Catchin You (& Me) Up: Provocative Edition

• Who's In Charge Here? We're still not really sure if candidates are really going to have to give back the campaign contributions they received over the old limits. The Supreme Court passed the buck to the Missouri Ethics Commission. The Ethics Commission told candidates they may be in violation of the law. The G.O.P. filed a lawsuit because the commission meeting wasn't "in public." Now the Commission has taken back its decision and starting from scratch. The only thing that could slow this down anymore is to send it to the state legislature to decide.
• MoveOn Already! The United States Senate voted yesterday to denounce an anti-war ad by MoveOn.org that questioned the credibility of the top American commander in Iraq. The ad was harsh, and may have been over the line, but it's also free speech, and kind of predictable from a lefty, anti-war group. So why did the greatest deliberative body in the world get caught up in a cable-talk show scuffle over a straw man? You think Patraeus cares what MoveOn.org says? And how about the soldiers on the ground, going door to door in Anbar? Think they stay up thinking about MoveOn? The debate over the ad distracts from the real fight about troop levels and our long-term commitment. So I'm afraid I'm not outraged by the outrage over the ad. Move on.
• Of Course It Is! Protesters with Pro-vote demonstrated in downtown Springfield yesterday to advocate for a children's health insurance program. They held their event in front of Republican Sen. Kit Bond's office, even though he supports the program. Congress wants to expand the program. The President has called the bill too costly and promised a veto. This is a worthy debate. Ozark resident Richard Green told KY3 News "it's not a political issue, it's not a Republican or Democrat issue." Remember, Bond and Bush support an increase for the program of $5 billion -- just not the increase Democrats want. Some conservatives argue that a better alternative would be to help get the working poor to own their own coverage. Another problem: SCHIP reportedly doesn't reimburse providers well, and those on SCHIP use emergency rooms much more often. So of course this is about politics, and it probably should be.
• Good Tube & Tunes . . . Finally, if you haven't seen the wacky O.J. fan at the cable-covered press conference this week, please, treat yourself. And even though Kanye West says George Bush hates black people, he still knows how to make a wickedly phat album.