Alright, it's good to be back. Like any good American, even if I'm not American, I'm totally focused on the NFL, but as I'm already severely depressed about the Steelers, a pitiful team if still a glorious franchise, let's just get right to the links:

Frankly Curious: Barack Obama calls out the GOP crazy.

Naked Capitalism: Larry Summers pulls out of Fed contention.

Ramona’s Voices: Julian Assange gets crushed in Australia. (I would say I like Assange/Wikileaks quite a bit more than Ramona does.)

And a couple of posts on the current state of the Republican Party:

No More Mister Nice Blog: Far rightists' control based on thuggery.

Lance Mannion: Right wingers' politics driven by nightmares.

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

Send requests and suggestions to mbru@crooksandliars.com.