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Why we should stop pointing the finger of blame at Washington and instead point it at ourselves.—BK

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A long – long – retrospective of the legendary actor and director's work.—JM

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"Back when she'd just accused wealthy white Duke students of rape, lawyers were volunteering to work for her pro bono should she want to sue for damages. This time around, with a case that's less financially promising, she's relying, according to WRAL.com, on a public defender." Sad, but not surprising.—JM

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Terrorism only works when we're scared; we're only scared when we're constantly convinced when it's working – lucky for terrorists, they have some local help in that department.—JS

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I'd wager that Penn didn't select the title of this piece himself; he strikes me as particularly genial, and this mostly light-hearted offering is no exception.—JM

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Teachers unions might not be able to protect the ineffective and incompetent for very much longer. If that's the case, everybody – apart from the ineffective and the incompetent – wins.—JM

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Here we have everything that's wrong with the American criminal justice system, encapsulated by one juror's experience.—JM

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If I were him, I'd focus my State of the Union only on this stuff - hard to have a sagging approval rating when you're crusading against the greedy megatycoons!—JS

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Interesting allegory, though far from perfect. Some of us are just angry because Leno is an untalented hack who's even less worthy of The Tonight Show job now than he was 18 years ago.—BK

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We try to steer clear of blatantly partisan political links, but since this is a liberal pet issue being advocated by a prominent conservative, I figure it's okay.—BK

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Is all this filibuster bickering unconstitutional? And does it even really matter any more what's constitutional and what isn't?—JS

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A fascinating excerpt from the new book Game Change that reveals the sordid dysfunction inside the John Edwards presidential campaign, and offers yet another lesson in the folly of buying into the public image of any famous person.—BK

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Turns out that Toby Young, that bald English one-trick-pony douchebag from "Top Chef," is actually an excellent writer and an even better cultural critic. Who knew?—JM

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Sounds good to me. (I'm going to guess Joe's 50/50 on this one.)—JS

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I was going to say this is too geeky even for a group of guys who created a fantasy Movie Draft, but is anything too geeky for that? (And, besides, I really do love playing Risk.)—JS

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It's cute how people keep making reasoned, thoughtful arguments about why Palin ought to be dismissed, as though people who genuinely like her would respond to reason or thought.—JS

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I'm not on this guy's side and he makes no bones about the fact that he's just doing this to be a dick, but even so... I like his style.—JM

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I haven't caught "The Daily Show" in a little while; I can only assume they're all over this story. Right?—JM

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Boyhood: turns out it's not all just sports and farting. (even if it's mostly sports and farting)—JM

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I'm not quite convinced, although the following passage is very interesting indeed: "Who the Republican candidate is, and his or her qualifications and abilities, will matter only if Obama's approval rating is between 47 and 51 percent going into the fall of 2012."—JM

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A.V. Club also has personal faves Ricky Jay and Richard Dawkins this week, but we've agreed not to overlink the same site too much and Levitt's the one debunking the TSA, rethinking the response to global warming, and talking about penis size. Advantage: Levitt!—JS

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A thoughtful piece about Glenn Beck (not that Jon Stewart's sillier work on the subject hasn't been excellent). Includes a nice parallel to the great Andy Griffith movie A Face in the Crowd (which inspired the Gabbo Simpsons episode).—JS

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This isn't exactly news (Fischer died in January of 2008), but the bizarre story of the chess champion's life remains morbidly fascinating.—JM

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Add the "Freakonomics" guys to the growing list of people who aren't exactly losing a ton of sleep over gloom-and-doom climate change predictions.—JM

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Geez, I hope not; that's where I keep all of my stuff!—JM

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What can poker teach us? Pretty much everything, if this piece is to be believed.—JM

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Yeah, yeah; two football links. Quit whining, they're both good. In an excerpt from his new book of essays, Klosterman explains why he – and we – love football so damned much.—JM

