Current Affairs

Pushed by advocates for veterans, the federal government has made it easier for veterans to get disability benefits for post-traumatic stress disorder. They will no longer have to document specific events like battles or roadside-bomb blasts -- as President Obama says, veterans on the battlefield shouldn't have to keep notes. But some of those advocates are now saying the new rule doesn't go far enough:

Everyone is doing graphs these days -- a common one shows how much money Obama has added to the debt compared with other presidents. I've seen one showing how long the Afghanistan war is compared with our other wars. Here is mine:

While I was occupied with personal stuff last week, I missed the whole LeBron James saga, which I probably wouldn't have paid much attention to anyway. But in catching up, I couldn't help but notice how overwrought everybody got about his decision. He had a choice to make, and he made the one he thought was best for him -- get over it. The over-the-top prize has to go to Cleveland Cavaliers majority owner Dan Gilbert in his open letter to Cleveland fans:

Here's one of those "Who's on first?" situations. A judge has struck down a federal statute on grounds that it violates states' rights, and conservatives who normally complain about federal power are outraged, and liberals who usually love federal power are celebrating. Perfectly understandable considering the nature of the law in question:

Mitch Daniels on the five books that most influenced his political thinking: F.A. Hayek's "The Road to Serfdom," "Milton Friedman's "Free to Choose," Charles Murray's "What it Means to be a Libertarian," Mancur Olson's "The Rise and Decline of Nations" and Virginia Postrel's "The Future and its Enemies."

Mixed-feelings time:

An Indianapolis museum and Fort Harrison State Park in the capital are teaming up for a Vietnam Experience Re-enactment on July 17 and 18.

The program co-sponsored by the Museum of 20th Century Warfare will recreate American units opposing Vietcong forces in a public battle. Hobbyist re-enactors will be dressed in authentic or recreated uniforms and use Vietnam-era equipment and weapons to drill, exercise and simulate combat.

Defense lawyers say they merely represent the client because the client deserves representation and that it should not be presumed therefore that they believe in the client's innocence. GOP Senate candidate Dan Coats makes lobbyists sound like that -- just because we work for the client, that doesn't mean we agree with his agenda -- bue Democrats aren't buying it:

Sigh:

1960s NASA: We will get to the moon! Today's NASA: We will make Muslims feel good!

Bless Oklahoma Republican Sen. Tom Coburn, whose questions to Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan are actually eliciting some of her thoughts on constitutional issues.