WHO DAT NEW ORLEANS!

– We didn’t think we’d go out like this. Krugman: “Instead of re-enacting the decline and fall of Rome, we’re re-enacting the dissolution of 18th-century Poland.”

– Politics and football: as American as global power projection. America Bowl breaks down the relationships: 44 presidents, 44 Superbowls (via Andrew Sullivan).

– Since winning an election, Hamas has been unable to govern responsibly. Or really govern at all. Michael Herzog in Foreign Affairs:

Constantly torn between its ideology as an Islamist jihadi movement and its responsibilities as a governing authority in the Gaza Strip, Hamas has proven unwilling to transform itself. The result has been an ongoing ideological and political crisis for Hamas and, more generally, the Palestinian Authority.

– The Air Force is canceling new systems left and right across the board and turning to old models with life extensions, such as the C-17, C-5, and the HH-60 for CSAR operations. War is Boring lays out why the CSAR-X cancellation probably isn’t a good thing.