Kettle River, originally uploaded by FranklinPhotos.

Rep. Pete Hoekstra of Michigan came to our Conservative Bloggers’ Briefing today at Heritage. To put it simply, he was awesome. I’ll write more about Hoekstra later this week; I wanted to highlight a few other things that came up today. First of all, if you live in the Washington, D.C., area I hope you’ll check out the film “Indoctrinate U” at the Kennedy Center this Friday. Secondly, Steve Milloy of JunkScience.com has increased the prize money to $125,000 for anyone who can prove humans cause global warming. I wrote about the challenge last month.

• A Defining Moment РMitt Romney, National Review Online
• Iranian Free Speech: Only in America РNewt Gingrich, Human Events
• Columbia speeches fiery РAmy Fagan, Washington Times
• Southern Discomfort РJames Jay Carafano, American Legion
• Leadership Concerns Follow DHS Deputy Out the Door РEleanor Stables, CQ

• Bush, Democrats spar on spending РAssociated Press
• Spending bills РEditorial, Las Vegas Review-Journal
• Bush Admin. urges Social Security fix РMartin Crutsinger, AP
‚Ä¢ Fiscal policy group follows MoveOn’s lead – Chris Frates, Politico
‚Ä¢ Caps Off for Obama – Editorial, Investor’s Business Daily

• Stop pandering; What we want is candor РDaniel Allott, Politico
• Why No Republican Mashup Debate? РPatrick Ruffini
• Voter ID at the Supreme Court РEditorial, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
• Hispanic Children, Getting Left Behind РIsrael Ortega, El Diario
• A Coming Crime Wave? РPeter Wehner, Contentions