Must Reads

David Von Ebers: Why I Can't Stand Bob Woodward

Paige Lavender: David Axelrod To Bob Woodward: Why Didn't You Say 'Don't Threaten Me?'

The Rude Pundit: Random Observations on Yesterday's Supreme Court Hearing on a Challenge to the Voting Rights Act

Bob Cesca: Secretary Kerry Has Balls of Steel

Chez Pazienza: Down the Outrage Hole (Again)

Must Reads

Mr. Brink: Glenn Beck: Progressives Have Infiltrated The WWE

Chez Pazienza: This Week in Republican Stupid

The Rude Pundit: Let Us Now Praise Skeletor for He Has Made Florida Suck a Little Less

Charles Pierce: The Shame of The Sham Shaman

Steve M.: Douthat: The Permanently Underemployed Have All The Luck

Driftglass: The Both Sides Duet

Abby Zimet: Choked To Death On Waste

Must Reads

Charles Pierce: An Anniversary You Won't See On Television

Joy-Ann Reid: Four things that are true (even if Republicans don’t want them to be)

Mark Leccese: Scott Brown's Twitter trouble

Steve Benen: 'Ardent fans of the U.S. military'

Chez Pazienza: Stay Classy, Assholes

Alex Seitz-Wald: Memo to Mamet: Stick to plays

The Rude Pundit: Hispanic Republicans to White Republicans: You Can Still Be Jerks, Just Not Such Big Jerks

Definition of the Week

lib·er·tar·i·an (noun): just a fancy catch-all word [these days] for an asshole who’s pompously aligned him or herself with an impressive-sounding but entirely BS political movement in an effort to lend legitimacy to and to outright excuse selfish, asshole-ish behavior.

Brought to you by Chez Pazienza in describing Fox News hack John Stossel.

Must Reads

Brian Beutler: Why The GOP’s Payroll Tax Cut Cave Is An Even Bigger Deal Than You Think

Chez Pazienza: An Open Letter to CNN Regarding Nancy Grace

E.J. Dionne: Romney’s big problem: A missing aura of electability

Eugene Robinson: Drumming up a phony war on religion

Jason Linkins: Mitt Romney Causes CNN Debate Cancellation, Does Something Great For America

Evan McMorris-Santoro: How The GOP Went Back To The 1950s In Just One Day

Paul Krugman: Moochers Against Welfare

Must Reads

Sideline Music Magazine: CD-format to be abandoned by major labels by the end of 2012

Karoli: Deadbeat Dad Rep. Joe Walsh Honored by Family Research Council For Family Values

Chez Pazienza: Assistant Quote of the Day

Eugene Robinson: In GOP debate, Rick Perry wasn’t alone in not making sense

Ruth Marcus: The consistently inconsistent Mitt Romney

The Rude Pundit: Election Lesson: Republicans Learn That Americans Aren't Quite as Crazy as They Are

Must Reads

Nicholas Schmidle: Getting Bin Laden

Jonathan Capehart: The Tea Party Isn’t Interested in Governing

Steven Leningston: Beware of Dangerous Politicians

Extreme Liberal: The Debt Hostage Crisis And Paul Krugman’s Political Naiveté

Michael Muskal: Two Republicans Rethink Racially Tinged Remarks

The New Deal: Thank a Union: 36 Ways Unions Have Improved Your Life

Jason Whitely: Slave Cemetery Revealed by Texas Drought

The Rude Pundit: Why Michelle Malkin Should Be Caged Like a Rabid Shih Tzu (Teacher Edition)

Chez Pazienza: Fight or Flight

Must Reads

Chez Pazienza: A Debt if Attitude

Joshua Holland: The Utterly Wrong Beltway Myth Driving the Debt Ceiling Insanity

Robert Brockway: 5 Amazing Abandoned Wastelands ... Within Walking Distance

Eric Boehlert: Peggy Noonan Loses It

Deaniac83: John Conyers Owes the President an Apology

Steven D at BooMan Tribune: Juan Williams: Hannity Dishonest on Debt Ceiling

Alec Baldwin: It's Time To Suck It Up And Pay Our Bill

The Rude Pundit: We Lose Because We Don't Just Lie Like The Right Does

ADDED: Paul Begala: How Republicans Screwed the Pooch

Must Reads

Paul Krugman: Vouchercare Is Not Medicare

Extreme Liberal: I Wish Weiner Had “Sexted” Ginni Thomas – Maybe The Media Would Cover Justice Thomas’ Corruption

Mark Howard: 10 Reasons Andrew Breitbart Should Apologize (Or Just Shut Up and Go Away)

Evan McMorris-Santoro: Progressives Call On Democrats To Show Some Spine After Weiner Scandal

The Rude Pundit: A Note to Chris Christie and Mitch Daniels on the Subject of Federal Funding and States' Rights

Chez Pazienza: Pic of the Litter

Must Reads

William K. Wolfrum: Want A U.S. Passport? Not So Fast, Tell Us About Your Mom and Work History

Oliver Willis: Rush Limbaugh Is Racist, Here Are 46 Examples

Chez Pazienza: Quote of the Day

Jason Linkins: Donald Trump Should Receive The Same Scrutiny He Sought For Barack Obama

Jason Linkins: CNN's Ed Henry Asks Jay Carney Birther Questions 1 Day After CNN Broadcasts 'Definitive Investigation'

NY Times Editorial: A Certificate of Embarrassment

Andrew Postman: Looks Like Trump's Right: How the Hell Did This President Get Into Those Ivy League Schools?

