Ole, ole ole ola, Lula, Lula, and today's items

Brazil's Lula captures a second term. At Publius Pundit, A. M. Mora y Leon comments,

In fact, I get the feeling that the fact that Brazil's seeing the best growth it's seen in years and the absence of a crisis might very well be the reason why sensible Brazilians reelected Lula. If all the other leaders you elected gave you whipsaw gutwrenching rollercoastering economic crises and this one didn't . . . wouldn't you want to leave good enough alone.

Comings Communique has the questions:

A few issues I see on the horizon:

1. Will Lula take a stand against the virulent leftism of Hugo Chavez and Evo Morales, or will he continue to be their plaything?

2. As he moves into his next term, will his overwhelming majority cause him to move in an increasingly leftist direction, or will he continue to defend the freedoms people have by and large enjoyed in his first term?

3. Will he make fighting crime a serious priority?

4. Will he participate in the fight against worldwide radical Islam, or will he continue to look the other way and pretend the problem doesn’t exist right under his nose.

This second term could be one of outstanding achievements, or it could be time to pay the piper. We shall see.

At the blogs
Bob Casey, Jr. Owes America An Apology

Blackface, again: What in the hell is wrong with the left today? It's OK for the Left to do this stuff but the Dems want to hang George Allen for having a Confederate flag in his dorm room 30 years ago, and for saying "macaca", a word I'd never heard in my 30 years of living in the Continental US. What's good for the goose is good for the gander.

Calling out the NYT

Via Instapundit, Burchismo ponders progress.

From Larwyn
Blitzer: We Show Snuff Films But Don't Question Our Patriotism! Let's Face It... Democrats Make America Weak

Just The Numbers, Please: The Bush-Rove-Mehlman Political Legacy