"KABUL, Afghanistan — For more than a decade, wads of American dollars packed into suitcases, backpacks and, on occasion, plastic shopping bags have been dropped off every month or so at the offices of Afghanistan’s president — courtesy of the Central Intelligence Agency. 

"All told, tens of millions of dollars have flowed from the C.I.A. to the office of President Hamid Karzai, according to current and former advisers to the Afghan leader. ... 

"[T]here is little evidence that the payments bought the influence the C.I.A. sought. Instead, some American officials said, the cash has fueled corruption and empowered warlords, undermining Washington’s exit strategy from Afghanistan."

"Waiting until the border has already been secured before an immigration policy is decided upon would also allow time to discuss the pros and cons of various ways of enforcing whatever that policy might turn out to be. But many politicians much prefer to rush complex legislation through Congress before the public knows what is in it or what is at stake. 'We the people' are to be by-passed. ... 

"Ask yourself why people who have been living illegally in this country for years cannot wait a couple of more years until the border is secured before the question of their legal status can be studied and debated in Congress and among the public at large. ... 

"'Comprehensive' immigration reform serves the interests of politicians who like to be on both sides of a controversial issue, and it serves the interests of those foreigners who want to game the system in the United States, at the expense of the American people. But it does not serve the interests of American society."

"The Washington Post/ABC poll asked respondents to rate Bush’s performance for the first time since December 2008, when only 33 percent rated it positively and 66 percent rated it negatively. What the pollster found is that today 47 percent approve and 50 percent disapprove of Bush’s performance. That approval number is precisely the same as Barack Obama’s in the most recent Post/ABC poll. ... 

"The Post/ABC poll suggests that Americans have been developing a more well-rounded assessment of Bush’s stewardship, even as he has remained mostly silent in public. Some presidents’ reputations rise as they move into history. Harry Truman, reviled when he left office, was recognized later for getting the big decisions right despite some obvious mistakes. The same thing seems to be happening, more quickly, with George W. Bush."

"As travellers nationwide are learning, the White House has decided to express its dislike of the sequester -- otherwise known as modestly smaller government -- by choosing to cut basic air traffic control services. ... 

"The White House claims the sequester applies to the budget category known as 'projects, programs and activities' and thus it lacks flexibility. Not so: This is a political pose to make the sequester more disruptive. Legally speaking, the sequester applies at a more general level known as 'accounts.' The air traffic account includes 15,000 controllers out of 31,000 employees. The White House could keep the controllers on duty simply by allocating more furlough days to these other non-essential workers. ...   

"All of this deserves to backfire, and it will if Republicans break from their circular immigration firing squads and explain what Mr. Obama is doing. For all of its rough edges, the sequester is proving to be educational. It is showing Americans how broken so much of government is, and it is revealing how our politicians refuse to distinguish between essential services and needless waste."

"[T]he legislation’s most critical amnesty comes right away, before even the pretense of beefed-up security. Illegal aliens will get their illegal status removed six months after the bill is passed upon payment of $500. The formerly illegal aliens will be allowed to remain in the country legally, under so-called 'probationary status,' for ten years (while those who wish to enter the country legally wait patiently in their home countries for permission to enter). This lawful presence is virtually everything that most would-be illegal aliens hope for, since few cross the border with any desire to become U.S. citizens."

"The Department of Health and Human Services has just handed out a $3.1 million PR contract to improve the public image of Obamacare. ... 

"Obama officials insist the ads won’t be political, but critics recall that just before the 2010 midterm election, HHS spent $3.2 million on 'educational' TV ads praising Obamacare. ... 

"At no point since its passage has Obamacare been viewed favorably by more than 45 percent of voters, and the latest Kaiser Family Health Foundation poll pegs its nationwide support at only 37 percent."

"Imagine what the media reaction would be if in the aftermath of yesterday’s Senate vote blocking new background checks, a leading official of the gun lobby had explained his side’s success by saying: 'Bribery isn’t what it once was. The government has no money. Once upon a time you would throw somebody a post office or a research facility in times like this. Frankly, there's not a lot of leverage.' Washington would be in full outrage mode, and there would be demands to find out who had made such an offensive claim.

"Of course, no such pro-gun official has said any such thing. ...
 
"If the pro-gun-control official cited in Politico is right, the current government sequester is working — Washington has less money for bribes. The spending spree that liberals (in both parties) have luxuriated in over the past decade has had a perverse side effect: People used to having their pockets lined turn a cold shoulder when the cash flow slows down."

"The president raged. The mayor of New York frothed. Joe Biden cried. But at the end of the day, common sense prevailed. The Senate killed the effort to unreasonably expand background checks for buyers of guns.
 
"The measure is not quite graveyard dead; it can be brought up again, but prospects for that are remote. The vote was a bone-jarring setback for the gun-control lobby, and a decisive victory for the National Rifle Association (NRA), which led the fight to protect the rights of all. It was most of all a resounding victory for the plain and simple language of the Second Amendment to the Constitution, 'A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.'"

"The Senate will vote Wednesday afternoon on what could be the biggest changes in U.S. gun laws in nearly 20 years. 
 
"Senators will take up the proposal from Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) to expand background checks on firearm purchases and close the so-called gun show loophole. The bipartisan plan is likely the strongest gun control bill that can pass this Congress, although it’s far weaker than the White House and many Democrats hoped for. ... 

"Voting on the Manchin-Toomey proposal is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m., and both opponents and supporters say the margin is razor thin at this point."

"Once again, innocent American citizens going about their business on American soil have been targeted for attack. On a Marathon Monday in spring, Boston joined the grim roll of American cities and sites bloodied by terror: New York, Washington, Oklahoma City, Shanksville, Ft. Hood and so on. And it’s not over, given that the numbers of dead and wounded continue to mount.  

"The question on every American mind yesterday was the obvious one: Who? 

"Looking back at how wrong speculation has proved before in attacks from the DC sniper to the Times Square bomber, it’s worth waiting for the facts to come in. Better to place our confidence in the men and women in our law-enforcement and intelligence agencies. So long as they are allowed to do their jobs, we have no doubt that they will find out the truth of these attacks."