HUFFINGTON POST: The Molten Core of Barack: Why Obama Can’t Win. “Despite the McCain campaign’s effectiveness, however, the best campaign against Barack Obama is not being run by his opponent, but by Barack Obama. . . . This is the trap Barack Obama has made for himself, the one he cannot escape, the one Hillary Clinton foresaw, the one that may doom him. The Obama campaign knows it too. In fear the dream is being lost drop-by-drop, they are going negative on John McCain.”

DAVID BROOKS: Where’s the landslide? “Why isn’t Barack Obama doing better? Why, after all that has happened, does he have only a slim two- or three-point lead over John McCain, according to an average of the recent polls? Why is he basically tied with his opponent when his party is so far ahead?”

And it’s happening in spite of all the pro-Obama media cheerleading, too. I think this indicates the power of alternative media, where the stories on Obama aren’t nearly so cheerleaderish. As we saw with polling on the surge — which showed public perceptions improving in advance of the Legacy Media coverage — blogs, etc., are now having influence directly, not simply by impacting the coverage of traditional journalists.

AIR RAGE: “Safety violations, nakedness, violence, sexual assault, dead amphibians and general nastiness: Welcome to the 2008 summer travel season. We warned you that flying this summer was going to be hell, but even we weren’t ready for this. . . . Some of this is just plain insanity, but most incidents are being fueled by a combination of factors that have turned air travel from somewhat unpleasant to downright intolerable. Flights are packed. Passengers are paying more for everything and spending ever more time sitting on the runway. Fly on US Airways and you’ll be subjected to a plane that’s plastered with advertising and not-so-good coffee that goes for a buck a cup. “

One of the reasons that airlines tried hard to make flying pleasant in the early days was the belief that it was necessary to pacify passengers in a stressful environment. Maybe they

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7 WAYS TO SAVE EMERGENCY CASH: I think that having an emergency savings fund is very important. For me, the two things that work best are funding savings via automatic deductions, and keeping the money in a separate account. And once you have savings beyond the emergency level, you can stop buying things on credit. That lets you save more.

I was taught this stuff in high school, but apparently lots of people missed the lesson.

GALLUP: “In a year when approval of Congress has reached a new low, just 36% of U.S. registered voters say most members of Congress deserve re-election. This is among the lowest ratings Gallup has measured in a recent presidential or congressional election year.”

And those same idiots will continue to pull the lever for their Congresscritters.

INCONSPICUOUS CONSUMPTION: Virginia Postrel offers a new theory of the leisure class. “Given that the richer your group, the less flashy spending you’ll do, conspicuous consumption isn’t a universal phenomenon. It’s a development phase. It declines as countries, regions, or distinct groups get richer.” And among today’s wealthy: “Their primary luxuries are time and attention. “

HOUSE REPUBLICAN LEADER RIPS BUSH:

A House Republican leader is lambasting President Bush on his decision not to call Congress back into session to deal with the energy crisis.

In a legislative update sent to GOP members and staff on Tuesday, Republican House Policy Committee Chairman Thaddeus McCotter (Mich.) accused “Beijing George” Bush of throwing House Republicans “under the bone-dry bus” on his way to the Olympics in China.

Ouch.

MORE ON ANTI-SCIENCE TERRORISM: After Attacks on Researchers, Caution and Steadfastness.

In many ways, the University of California at Santa Cruz was already prepared when firebombs ignited the house of one researcher and the car of another at nearly the same time early Saturday morning.

After all, it wasn’t the first attack against a Santa Cruz faculty member whose research involves experimentation on animals. Since that last incident in February, and more broadly over the past year, research universities, including the University of California system, have made more concerted efforts to coordinate their responses to threats, harassment and vandalism from self-styled animal liberation activists who many agree may be escalating their campaign.

Chris Mooney should write a book about this “war on science.” Since it involves, you know, actual bombs and stuff . . . . And note that groups like PETA are trying to get information on researchers

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THE WASHINGTON POST DOESN’T THINK MUCH of Obama’s tax-the-oil-companies energy policy:

Mr. Obama wants a surtax on net oil company profits above a “reasonable” level. The tax would be set high enough to raise $65 billion over the next five years, and the revenue would fund a one-shot tax rebate that Mr. Obama would like to give to families and individuals this year.

Making Exxon surrender money that is now falling into its lap would not necessarily affect its longer-term plans or incentives. Indeed, some of Big Oil’s “windfall” already will go to the government: The more profit the companies earn, the more corporate income tax they pay. But to add a five-year tax increase on top of that to pay for a one-year gift to voters would, indeed, increase the cost of doing business. That cost would be passed along in forgone investment in new production, lower dividends for pension

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The developer interested in buying the former post office property in downtown Elmira is proposing a mix of commercial and retail use of the space, an official said Tuesday.