The massive corruption bust in New Jersey is one more negative for Gov. Jon Corzine, who saw a cabinet official’s home raided and some close political allies snared. “The arrests could not have come at a worse time for Corzine, who has trailed Christie in recent polls by 12 to 15 percentage points. President Obama visited the state last week in a bid to rally enthusiasm among Democratic voters. ‘Clearly, this is negative for Corzine,’ said Brigid Harrison, a political science professor at Montclair State University. ‘Because so many of the elected officials are Democrats, this gives the Republican opposition cannon fodder to paint Corzine with the brush of Democratic Party corruption.'”

Nothing we can do to affect events in Iran? Poppycock. Eli Lake reports on the latest legislation co-sponsored by Sens. John McCain and Joe Lieberman: “Targeting the repressive methods of what one senator called a ‘cruel regime,’ the U.S. Senate has authorized up to $50 million to help Iranians evade their government’s attempts to censor the Internet and to pressure foreign corporations not to help Iran clamp down on communication.”

Michael Goodwin on Gates-gate: “In fact, there is no evidence of a racial component other than that Gates is black and Crowley is white. Not every mixed-race argument, even one involving the police, automatically qualifies as a racial incident. Obama, by linking the case to the historically legitimate issue of police abuse of minorities, gave it a gravity it doesn’t deserve. Even worse, making that linkage suggests he buys Gates’ unsupported claim that Crowley’s actions were racist. On what evidence?” Obama doesn’t need evidence; he is teaching us.

Brit Hume says Obama “couldn’t bring himself to apologize” to Sergeant Crowley despite the fact that he “travels the world apologizing for his country.” Bill Kristol is blunt: “He is an arrogant man.”

Another voice warns that Obama is overexposed: “Yes, the President of the United States has become omnipresent on the tube, most recently talking about health-care reform, the deficit and race in his address to the nation on Wednesday night. The hour-long broadcast was his fourth prime-time presidential press conference. But he is risking the possibility of turning off the media — and, in turn, the nation — by continuously failing to make detailed proposals. He has to do more than show up.”

Sen. Mitch McConnell confirms there are no Republican senators who support the public option.

Sen. Kent Conrad says they can’t pass health-care reform without Republican votes. Well, that would mean the public option is a goner.

Rep. Jim Cooper says Nancy Pelosi doesn’t have the votes to pass the liberal Democrats’ health-care bill.

Now this is atrocious marketing: Pelosi tells us health care is another stimulus bill. Right. And since that worked out so splendidly, we should do it again?

Greg Mankiw on CBO’s insistence on playing it straight with the cost of ObamaCare: “Damn that CBO! They keep killing all these great ideas with, like, analysis and numbers and all that stuff. Everything would work out just fine if only they would close their eyes, click their heels together three times, and say, ‘There is no policy like reform . . . there is no policy like reform.”

Pro-Zelaya protests fizzle.

Hillary Clinton tells Moscow to ignore crazy Joe Biden. Well, everyone else does.