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Hitchens, evidently no fan of the Nobel Peace Prize, nevertheless finds Obama's "premature." Perhaps "hopeful" would be a nicer way of putting it.—JS

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Keillor (the anti-Hitchens, if ever there was one) says just get over it. Why should the Nobels make any more sense than the Oscars anyway?—JS

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Basically: anything useful. But you probably already knew that, since all available evidence shows intelligence obtained under torture is unreliable. (Otherwise, we'd have Al Qaeda right where we want 'em!)—JS

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One hardly expects politesse or customer service when one dials one's cellular provider's customer service line. But a political screed? That's a surprise.—JS

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Here's what I link to when left to my own devices, folks!—JM

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The cult of personality grows (although who could object to this? Learning is learning).—JM

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Granderson doesn't name names, if you're looking for that sort of thing, but he tackles an issue that I've long seen as a very important one. Fortunately, I don't think we're too far away from pro athletes being openly gay, and having it not be a big deal.—JM

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Spoiler: it was unions, pretty much. Unions and environmentalists. Also, Arnold didn't help matters.—JM

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Ignoring the brain trauma problem in retired players and hoping the problem goes away would be bad enough, but what the NFL is doing is even worse.—JM

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The "death panel" idea is a farcical lie, but I actually wish it weren't. I stand ready to pull my mom's plug, precisely because of how much I love her.—JS

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It's not Tuesday morning anymore, but everything should still apply.—JM

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Those stories you hear about New York City teachers being paid their full salary to sit in a room for years on end, doing nothing? Completely true.—JM

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The author and a high-ranking former narcotics officer calculate the yearly cost of America's war on drugs: more than 15,000 deaths and 50 billion dollars spent.—BK

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Originally published in 2003, and rerun to mark last night's sad news.—BK

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Ebert deconstructs the phrase, questions Facebook politics, ponders health care reform and end-of-life issues, and properly explains the oft-misused term "meme." (My hero!)—JS

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People are inherently resistant to change. But can the status quo be bad enough that they overcome that inertia? (After all, "Change" did win by six points last November.)—JS

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The Yale University Press has decided to publish a book about the Danish Mohammed cartoon controversy... without reprinting the actual cartoons. And the prognosis for the 21st century gets ever-so-slightly more bleak.—JM

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The founder and CEO of Whole Foods has some good ideas. That's not surprising, since Whole Foods is just the best store ever.—JM

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Lies, damn lies, and statistics...—JM

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It takes quite a bit of mental gymnastics, but apparently, if you're determined to do so, you can see the last few weeks as a "win" for the former Alaska governor. Plus, Star Trek!—JM

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Well, let's hope so!—JM

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When you combine Gladwell and To Kill a Mockingbird, you've got my attention. An interesting look at the history of racial prejudice and Southern liberalism by way of the classic novel.—BK

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The power of hypothetically having a beer with the President.—BK

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This isn't the sort of fare we normally link to, but it's important to remember that this story is still going on...—JM

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For a concept that sounds like it would instantly grow tiresome, this imaginary fly-on-the-wall scenario is thoroughly entertaining.—JS

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A defense of Henry Louis Gates's right to be outraged, despite the shamefulness of the resulting brouhaha. (At least I think that's what Hitchens is saying – one can never be 100% certain.)—JS

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Several books advance various theories on how and why obesity has become so much more common in the United States (and the rest of the developed world).—JM

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I have every reason to believe that I would be capable of becoming a big cricket fan. I mean, I'm sure I won't, but, still.—JM

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For instance: men sexually harass women because they are not sexist. And more.—JM

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Speculating on the reasons behind Sarah Palin's resignation. (Which, given the details on offer, is all a person can really do – other than ignore it.)—JS

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Keep churning out sane, difficult-to-refute arguments in favor of marijuana legalization, and I'll keep linking to them.—JM

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This piece by a close personal friend of the new senator's is reassuring; Ornstein makes a persuasive case that Franken's term in office won't necessarily be an embarrassing disaster.—JM

