If you want to know what’s really driving all of this KEEP MOSQUES OUT OF MANHATTAN!!1!!1! craziness from the right, here you go.

What better example is needed to highlight the folly of how misguided the US effort in Afghanistan has become than to realize that troops from the same Special Operations Command which is responsible for the night raids that provoke civilian outrage are also attempting to provide primary medical care to the population?

Nelnet improperly exploits a loophole in the student lending regulations for years, and then last Friday afternoon settled a $1+ billion student loan fraud case for $55 million, just as college students head back to campus. Lovely.

But I’m sure that nothing like this could happen with insurance companies and the Health Insurance reform regulations, or the Wall Street firms and the FinReg rules . . .

Welcome back to campus, everyone.

During the health care debate, one of the biggest question marks that I had was whether the insurance regulations, which would be handled by the states and not a federal regulator, would be enforceable. Countless examples of insurance companies getting off scot-free, or of state insurance commissioners lacking the will or the resources to stop them, raised my concern. Now, Robert Pear and Kevin Sack at the New York Times add to that concern by discovering that some state insurance commissioners don’t even have the authority to uphold the regulations in the Affordable Care Act.

By ascending to the bully pulpit on this issue, it seems President Obama has elevated the principles involved (however weakly stated) and made the press enabling the fearmongerers to think twice about the issues involved. Heck, even TIME’s Mark Halperin is calling on the fearmongerers to stop.

David Petraeus took the “making good progress” line on Afghanistan today on Meet the Press, one that we’ve heard countless times before, but one that never gets backed up by any legitimate evidence. We know that this is part of a coordinated strategy to delay any serious withdrawals as part of the July 2011 timetable. Jim White has plenty more on this media blitz.

According to the Daily News, Bozo the Spokesman is failing upwards. “He’s not in trouble. The administration’s witty but pugnacious press secretary isn’t just a member of Obama’s tight circle of advisers, he’s also the President’s close friend. If anything, Gibbs remains on track to move to the next level, senior adviser to the President, several sources told The News.”

Pakistan suffers while we engage in our usual ritual of stupidities.

Wall of Voodoo – Mexican Radio

At the very end, TMCP identifies for a coy Stretch Gregory a General whose statement he’ll emulate with regard to running for, or even becoming, President. And it’s not U S Grant!