I'm back and ready to roll. But the conservative blogosphere is still a bit quiet today -- probably recovering from the turkey and tryptophan-induced hangovers. Nevertheless, here's what's going on in the conservative sphere ...

Rangeling toward the draft
Right Angle's Amanda Carpenter writes, "(Charlie) Rangel is willing to involuntarily subject men and women to violence via the draft for political gain, in hopes his efforts will motivate a larger, liberal anti-war base."

McQ of Qand0 opines: "While Charlie Rangel may be a veteran, he seems to not understand, or have forgotten, that people join the military for a wide variety of reasons. For some it is a rite of passage. A family tradition. My family has 4 generations straight who've served. I'd call them as bright as anyone and they didn't join and fight because of 'a bonus and just because of educational benefits'..."

Rob at Say Anything sees a pattern: "First Kerry’s comments, now this. Every time one of these guys open their mouths it becomes more and more clear how Democrats really feel about the military."

Meanwhile, Tim Kane of Heritage Foundation rebuts Rangel's claim by posting the actual demographics of U.S. military recruits.

Covering 2008 in 2006 ...
Matthew Naugle of Right Angle Blog (no relation to Human Events) writes: "It is amazing to see how Mitt Romney has been in a full sprint to the right, in order to win over primary voters. But Mitt can't run fast enough to escape his lengthy record." Ankle Biting Pundit's Bull Dog Pundit adds, "Mitt Romney has pretty much showed his hand on his strategy to win the 2008 GOP nomination. He’s going to try running as the 'conservative' candidate, and wants to paint John McCain and Rudy Giuliani as the pretenders to that particular throne. Another contender for the conservative crown making news last week (he had a big story in the WaPost was Senator Sam Brownback. As Captain Ed of Captain's Quarter's writes: "Brownback doesn't look promising as the Great Conservative Hope."

RedState's Erick thinks Romney and McCain may be peaking too soon: "Most political consultants would tell you if you start hard as early as these two have, you may peak too soon -- you may garner as much attention as possible only to see voters tune you out as newer 'shinier' candidates come on the scene later. One must wonder if Rudy Giuliani is banking on this strategy."

The Mormon question ...
David French of Evangelicals for Mitt thinks the media's obsessed with Mitt Romney's faith is a double-standard: "Why are we not seeing similar questions and demands directed at Democratic supporters of Harry Reid? After all, as the single-most politically powerful Mormon in the history of the United States (instead of a presidential candidate currently trailing in the polls to better-known Republicans), shouldn't he be getting all the religious scrutiny right now? Why doesn't the media obsess over his faith?"

NOW hates breast implants ...
InkWell's Charlotte Allen observes: "Just because the FDA, following a raft of medical studies, has discovered no link between the implants and a host of claimed disabilities ranging from rheumatoid arthritis to chronic exhaustion, that doesn’t mean the ladies from NOW are giving up. They’ve uncovered a brand-new claimed problem with the implants: "toxic platinum" that supposedly shows up in the breast milk of women with implants ..."

Breakdown, go ahead and give it to me ...
Still thinking about the '06 elections? John Hawkins of Right Wing News links to the NY Times posting of a "breakdown of exit polling data that goes from 1982 all the way to the present."

Putin's the new Stalin?
Regarding Alexander Litvinenko -- the former KGB spy who was poisoned -- Dan Flynn of FlynnFiles writes: "The new Russia, since the departure of Boris Yelstin, has increasingly resembled the old Russia. Sure, there's a major difference in scale. But critics of Putin, like critics of Stalin, have a peculiar way of ending up dead--or near dead."

Looking ahead to 2010 in Ohio ...
Viking Spirit Blog writes: "I think Kasich will be a great candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2010, if George Voinovich retires or not."

Kramer meets 21st century technology ...
American Spectator's Paul Beston writes: "It has been pointed out that (Michael) Richards is apologizing only because the incident was captured on tape. If it were not for the You-Tubing of America, the pressure on him to apologize would be infinitely less. It was only when millions of people were able to view the incident that some public statement became necessary."