Comment is free: Rather than taking advantage of this extraordinary opportunity to reduce inequality and educate the public about how the economy really works, progressive voices have been unusually quiet.

Tom Tomorrow: Pick a side Sparky!

PERRspectives Blog: A new study from the Harvard School of Public Health shows amazing disparities between how Democrats and Republicans perceive the American health care system.

DownWithTyranny! Some Europeans are worried about the prospect of a McCain presidency

The Nation: The NYT's newest columnist, Bill Kristol, just keeps embarrassing himself.

Pharyngula: Watch this appalling video of homeschoolers misusing the Denver museum to promote creationism.

Download | play Download | play (h/t Heather)

Bill Moyers, who was Lyndon Johnson's press secretary from 1965-1967, gives his perspective on the "tempest in a teapot" of the Hillary vs. Obama media brawl over LBJ and MLK:

As the pressure intensified on each side, Johnson wanted King to wait a little longer and give him a chance to bring Congress around by hook or crook. But Martin Luther King said his people had already waited too long. He talked about the murders and lynchings, the churches set on fire, children brutalized, the law defied, men and women humiliated, their lives exhausted, their hearts broken. LBJ listened, as intently as I ever saw him listen. He listened, and then he put his hand on Martin Luther King's shoulder, and said, in effect: "OK. You go out there Dr. King and keep doing what you're doing, and make it possible for me to do the right thing." Lyndon Johnson was no racist but he had not been a civil rights hero, either. Now, as president, he came down on the side of civil disobedience, believing it might quicken America's conscience until the cry for justice became irresistible, enabling him to turn Congress. So King marched and Johnson maneuvered and Congress folded.

TS here. Goodbye, you Princes of Maine, you Kings of New England! And a genuine thanks for all comments and tips, and -- most especially -- your tolerance. Anyway, here are a few keepers from round the Internetz.

“Around 1994, someone called me up to complain about being the victim of a stock fraud. Since representing such folk is my business, I asked him who he wanted to sue. He said he didn't know anyone's name. He explained there was this place called the "internet' where people promoted stocks. The client apparently wanted to sue the internet, or possibly usenet, itself.” -- Arthur

“What I do remember about the Bork hearings, since I was an adult at the time and not a doughy adolescent dreaming of icing those cinnamon buns on either side of Princess Leia's head, is that Bork was forced under oath to allow for "organic development" of that Constitutional text he insisted was inviolate, thereby giving up the game, something the last twenty years of utter failure to redefine the concept into something workable has double underlined.” – Doghouse Riley

“For all Bush has done right, tax cuts, Afghanistan, Iraq, Roberts and Alito, torturing Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, etc., his lack of discipline on domestic spending, especially the Medicare boondoggle are going to be a black mark on his presidency. Well, at least he tortured that guy. Nobody can take that away from him.” – Belle Waring

“All that work by those staff writers to advocate invading Iraq and Iran and now all they have to show for it is 3,800 dead Americans in Iraq rather than the key to the executive pisser.” -- Clif

“Heck, I didn't even know there was mule racing!” – John Hawks

“Guys, I don’t know what conservatarians did to you in your past, but clearly it’s affected you. I suggest yoga or tai chi or something. If that doesn’t work, go find a self-described “libertarian” blog where torture and detention without trial is enthusiastically supported, and go vent at them. But this isn’t one of those blogs.” -- Thoreau

You can get me at instaputzen [at] gmail [dot com].

Bring it On! Too bad for Ron Paul, who had only facts on his side and it was night for fact-free bloviation. If you're looking for applause at a Republican debate, endorse torture

The Hill: Lobbying reform is causing headaches for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), now tasked with repairing a split in her caucus as freshmen advocate for stricter rules while some senior members fight to preserve the status quo. Meanwhile, GOP Whiners are threatening to shut the House down...

Brad DeLong: Research continues on the stupidity rays emanating from the American Enterprise Institute

MuzzleWatch: "Never Again" means for everyone

Prometheus 6: Just another day in the Bush presidency

Needlenose: The gift that keeps on giving

TV Newser:

The network is working with the Nevada Democratic Party and the Western Majority Project to host the debate, "which is expected to attract the top Democratic contenders for President," the press release says. It will air live on FNC and FNR on Aug. 14 in Reno.

One question: WHY?!?!?!?! Why on Earth would Democratic candidates agree to go on a channel that admits they are the propaganda wing for the White House? This really IS letting the other side frame the debate.

Can you imagine what kinds of questions Obama, Clinton, Edwards and the others would have to field? Who will they get to moderate: Sean Hannity or Brit Hume?

NPR Check: If our side kills 'em, they must be militants

Confined Space: Throwaway Workers...Marc McDonald explains how unions help the economy. Under BushCo there are troubling trends on Americans' incomes...and go read Malcolm Gladwell's excellent analysis of why America's private pension system is in crisis.

Discourse.net: The stench of "Number Two"

Shakespeare's Sister: One of the things I most detest about Bush is his tendency to speak about domestic issues as if he isn’t the f**king president.

Lawyers, Guns and Money: Disturbing aspects of the deliberations surrounding Bush v Gore

Talk To Action: Blogging the Religious Right

(scroll down for update. I have multiple videos now)

Bush and Blair got caught talking with a mic nearby:

Download | play -WMP Download | play -QT

TAN: Mr Bush was caught saying that a key to defusing the Middle East crisis was for "Hizbollah to stop doing this s**t". "What they need to do is get Syria to get Hizbollah to stop doing this s**t, and it's over," Bush told British Prime Minister Tony Blair at a leaders' lunch at the Group of Eight industrial countries gathering here. The President was on camera but apparently unaware that his words were being captured by a microphone.

Here's another video version unfiltered: Download | play -WMP (.42) This one is just Bush talking about Syria-stuffing himself. ( h/t DavidB)

Download | play -WMP Download | play -QT This one is longer from CNN ( h/t Paula)

FDL: While munching on a roll, George Bush had a conversation with Tony Blair about Hizbollah cutting out their "shit." So much for that born-again veneer…this deciderating and Presidenting is hard work. (And the fact that the curtain gets lifted from the "moral majority" act for public consumption is just a side bonus, I suppose, since neither Bush nor Blair knew the microphone was on...read on"

Dan Froomkin has a great roundup on this with the full transcript as well.

It's Obvious, Republicans Are Bobbleheads

I first saw Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) in action during the Schiavo incident and was really impressed with her. She's quickly becoming one of my favorites. This is too funny...

"Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz(D-FL) has reached the conclusion that Republicans don't have the joints that they need on the side of their neck to say no. Apparently they only know how to say, yes, Mr. Speaker, yes, Mr. President, yes, CEO of oil company, I'm happy to do your bidding and whatever it is that you like...

You thought Lieberman was the only one jumping for joy at the SOTU as Kos reports.

"For the speech Tuesday, Mr. Cuellar positioned himself along the president's route and grabbed a seat on the Republican side of the aisle. Custom dictates that the Democrats stay to the speaker's right and Republicans to the left, making it easier to gauge party-line splits on applause lines."

Atrios has a lot more information up on this story. Suffice to say is that Cuellar needs to go and fast.

Use Act Blue for Ciro D. Rodriguez

Arianna:

"Today on Meet the Press it was Meet the Republicans, as Russert's well-rounded lineup included Republican Senator John Warner, Republican Congressman Peter King and Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Perhaps the phone lines are down on the other side of the political divide. But I have to admit, it's not unenjoyable watching Republicans disagree, as their party continues to implode while being led by a lamer-by-the-day-duck President...read on