Alright, everyone, that's it for me this week. See you next time.

Before we get to the links, let me leave you with a few lines from Pink Floyd's "Mother," which on his current tour of The Wall show Roger Waters, who wrote the song, turns into a powerful critique of the surveillance state:

Mama's gonna make all of your nightmares come true.
Mama's gonna put all of her fears into you.
Mama's gonna keep you right here under her wing.
She won’t let you fly, but she might let you sing.
Mama's gonna keep baby cozy and warm.

So, my friends, do you feel all cozy and warm, safe from the Enemy, now that your privacy has been traded off for "security"?

All Things Democrat: It's Cory Booker's race to lose.

Perrspectives: It's red states that need Obamacare the most.

Take My Country Back: It's just mental issues, this gun violence.

And over at my place: Conservative goals and the NSA. They like government just fine when it suits them.

Round-up by Michael J.W. Stickings of The Reaction (Twitter: @mjwstickings).

Send tips to mbru@crooksandliars.com.

Another day, more appalling gun violence…

From a guest contributor at Ramona's Voices: A new high school graduate takes on the gun issue.

The Rude Pundit: A sad reduction of democracy in the post-privacy era.

The Grey Matter: A blown opportunity on infrastructure investment.

The Duck of Minerva: A simplistic assessment of the crisis in Syria at the NYT.

They Gave Us a Republic: A tough task for conservative reformers of the GOP.

Round-up by Michael J.W. Stickings of The Reaction (Twitter: @mjwstickings). I'll be here through Sunday.

Send tips to mbru@crooksandliars.com.

So the government is listening to your phone calls and monitoring your Internet use – and pretty much has the authority to track your every move. Just remember that everything the state did in Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four was legal too. It's just Ingsoc by a different name now, the shining city upon a hill become dystopian national security state. Call it Amfasc.

Prairie Weather: The IRS loves conservative groups.

Infidel753: Balancing principle and compromise.

The Smithian: Motherhood, single women, and poverty.

Simply Left Behind: Take me out to the PED-juiced ballgame.

Pruning Shears: Anti-fracking activism in Ohio.

Round-up by Michael J.W. Stickings of The Reaction (Twitter: @mjwstickings). I'll be here through Sunday.

Send tips to mbru@crooksandliars.com.

It's an easy target, but let's focus today on Republican/conservative craziness:

Green Eagle: The look of lunacy at right-wing websites.

No More Mister Nice Blog: Samantha Power and the right-wing crazy train.

Mario Piperni: The real scandal is the Republican Party.

The Impolitic: Obama fights back against the crackpots.

And over at my place: Exposing the GOP's "Extreme Dream Team" in Virginia.

Round-up by Michael J.W. Stickings of The Reaction (Twitter: @mjwstickings). I'll be here all week.

Send tips to mbru@crooksandliars.com.

So Chris Christie, egomaniacal bullying blowhard Obama-BFF Springsteen-crazed governor of my former home state of New Jersey, sets up the special Senate election to replace Frank Lautenberg so that he can benefit politically, yet claims politics had nothing to do with it, and it’s going to cost a ton of money to hold it independently of the general election, and his fellow Republicans are pissed? Nope, couldn’t have seen any of that coming.

Bark Bark Woof Woof: The big DNA database authorized by SCOTUS.

Vox Verax: The war on terror was a neocon Trojan horse.

Occasional Planet: Maybe America needs the military draft again.

Legal Schnauzer: Denying voting rights in Macon County, Alabama.

The Political Garbage Chute: You might give a sh*t what Mitt Romney thinks if…

Round-up by Michael J.W. Stickings of The Reaction (Twitter: @mjwstickings). I'll be here all week.

Send tips to mbru AT crooksandliars DOT com

Even Lindsey Graham says there’s no evidence the IRS targeted conservative groups. Of course, the IRS didn’t really target conservative groups, it did its job and investigated questionable groups across the spectrum. Yes, even when he’s right, Graham is mostly wrong. Good luck against the Tea Party, tough guy.

Connecting the Dots: Where is Issa’s Edward R. Murrow?

Zandar Versus the Stupid: What’s with conservatives’ scorched-earth government?

Frankly Curious: Do conservative reformers exist?

RH Reality Check: Are we on the verge of contraception for all?

Round-up by Michael J.W. Stickings of The Reaction (Twitter: @mjwstickings). I'll be here all week.

Send tips to mbru@crooksandliars.com.

Hello, everyone. It's good to be back. Have I mentioned that I live in Toronto and that we have the greatest mayor in the world? (Hanging head in embarrassment and shame.)

Human Voices: Sabotage in Florida. The people get what they deserve.

Phantom Public: Failure upon failure. Romney prepares for 2014 return.

Booman Tribune: Obamacare chaos. It's all John Roberts's fault.

Squatlo-Rant: Marsha Blackburn on TV. Tennessee shivers in humiliation.

One Life Observed: Turkey rising. Photos from the Velvet Revolution.

Round-up by Michael J.W. Stickings of The Reaction (Twitter: @mjwstickings). I'll be here all week.

Send tips to mbru AT crooksandliars DOT com.

Well, that's it for me this week. See you all again soon. (In the meantime, a question to ponder: What is more likely to happen over the next couple of months, meaningful gun control or war with North Korea?)

Liberal Values: Wingnuts say the darndest things.

P.M. Carpenter: Obama's intellectually virtuous progressivism.

The Satirical Political Report: What Rand Paul might say at an Hispanic college.

Lance Mannion: Shakespeare and the scientists – a debate.

And if you missed them, here are a couple of posts of note over at my place: "Not a hope in hell for gun control" and "Why Obama's budget is a mistake."

Round-up by Michael J.W. Stickings of The Reaction (@mjwstickings).

Send tips to mbru AT crooksandliars DOT com.

Happy weekend, my friends. Let's get right to the links...

Can It Happen Here?: Immigration "reform" won't help undocumented LGBT immigrants.

Brilliant at Breakfast: The Holocaust envy of the Christofascist Zombie Brigade.

We are Respectable Negroes: Epistemic closure and the racism of the right-wing media echo chamber.

Alternate Brain: Rand Paul and the sweet smell of your own crap.

Goblinbooks: Watch out, freedom-lovers, Obama and the UN are coming for your bacon.

Round-up by Michael J.W. Stickings of The Reaction (@mjwstickings). I'll be here through Sunday.

Send tips to mbru AT crooksandliars DOT com.

So here's my idea: mandatory background checks on all Republican politicians -- for criminal behavior, mental illness, abject stupidity, and, more broadly, indications of future conduct detrimental to humanity. Who's with me?

Just an Earth-Bound Misfit, I: The drone war of Barack W. Bush.

The Existentialist Cowboy: The economic benefits of Social Security.

Infidel753: The delusional demographics of the right.

They Gave Us a Republic: The inglorious ignobility of Congress.

Round-up by Michael J.W. Stickings of The Reaction (@mjwstickings). I'll be here through Sunday.

Send tips to mbru AT crooksandliars DOT com.