Jacob Laskin, Dereliction of Duty, FrontPage (2008-02-15):

There are yet other risks involved. As the White House rightly argues, existing intelligence surveillance may be jeopardized if the PAA is not passed. One of the signal virtues of the PAA is the fact that it provides liability protection to private companies, like telecoms, who cooperate with the government and aid surveillance efforts. Companies like AT&T already face multibillion dollar lawsuits from leftist activist groups like the Electronic Frontier Foundation, who charge that the companies broke the law by assisting government efforts to prevent terrorist attack. With the expiration of the PAA, these companies will lose their legal protections. In the current litigious climate, it is more than likely that they will simply stop aiding the government in its intelligence work.

Well, good.

Here’s a Valentine’s Day treat from self-described thinker Glenn Beck, who offers his insights into gender, sex, love, and marriage:

I’m not a sex expert but I’m — you know, I’m thinking, you know, you’re ugly and, you know, that’s a tough one to overcome especially if you’re a woman. If you’re a guy, that’s not hard to overcome. I’m sorry. That’s just the way the world is. Have you — how many ugly guys have hot wives? Take me, for example. I don’t know why she married — I think it was low self-esteem. I do. No, really I think it was low self-esteem. I got in — you know, you buy when the market is low. You know what I mean? While everybody else is selling, you buy. And I think I got in there right at the right time. Low self-esteem, low, wait a minute, could go a little lower, she might come down to my price. Hang on, OK, sold! Now her self-esteem is going up. And if my income wasn’t going up, she would have ditched me long ago. She would have gone, Wait a minute, I think I was depressed when I married you. I’m just — look. I’m not Tania, but I am a thinker. I’m on to you, Tania!

— Glenn Beck, The Glenn Beck Program (2008-02-14)

(Via Echnide of the Snakes 2008-02-15: The Patriarchal Ode To Sexual Love.)

Further reading:

• GT 2008-01-08: Republicans do it with class.