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"Politicians will, almost by definition, be deeply weird." It seems to me that I remember Jerry Seinfeld doing a routine along these lines once, too. And, if you think about it, if any of your buddies pulled you aside one day and said "I've decided that I'm honestly and seriously going to try to become the President of America," you'd think he'd gone completely nuts. And yet, every four (or eight) years, one guy does it.—JM

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Infidelity may no longer be the political career-killer it once was.—BK

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Sure, public figures should have private lives. But when those figures legislate from a stance of denying others' privacy, it's hard not to pile on.—JS

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There's good old-fashioned schadenfreude, and then there's piling on just to do it.—JM

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Well, duh. But Henry Fairlie said it all along, and his decades as a political essayist make for a revealing account of one conservative's deepening dissatisfaction with conservatism.—JS

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It's like they want us all to move to Arizona or Nevada.—JM

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He talks about a lot of things over the course of a long, rambling conversation, including putting an end date on 30 Rock.—BK

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Few can. But deliberately misinterpreting a joke in an attempt to get some publicity and generate a wedge issue isn't even trying.—JS

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We all knew that Harry Truman was a feisty ex-haberdasher (right? Um... right?), but here are 12 others you probably weren't aware of...—JM

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I just read this piece because I was curious to see if she'd mention Abdulhakim Muhammad (formerly Carlos Bledsoe), the American Muslim convert who shot and killed a US soldier outside an Army recruiting station in Little Rock last week. And guess what: she doesn't bring him up. Shocking, I know. Too bad, too, because ignoring him sort of undermines her argument, which isn't entirely without merit.—JM

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Colbert steps in as Guest Editor this week, and while his stint is mostly serious, here he indulges himself in some fun.—BK

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Believe in Michael Moore or don't, but his passion on this issue is undeniable. (And he can sound loony and poetic at the same time, which is kind of cool.)—JS

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Linda Holmes, one of my favorites, wants Pixar to make a movie about a girl. Who isn't a princess. As the father of daughters, I wouldn't mind if they did that myself.—JM

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For Memorial Day, your requisite dose of "freedom isn't free." True freedom, of course, involves even the freedom to take for granted the sacrifices of those who came before, and unfortunately that's a freedom of which I occasionally avail myself.—JM

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A popular liberal president who has freely admitted his own youthful drug use could certainly help move this country's attitude toward marijuana legalization further in the right direction. If he had any balls whatsoever, that is.—JM

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How 30 Rock's storylines have a tendency to embrace a conservative worldview. It's a really interesting observation, even if the writer – understandably – isn't quite sure what to make of it.—BK

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I'll not go so far as to suggest that this sort of thing will be coming to America any time soon; nor will I go so far as to suggest that such a thing would be unimaginable.—JM

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A lot of interesting stuff about outgoing Supreme Court Justice David Souter. (But I'll admit I was destined to link to this article as soon as I saw the name Kermit Roosevelt.)—JS

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ESPN's Tuesday Morning Quarterback has nice things to say about the late Jack Kemp, with whom he was (slightly) personally acquainted.—JM

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A talk with Jeff Dowd, the real-life inspiration for The Dude character in The Big Lebowski. If you're not interested in his experiences being a part of the Seattle Seven in the 70s, you can find the Lebowski stuff about halfway down the page.—BK

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Avert your eyes, Matt and Joe's mom.—JS

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Lengthy, scathing rant about the Postal Service (not the band, though that would be great, too). Kramer was right – who needs it?—JS

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Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens is apparently part of a movement that believes Shakespeare's plays were actually written by Edward de Vere, the 17th earl of Oxford. As for me, MTV's "The State" had Shakespeare himself admitting in a throwaway line at the end of a particular sketch that "Christopher Marlowe wrote all my plays," so that's what I choose to believe.—JM

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An interesting piece on, among other things, how Team Obama makes lemonade from Joe Biden's lemons.—JM