Susie Madrak: Oh, Orrin? Why Won't You Listen To Millionaires Who Want To Pay Higher Taxes?

Doug Mataconis: Of Course The Birthers Aren’t Satisfied

Paul Klenk: With Clever Use of Stickers, Jerome Corsi Revises Title and Cover of "Where's The Birth Certificate?"

Eric Shoenberg: How I Paid Only 1% of My Income in Federal Income Tax

Dan Rather: ...And In Other News

Steve Benen: So Much For Mr. Serious

Must Reads

Chez Pazienza: Why We (Don't) Suck

Tim Dickinson: The Case for Obama

Jay Rosen: “I’m committed to the destruction of the old media guard.” ABC News and Andrew Breitbart

Nicholas Kristof: Mr. Obama, It's Time For Some Poetry

Gerald E. Scrose: Responding to a Rich American Who Says: "I Can Afford Higher Taxes. But They’ll Make Me Work Less.”

Senator Bernie Sanders: MSNBC's Disgrace

William Saletan: Pelosi's Triumph - Democrats didn't lose the battle of 2010. They won it.

JHW22 recommends...

Mark Morford: Letter to a Whiny Young Democrat

Must Reads

Chez Pazienza: I, Sanchez

Dana Milbank: Conspiracy theorists find validation from Glenn Beck

Jackie Calmes: Activism of Thomas’s Wife Could Raise Judicial Issues

Bob Herbert: Policy at Its Worst

Gail Collins: Awful, Awfuler, Awfulest

Must Reads

Jann S. Wenner: Obama in Command: The Rolling Stone Interview

Dave Weigel: So Long, Jerk: Why liberals will be glad to see Rahm Emanuel go.

Carol H., Blue Jersey: Open Letter to Chris Christie on Hydraulic Fracturing

Angry Black Lady: Firedoglake Craziness: There is Something Wrong When I Agree with Fellow Oberlin Grad Michelle Malkin

Gail Collins: The Terrible Election Race Race

The Rude Pundit: James O'Keefe: Lowering the Bar to Subterranean

Chez Pazienza: Comment of the Week

JHW22 recommends...

Frank Schaeffer: Obama Critics, Admit You Were Wrong

Must Reads

Michael Winship: The Right Manipulates Muslims – and Boy Scouts

Media Matters: Conservative Media Oblivious to Major Increase in Border Enforcement

Digby: Confederate Rump Strategy

driftglass: Tough Break for Handjob

Armadillo Joe recommends...

Capt. Fogg: Muslims Hate Dogs

Anthony Bourdain: The Original (Goodbye Splendor)

Chez Pazienza: Laugh'a While You Can, Monkeyboy

Ian Welsh: Netroots Schizo

Justin Elliott: FBI Releases 400-page Howard Zinn File

David Sirota: The Deception of Real-World "Inception"

Jon Walker: Conservatives Promote Feasting on a Dairy Cow

Taegen Goddard's Political Dictionary: Snollygoster

And an oldie but a goodie...

Steve Gilliard: About Yesterday

Must Reads

Joan Walsh: The Shame of Right-Wing "Journalism"

Bob Cesca: Fooled Again by Breitbart and the Wingnut Right

BooMan: Why Palin Won't Run for President

Political Party Pooper: How Corporatist-Conservative Policy Destroyed The American Economy

Chez Pazienza: Right and Wrong

Batocchio: The Five Circles of Conservative Hell

Elvis Dingeldein: I LOVE BEING TAKEN SERIOUSLY... or, No Real Public Person Should Follow Me On Twitter

Bob Herbert: Thrown to the Wolves

Armadillo Joe recommends...

driftglass: The Negrological Constant REDUX and Who's Next?

Timothy B. Lee: Freeways and the Decline of St. Louis

Matt Johnson: Parking Takes Up Space

Joan Walsh: The Civil Rights Heroism of Charles Sherrod

Must Reads

Gin and Tacos: An Open Letter to Tim Pawlenty

Joe Conason: Republicans revive a debate they lost, badly

Chez Pazienza: The Notorious "Big"

Glenn Greenwald: The lynch-mob mentality

Derrick Z. Jackson: The double standard at CBS

Ezra Klein: It's just you, Democrats

Gail Collins: No Holds Barred

Must Reads - UPDATED

David Weigel: Why I Don’t Write About Sarah Palin’s Facebook Posts

The Rude Pundit: A Few Random Thoughts Regarding the Tone of Debate in the Senate

Maureen Dowd: Is There a Real McCain?

Paul Krugman: Tidings of Comfort

Timothy Egan: Profiles in Cowardice

Adding...

BooMan: The Anti-Corporatist Movement

Chez Pazienza: The Unfriendly Skies

Wendell Potter: Why I'm Not Joining the Call to "Kill the Bill"