• “I probably shouldn’t have said that.” CNN’s new conservative contributor, Erick Erickson of RedState.com, has said a lot of crazy crap in his day, and when put on point by Reliable Sources guy Howard Kurtz (also of The Washington Post, and one of our smart people), he kind of falls apart, hilariously. He called David Souter a “goat #(&@(&@ child molester,” which he refers to as the “dumbest thing I’ve ever done.” You know, he might actually be an entertaining part of CNN’s programming.

• 106k number of people currently on waiting lists for a new organ, mostly kidneys
• 92% of people who die yearly waiting for organs they were waiting for others to donate
• $$$ what could encourage more organ donations for people who need them source

• $1
  million amount paid for a near-mint copy of “Action Comics No. 1” in January; that’s kinda super
• $1.5
  million amount paid for a mint copy of “Action Comics No. 1” earlier this week; that’s very super source

• I am sorry that my recent public recollection of those discussions of 15 years ago inaccurately reflected your thinking on some specific social issues in the military. To be clear, the failure on the ground in Srebrenica was in no way the fault of the individual soldiers.
• Former NATO Supreme Allied Commander John Sheehan • Regarding some comments he made about Dutch soldiers last week. He claimed that European armies had been weakened by those who tried to “socialize” them (a.k.a. allow gay soldiers), and specifically mentioned the Srebrenica massacre, a 1995 atrocity where a small group of Dutch peacekeepers were ambushed by Serbian soldiers – an attack that led to the deaths of over 7,000 Muslims men and boys, as well as the resignation of many Dutch leaders in 2002. Sheehan’s comments sparked such outrage that a defamation suit was threatened against him – well, until this apology was accepted not long after Sheehan wrote it. source

• NO no word on whether China straight-up blocked it yet source

• The subject of iconic ’80s flick “Stand and Deliver,” Escalante took his innovative teaching techniques to a rough-and-tumble East L.A. school, and got 14 students to pass a super-tough AP Calculus exam – a feat so incredible the students were accused of cheating. In reality, dude built a math program so amazing that, even though he didn’t get along with the administration, teachers across the country studied his techniques. The Edward James Olmos portrayal was just icing. He died of cancer today at 79. source

• So, Pope Benedict’s got 99 problems, and a cover-up is one. The Pope is in the middle of one massive modern scandal, one which has already tapped his shoulder personally. He should consider his next move carefully, because he’s looking just like Richard Nixon right now. Here’s how (we ganked most of this from an Atlantic article, by the way, but we figure they won’t mind):

First way: What did he know, anyway?

• Nixon While he wasn’t involved with
  the Watergate scandal directly,
  his White House denied the scandal even after finding out, claiming
  they had “no knowledge” of what took place that fateful night.
• Benedict While nobody’s claiming he committed any abuse himself, he reportedly found out about the scandal while a cardinal. The Vatican claims “no knowledge”; sound familiar?

Second way: The cover-up

• It’s not the crime that gets you… it’s the cover up.
• Former President Richard Nixon • Regarding the Watergate scandal, which ultimately was a fairly minor case in the grand scheme of things. If he came clean early and fixed the problem, he would’ve been fine! Similarly, the Pope could’ve saved himself a lot of grief if he had dealt with the incidents on his watch – a Wisconsin sex abuse case and a German priest’s case (which, admittedly, he may not have known about). The lesson here? Deal with things when first happen; they hurt less.

Third way: Shooting the messenger

• Nixon During the scandal, Nixon held a very negative opinion of the press, claiming “the press is the enemy” to his long-suffering aides.
• Pope Over the weekend, the dude said he won’t be “intimidated by petty gossip.” His aides made even more direct attacks on the media.

Fourth way: Thinking you’re infallible

• The Pope is believed to be infallible; Nixon only thought he was. One thing that Pope Benedict has over Richard Nixon is papal infallibility, a concept that many misunderstand. He’s infallible on specific dogmatic matters – matters which probably don’t include sex scandals. Nixon, on the other hand, famously claimed in 1977 that “When the President does it, that means that it is not illegal.” Too bad the Supreme Court disagreed with him. source

• My hope is that as we move forward and we’re tackling things like the deficit, imposing a freeze on domestic spending, taking steps that show we are sincere about dealing with our long-term problems, that some of that group will dissipate.
• President Barack Obama • Discussing, with great care, the Tea Party, which largely views him with disdain. While realizing some of them are on the fringe and tough to court, he does feel that he can win over some of the moderate members with firm economic policies. “I think that there’s a broader circle around that core group of people who are legitimately concerned about the deficit, who are legitimately concerned that the federal government may be taking on too much,” he said. source