I tend to agree that if a young person gets on an international flight, not only with no checked luggage but no carry ons that suggest he plans on ever getting off the plane, that is sort of a tip off. But in these cases, I always wonder: Isn’t it or why isn’t it part of terrorist best practices to just bring some phony luggage? With all the trouble and subterfuge terrorists have to go to get stuff on planes, this seems fairly straightforward. This isn’t a criticism of the policies. And obviously Abdulmutallab didn’t do this. But in cases like this, I always do wonder: why?

Seems like you sort of do see some stuff.

Of all the compromises the House is having to make on the Senate version of the health care reform bill, the toughest for Nancy Pelosi to swallow is the excise tax on “Cadillac” insurance policies. Brian Beutler has the details.

The Daily Show‘s take on Brit Hume’s proselytizing to Tiger Woods. Watch.

Confused about whether any ex-Gitmo captives were actually involved in the Xmas Bomber plot? Justin Elliott gives us the bottom line on what we really know.

The mischief-makers who set up PeteHoekstra.com as an anti-Hoekstra website have been revealed.

New poll: Democratic Attorney General Richard Blumenthal already way ahead of Connecticut’s GOP Senate candidates. He’s also faring much better than Chris Dodd was against the same Republican candidates.

The Florida attorney and Charlie Crist pal who vigorously denied charges that he was running an elaborate Ponzi scheme out of his law office and continued to live it up in public after being charged has decided to plead guilty.

Yet another great moment from the Global Phrase War. Asked for one specific recommendation for what President Obama could do to make the country more safe from terrorism, Rep. Pete King (R-NY) said his main recommendation would be to use the word ‘terrorism’ more.

Clearly he’s reading from the Rudy playbook.

I mean, I’ve always had a hard time not kind of liking Peter King, partly because of his really brave stand against impeachment back in 1999, and also because he’s just this really outspoken, old-fashioned Irish-American pol who’s sort of a throwback from another age. But man, that’s gotta be the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.

Rep. Earl Pomeroy (D-ND), the state’s only congressman, won’t be running to fill the seat of retiring Sen. Byron Dorgan.