The Rundown

• Here is a pretty good, reasonable, level-headed analysis of the entire Scott Beauchamp controversy over at Slate.
• Speaking of level-headed analysis, here is Mark Kleiman on No Child Left Behind.
• Ruben Navarrette of the San Diego Union-Tribune defends Obama’s much-maligned foreign policy prescriptions. TPM’s Reed Hundt has more.
• Paul Sonne argues for Foreign Policy that the IOC should do a better job of selecting Olympic sites.
• Things continue to heat up between Russia and Georgia.

The Rundown

• Foreign Policy‘ s Passport blog argues that Condoleezza Rice is well on her way to becoming a Powell-esque failure as Secretary of State.
• Newt Gingrich goes off on an amusing/frightening rant at an American Spectator breakfast.
• Anne Applebaum argues that Vladimir Putin benefits politically from doing nothing about corruption and criminality in Russia.
• More anthropogenic climate change evidence in Nature.
• The VA is being sued by a group of Iraq veterans claiming that mismanagement and incompetence has prevented them from obtaining medical care.
• Daniel Benjamin and Steven Simon argue in the NYT that the CIA should take charge of the counterterrorism operations that the military has repeatedly bungled.
• Gene Sperling makes a case that stagnant/declining American funding for scientific research could spark a crisis in the near future.
• Greg Mankiw posts on a Becker-Posner Blog tip I emailed him, but doesn’t show me any love. Oh well. I got a thank you email at least.