The FBI has released its annual report, Crime in America. For the third year in a row, violent crime is down. This is the 7th year that property crimes have declined.

The 2009 statistics show that the estimated volumes of violent and property crimes declined 5.3 percent and 4.6 percent, respectively, when compared with the 2008 estimates. The violent crime rate for the year was 429.4 offenses per 100,000 inhabitants (a 6.1 percent decrease from the 2008 rate), and the property crime rate was 3,036.1 per 100,000 persons (a 5.5 percent decrease from the 2008 figure).

The full report is here. A summary is here. [More...]

At Powerline, Paul Mirengoff defends himself from attacks from Mark Levin:

Earlier this week, Mark Levin responded to one of my posts about the Delaware Senate primary. In that post, I noted that, in 2006, leftist activists supported less than reliably liberal Democratic candidates like Ben Nelson and were rewarded for their flexibility with the passage of Obamacare. I then argued that, by supporting Christine O'Donnell in the Delaware Senate primary despite the likelihood (demonstrated by polls) that she would lose the general election, whereas her centrist opponent in the primary would likely win, certain Republican activists are being less astute than leftists like Markos Moulitsas were in 2006.

This battle stems from the possibility that Mike Castle will be defeated in the GOP Senate primary in Delaware by Tea Partier Christine O'Donnell, putting a lock GOP pickup with Castle into the likely Dem hold category. O'Donnell would join Sharron Angle in Nevada, Joe Miller in Alaska and Rand Paul in Kentucky, in putting races that would have been GOP walkovers into a much more competitive state. It's an interesting strategic dilemma for activists. After all, Mike Castle appears not to agree too much with the Tea Party movement. Why shouldn't they support the candidate espousing their views? The issue is Delaware - a blue state that is an unlikely place for a Tea Party triumph (strangely enough, the Tea Party celebrated Scott Brown's win in Massachusetts, even though Brown is pretty much where Castle is on the issues.) I'll discuss the activist strategy on the flip.

For 20 months now, Beltway Dems have derided the bully pulpit of the Presidency. Let this be Exhibit A:

House Minority Leader John Boehner says he would vote for President Obama's plan to extend tax cuts only for middle-class earners, not the wealthy, if that were the only option available to House Republicans.

Boehner, R-Ohio, said it is "bad policy" to exclude the highest-earning Americans from tax relief during the recession, and later Sunday he accused the White House of "class warfare." But he said he wouldn't block the breaks for middle-income individuals and families if Democrats won't support the full package.

(Emphasis supplied.) Lessons learned about political bargaining one hopes.

Speaking for me only

The MTV Video Music Awards open with Eminem. The sets are pretty awesome.

Here comes Chelsea Handler and Lindsay Lohan. Jokes about drunks, not too funny. Now Chelsea drops onto the stage from a cage wearing a house on her head. A white dove flies out from her shorts. The glitter costume comes off and she looks much better in a short black dress. She didn't drink but is as high as a kite from a prayer circle with Snoop Dog. It's the first time the awards have been hosted by a woman. She encourages everyone to be on their worst behavior. She has sawed off shotguns in her purse, security didn't check her because she's not black.

The White Carpet arrivals are almost over. Lady Gaga 's dress is by Alexander McQueen. She's attending with gay veterans.

Lots of short black and dark blue dresses with dark purple sheens.

The Jersey Shore cast arrived early. Snooki looks cute and round.

Some awards were just announced. Lady Gaga won for Best Dance Video (Bad Romance) and Best Collaberation (Telephone) [More...]

It's a beautiful day here, I'm headed out to enjoy it. I hope to be back for the "white carpet" at the MTV Video Music Awards.

Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

Afghan soldiers have killed two protesters during a protest of the Terry Jones' planned Quran burning.

The protesters in Logar chanted "Death to America" and burned tires, attacked several shops and set election campaign posters on fire, Amin said.

...In a country where most people have limited access to newspapers, television and the Internet, many Afghans seemed unaware of Jones' decision to call off the Quran burning.

More here.

CBS News interviews Eric Holder about criticism during his tenure as Attorney General and his decision to try the 9/11 Defendants in federal court.

"No, I'm not tone-deaf. But I understand what the nature of being Attorney General is. I don't have the same latitude that other politicians might have, to put my finger up to the wind and figure out what's going to be popular. So it's not tone deafness. It's a commitment to justice and a commitment to the law. It is not tone deafness," Holder said. "I think that is a criticism that is fundamentally unfair and political in nature," he added.

Teresa Lewis didn't pull the trigger. She confessed, pleaded guilty and cooperated with authorities. She has an IQ of 70, right on the border of mental retardation. She has no prior criminal record, and no prior history of violence. The triggermen in the murder got life without parole. Yet she's scheduled to die by lethal injection. She is the first female sentenced to death in Virginia since 1912.

John Grisham weighs in. A writer in the Sydney Morning Herald says Iran does not have a monopoly on barbarism and reminds the U.S. that humanity begins at home.

The execution is set for September 23. Save Teresa Lewis. More here.

Josh Gerstein has a long piece at Politico on Obama and crime policy.

Shorter version: Don't look to Obama for help in making the crack cocaine penalty reductions retroactive to help those already serving the unfair, draconian sentences:

Asked whether Obama might grant requests to commute the sentences of those who would have gotten less punishment if they committed their crimes today, an administration official said the crack-disparity bill “reflected Congress’s judgment that the law should not be retroactive, [and] the President believes that the Fair Sentencing Act will go a long way toward ensuring that our sentencing laws are tough, consistent, and fair.”

The official also downplayed the notion Obama might offer some kind of blanket clemency for earlier crack-cocaine offenders, saying that “as a general matter, the President agrees with the Department of Justice’s long-held view that commutation is an extraordinary remedy that should only be granted in extraordinary circumstances.”

Obama has been in office 18 months and not granted a single pardon or clemency.

Los Angeles is gearing up for tomorrow night's MTV Video Music Awards. Lady Gaga is up for 13 awards. She's nominated twice in the music video of the year category, for Telephone and Video Phone. "Telephone" is a video of her getting thrown in jail. Beyonce bonds her out, and then they go on a homicidal rage killing people in a diner. Thelma and Louise, it's not.

Beyonce is nominated five times for her video, Video Phone, made with....Lady Gaga. (Both videos are also up in the Best Collaboration category.)Then there's the Glitter Queen, Ke$ha, who is up for three awards, including Best Female Video, Best Pop Video and Best New Artist for "Tik Tok." I am clueless as to how it counts either as music or award material. What am I missing? [More...]

President Obama addressed the nation today on the 9/11 anniversary. His message: Stay true to who we are as Americans.

“The highest honor we can pay those we lost, indeed our greatest weapon in this ongoing war, is to do what our adversaries fear the most – to stay true to who we are, as Americans; to renew our sense of common purpose; to say that we define the character of our country, and we will not let the acts of some small band of murderers who slaughter the innocent and cower in caves distort who we are,” he said.

Thoughts?