Tuesday Links

• Gene Healy on the role of the presidency in the BP oil spill:

When Hurricane Katrina hit, liberals who had spent years calling President Bush a tyrant suddenly decided he wasn't authoritarian enough when he hesitated to declare himself generalissimo of New Orleans and muster the troops for a federal War on Hurricanes.

Now the party of "drill, baby, drill" -- the folks who warn that Obama's a socialist -- is screaming bloody murder because he's letting the private sector take the lead in the well-capping operation. It's almost enough to make a guy cynical about politics.

• A man in Maryland is facing felony charges today. His crime? Recording a traffic stop with a video camera. It's time to change Maryland's wiretapping laws.

• Rethinking Darfur: A new study examines policy proposals to helping a devastated land.

• Podcast: "The Trouble with Comstock" featuring Roger Pilon.