"Monday, while enroute to Washington to speak to hundreds of thousands of people at the March for Life, I was detained by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) for not agreeing to a patdown after an irregularity was found in my full body scan. Despite removing my belt, glasses, wallet and shoes, the scanner and TSA also wanted my dignity. I refused. ... 

"Let me be clear: I neither asked for nor expect any special treatment for being a U.S. senator. In fact, this case is not about me at all. This is about every single one of us and how we are sick of the intrusive nature of our government. ... 

"I refused an unnecessary patdown and stood up for my rights as an American citizen. This is a battle Americans face every time they fly. It is my firm belief that TSA should not have such broad authority to violate our constitutional rights in ineffective and invasive physical searches, thus I will further push for the reinstatement of traveler privacy and rights. I will be proposing legislation that will allow for adults to be rescreened if they so choose."

"There is a near-unanimous sentiment among the high-minded that negative advertising is a bad thing. It pollutes the air even more than carbon dioxide. It breeds cynicism about politics and government. It is somehow unfair. 

"In response, let me say a few words in praise of negative ads. 

"First, elections are an adversarial business, zero-sum games in which only one candidate can win and all the others must lose. Sometimes it’s smart for competitors to concede points to their opponents. But it’s irrational to expect one side to sing consistent praises of the other. ...

"In any case, negative campaigning will persist. Those who enjoy wallowing in negative ads should fly to Florida, find a TV, and keep clicking the remote control."

"Wednesday, the Republican House reconvened to reject Obama’s planned $1.2 trillion debt-ceiling increase. (Lacking Senate concurrence, the debt ceiling will be raised nonetheless.) No one noticed. It made page A16 of the New York Times. All eyes are on South Carolina and Romney’s taxes. 

"This is no mainstream-media conspiracy. This is the GOP maneuvering itself right onto Obama terrain. 

"The president is a very smart man. But if he wins in November, that won’t be the reason. It will be luck. He could not have chosen more self-destructive adversaries."

"Who knows how many potential jobs President Obama killed yesterday when he bowed to hard-core environmental activists and put an indefinite hold on the mammoth Keystone XL oil pipeline?

"Beyond doubt, it was a lot.

"At the same time, he planted a big wet one on his greenie base — which he’ll need to hold on to if he’s to win re-election.

"Obviously, he has his priorities."

"Senator Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat of Vermont and author the Protect IP Act, accused opponents Tuesday of trying to 'stoke fear' through tactics like the Wikipedia blackout. 'Protecting foreign criminals from liability rather than protecting American copyright holders and intellectual property developers is irresponsible, will cost American jobs, and is just wrong,' he said in a statement."

"Obama sold his health care law to the American public as an effective way to bend the health care cost curve down and eliminate the ranks of the uninsured. 

"It won't achieve either goal: Since the law passed, evidence has poured in proving that the PPACA is actually accelerating the growth in the cost of medical care, and that it will not solve the problem of uninsured Americans. 

"The solution: Stop the madness, repeal the legislation, and replace it with a plan that delivers affordable, accessible, quality care for all. Start by implementing reforms that increase both patient autonomy and competition among insurers and providers."

"There’s a very troubled company out there called U.S. Government, Inc. It’s teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. And it badly needs to be taken over and turned around. It probably even needs the services of a good private-equity firm, with plenty of experience and a reasonably good track record in downsizing, modernizing, shrinking staff, and making substantial changes in management. Yes, layoffs will be a necessary part of the restructuring.

"A quick look at the income statement of this troubled firm tells the story. Just in the past year (FY 2011) the firm spent $3.7 trillion, but took in only $2.2 trillion in sales revenues. Hence its deficit came to $1.5 trillion. ...

"... Isn’t a Bainful turnaround exactly what America needs?"

"... It’s a mistake to think that voters who describe themselves as 'conservative' think about politics and react to politicians the same as people who are professionally or avocationally conservative. ...

"In the end, professional and avocational conservatives want a candidate who was in the trenches with them, who speaks their language and whose views resonate with theirs down the line. They want purity. 

"The conservative voter? She doesn’t care all that much about purity. Turns out she wants a winner."

"All six candidates have enough resources to run hard in the next contest, in South Carolina on Jan. 21. Already, five campaigns have placed over $6 million on television in the state, with Mr. Gingrich and Mr. Romney accounting for over $4 million of it. ... 

"South Carolina will be the last chance for several candidates. It will be hard to justify going on after being at the back of the pack in three contests — especially with Florida's 10 expensive media markets and four million registered Republican voters for this closed primary looming at month's end."

"Romney’s chronic flip-flopping political career is teeming with reasons for grassroots conservatives to oppose his nomination — his support for racial preferences and government funding of abortion, liberal judges, global-warming enviro-nitwittery, TARP, auto bailouts, the Obama stimulus, gun control, and, of course, the Massachusetts individual health-insurance mandates that presaged Obamacare. But instead of focusing on his long political record of expedience, incompetent non-Romneys have borrowed from McCain’s 2008 playbook and thrown wealth creators of all kinds who take risks in the private marketplace under the bus.

"With frenemies like these, who needs Democrats?"