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TMQ returns from hibernation with his annual NFL draft column! Rejoice!—JM

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A thoughtful companion to Joe's recent post on the legalization question.—JS

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The editors at The New Republic have some unsolicited advice for Minnesota governor – and possible 2012 GOP presidential hopeful – Tim Pawlenty regarding the Norm Coleman/Al Franken senate election. But just because advice is unsolicited doesn't mean it's necessarily bad.—JM

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For those of you looking for a 10,000-word piece on the collapse of the Icelandic banking system, here's a 10,000-word piece on the collapse of the Icelandic banking system.—JM

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First they came for the wrestlers, then they came for the baseball players...—JM

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Apparently, the Long Island University basketball team would have represented the United States at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, but they chose not to go, and their story remained largely unknown.—JM

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This piece was written last summer, but it's just as true now. I don't know what made me think of it; maybe I just wanted to be needlessly provocative.—JM

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In the first paragraph of this piece, Joe Klein offers up what may in fact be the best idea any human being has ever had. Better than fire, better than cars, better than WrestleMania. He goes on to make the standard case that pot should be legalized, a case that – for my money – can't be made often enough.—JM

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As if we needed evidence to confirm it, evidence seems to confirm that Republicans are on the receiving end of more – and more bitter – jokes from late night comics.—JM

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Why that particular benchmark has always been an unreliable indicator for presidential success.—BK

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A guy who knows from the wrath of Jon Stewart weighs in. Unsurprisingly, Tucker Carlson has some critical things to say about "The Daily Show" host, some of which need to be said. Still, it'll always be fun to watch Jon Stewart yell at people.—JM

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Whatever your political views – and mine are not Jon Stewart's – it's nice to see Jon Stewart just get in there and kick ass once in a while.—JM

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Mark Steyn is definitely an alarmist, but he's an alarmist who entertains the heck out of me. Plus he always keeps things light, just how we like it here.—JM

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Barack Obama gave British PM Gordon Brown 25 movies on DVD (and they apparently weren't formatted for European DVD players). Thank God Bush isn't around anymore; he might have given Brown something stupid.—JM

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A thoughtful – if not necessarily groundbreaking – rumination on Abraham Lincoln in general, and how different generations have perceived Lincoln in particular.—JM

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If you like "Fun Facts" on Letterman, you'll like these; the styles are very similar.—BK

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A review of Ferrell and McKay's Broadway Bush impersonation sendoff, highlighting the informative power of comedy.—JS

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Wasn't Grover Cleveland fictional? I mean, that name... come on. Put a colon in the middle and you've got the title of a regional Sesame Street spin-off.—BK

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Letterman's offhand, carefree incisiveness keeps him relevant even when his show isn't always at its best. Why to watch, even if you do so with your finger on the fast-forward button.—JS

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There are so many generalizations in this piece that, if you ever went to grad school, your brain will actually liquefy and drip out of your nostrils as you read this. You just won't be able to handle it. And the generalizations are pretty much right on, too, which will only make you madder.—JM

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The NFL season isn't really over until Gregg Easterbrook writes his Super Bowl column and hands out the Longest Award in Sports. Enjoy.—JM

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There's not much football left this season (i.e., one game), which means there's not much Gregg Easterbook left this season. Read him while you still can!—JM

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My daughter is really into Enchanted these days, which I bring up because I can no longer watch Timothy Spall in that movie without immediately thinking of Christopher Hitchens (and vice versa). Here, he (Christopher Hitchens, not Timothy Spall) offers an enjoyable, patriotic and – since it's Hitchens – cheeky take on the Obama inauguration.—JM

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Will President Obama have a personal computer in the White House? Recent history suggests he will not.—BK

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Good stuff, though sadly the list does not include the time Scooby Doo and the Gang met the Harlem Globetrotters.—BK

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Also, on Tuesday, he started talking right after "I, Barack Hussein Obama," stepping on the Chief Justice's "...do solemnly swear." Apparently I'm the only person who remembers this, but, I'm positive George H. W. Bush did the same thing in 1989.—JM

