SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 10:06 P.M. ET:

AL GORE WILL EXPLAIN – It turns out that a good part of Britain is suffering its coldest summer in almost two decades.  This, of course, is due to global warming.  And Hurricane Irene?  Global warming.  What we need is a Challenger-style commission, presided over by a retired scientist of impeccable reputation, to finally examine what the "science" of global warming is really telling us.  I suspect political forces will make such a commission impossible.  When Al Gore tells us that global-warming skeptics are the equivalent of racists, it's pretty hard to get a commission together to examine the issue.  The labels are already sewn on.

HOUSE GOP TARGETS UN – House Republicans have introduced legislation that would use America's substantial payments to the UN as a club to force changes in the ethically challenged world body.  Among other changes, the proposals would permit the U.S. to fund only programs that it supports.  It's unlikely the bill, even if passed by the House, would win in the Democratically controlled Senate.  The administration opposes the legislation, arguing that it favors reform at the UN, rather than punishment.  The left always says this, but there is never any reform. 

IRAN CLAIMS IT HELPED LIBYAN REBELS – An Iranian official claims that the Tehran regime has been in touch with rebel groups in Libya, and has sent aid to them.  There have been a number of reports of Iranian backing for some rebels, raising the same questions we face in Egypt:  Who are the revolutionaries?  What do they actually want?  President Obama's allies in the media are already claiming Libya as an Obama success, but other observers aren't so sure.  The New York Times reports major schisms among the rebels, with no clear indication of the kind of Libya that will emerge from the fighting.

SARAH'S TRAVEL PLANS – Sarah Palin will be in Iowa this weekend, and it's being reliably reported that she will immediately thereafter fly to New Hampshire.  There is speculation that she may announce her presidential candidacy in one of those two states.  Some pundits are saying that, if she enters the race, she could hurt Rick Perry, since both draw from the same constituency.  Rudy Giuliani meanwhile announced that he has yet to decide whether to run.  Earth to Rudy:  It's getting tiresome.

August 30, 2011