Will the "real" veterans group please come to attention?

WASHINGTON -- On Jan. 9, 1969, Daniel Patrick Moynihan wrote a memo to President-elect Richard Nixon, on whose White House staff Moynihan was to serve. Moynihan wondered whether the disintegration of "private sub-systems of authority" presaged "the ultimate, destructive working out of the telos of liberal thought," in which case "we are moving from Locke to Hobbes." Imagine, if you can, Nixon's furrowed brow.

Here's an exercise for some evening when you're curious about big nationwide trends in this year's elections.

NBC Universal is getting ridiculous with its shameless courting of President Obama. On the morning of Sept. 27, NBC's Matt Lauer interviewed Obama for a half-hour with no commercials. But it wasn't just on NBC. Their devotion to El Jefe is so transparent they aired it live on most of their other cable properties, including MSNBC, USA, Syfy, Bravo, Oxygen, Chiller, Sleuth, Universal HD and Universal Sports.

Led by Sen. George LeMieux, R-Fla., Republicans shut down a Democratic effort to extend unemployment benefits in states with the highest jobless rates.

A Leon County grand jury opted not to investigate the building of the new $48 million 1st District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee.

Florida received a one-month reprieve before the enactment of new regulations for some bodies of water, but state regulators are still looking for flexibility from the federal Environmental Protection Agency in developing new regulations that will govern different bodies of water.