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It's less about Obama than it is about the changing ways Hollywood has portrayed black men over the last 50 years; but an interesting read nonetheless.—BK

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You see these giant, multi-story ads on the sides of buildings in Los Angeles, and I always thought, "boy, I would think it would be annoying to work in one of those offices." Turns out it really is.—JM

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As a night-owl myself, I find this sort of thing fascinating.—BK

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Big surprise: in an election where 2.9 million votes were cast, and the "winner" "won" by 225, there's controversy surrounding the result!—JM

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Barack Obama, Bill Kristol, David Brooks, George F. Will and Charles Krauthammer sit down to dinner together... no, that's not the setup to a dirty joke whose punchline involves sodomy. It's what happened last night in Chevy Chase, MD.—JM

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This occupies 60 minutes of ABC's airtime when we could be watching Pushing Daisies. It's enough to make a man don an explosive vest.—JS

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The world's best, longest, and least-about-football football column is almost done for the year; don't miss it while it's still around!—JM

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As millions prepare to descend upon D.C. for the Obama inauguration, the place where they will spend a good deal of their time is in disrepair.—BK

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Studies indicate that when we fight our temptations we really fight with ourselves. Struggling to lose weight, quit smoking, or finish that novel? The good news is, either way you win!—JS

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Pretty much what you'd expect – "in my day" this, "kids today are pussies" that – which is to say: awesome.—JM

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Not a great deal of suspense for 2008's Time Magazine "Person of the Year." And maybe I'm nuts, but, when it's actually a man, can't we go ahead and say "Man of the Year?" Just for old time's sake?—JM

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Cracked.com has some great stuff, but it isn't ideally formatted for our purposes. This one, however, absolutely must be read. Must!—JM

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President-elect Obama is as addicted to his BlackBerry as any of us. Will President Obama be able to live without it?—JM

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Interesting article about Obama's passion for the game, and what it might say about how he'll lead.—JM

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I'm pretty sure it can.—JM

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A study finds that conservatives may enjoy humor more than liberals. I don't think that's very funny... d'oh!—BK

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Lengthy profile of Baseball Prospectus stat-cruncher Nate Silver, who's analyzing political polls on the side at FiveThirtyEight.com to see if he can predict the election.—JS

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You'll have to forgive me, I'm late to the party on all the 10th anniversary hoopla that went down in September.—BK

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Charting the many parallels between the Santos/Vinick race and the Obama/McCain race. Somewhere John Wells's ego is firing pistols in the air.—BK

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Yet another conservative columnist jumps on the Obama bandwagon.—JM

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I agree with the premise, I disagree with the conclusions. Nonetheless, it's an interesting discussion of modern political satire.—BK

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An interesting (and non-partisan, I promise!) rumination on political marriages that's not the downer that the title would lead you to believe.—JM

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I've been sternly warned about posting political links, but what the hell; it's Michael Ian Black. He should get a pass.—JM

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It's like Hulk Hogan used to say, kids: say your prayers, eat your vitamins, and read your Krauthammer.—JM

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Explaining the judicial consequences of an Obama presidency.—JM

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McCain lacks the character and temperament to be president. And Palin is simply a disgrace.—JM

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The New Yorker's presidential endorsement may be an obvious one, but it's excellently stated. If "associations" are really such a huge liability, can one do worse than George W. Bush? Jameson (and the New Yorker) thinks not.—JS

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Good old Krauthammer. He says what Joe would say, if only Joe was smart enough.—JM

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A George Will column with a baseball lede! I know! Try not to get too disheartened, McCainiacs; George Will never liked him to begin with.—JM

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Somebody finally succeeds in convincing Joe to be scared of an Obama presidency, without even calling Barack a Muslim!—JM

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How town-hall debates can go very wrong for a candidate.—JM

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Two electoral votes to watch.—JM