the group would feature a keynote address …

Administration blocks helicopters for Israel due to civilian casualties in Gaza  —  WASHINGTON — The Obama administration has blocked Israel's request for advanced U.S.-origin attack helicopters.  —  Government sources said the administration has held up Israel's request for the AH-64D Apache Longbow attack helicopter.

Bush: ‘The information we got saved lives’  —  BENTON HARBOR, Michigan (CNN) - Former President George W. Bush on Thursday repeated Dick Cheney's assertion that their enhanced interrogation program was legal and garnered valuable information that prevented future terrorist attacks.

Garrett Withdraws Nomination for Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy  —  Tax Prof Elizabeth Garrett (USC) has withdrawn as President Obama's nominee to be Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy.  From Bloomberg (Garrett Withdraws as Top Tax Official in Blow to Obama Agenda):

Wikipedia bans Church of Scientology  —  Wikioperating Thetan Level Zero  —  Hitachi IT Operations Analyzer - 30-day free trial  —  Exclusive In an unprecedented effort to crack down on self-serving edits, the Wikipedia supreme court has banned contributions from all IP addresses owned …

What DealerGate Says About the Conservative ‘Message’ Problem  —  Congratulations to Doug Ross and Joey Smith for aggressive research and reporting — the kind Matthew Yglesias says conservatives don't have the skills to do — on the scandal Michelle Malkin calls “DealerGate.”

Merrick Alpert's Local Town Committee Endorses Sen. Dodd  —  The Hartford Courant's Daniela Altimari reports:  —  The Groton Democratic Town Committee on Thursday approved a resolution of support for Sen. Christopher Dodd.  —  Nothing newsworthy in that — after all …

Blown circuits: Rove levels attack on Sotomayor based on false claim that she and Alito were colleagues  —  SUMMARY: Karl Rove claimed that he “got wind of” allegations that Sonia Sotomayor “was combative, opinionated, argumentative” while reviewing the record of her “colleague on the court” Samuel Alito.

Reagan Appointee Sandra Day O'Connor Said Gender, Race Impact Judging  —  Sonia Sotomayor is taking a beating from conservatives for her 2001 speech saying that gender and race will inevitably impact one's judgment and jurisprudence.  —  But guess who said something very similar?