Big Think: Essential Holiday Reading on National Security

Democratic Strategist: The Future is Blue, Part ll

Its my Right to be Left of the Center: Time to start rolling out some year-end retrospectives

Jesus' General: Department of Book Reports: A Christmas Carol

The Mahablog: The GOP: Keeping workers in their place

Politics in the Zeros: Drop that Starbucks cup and reach for the sky

Austin Cline shows the Republican alternative at Jesus' General. Open Thread below...

Jesus' General (genius) filters the McCain ads through the lens of Ghostbusters I. Open thread below.

TPM Election Central: The definitive McMaverick Iraq timeline.

American's Bulletin: Eric Shine is having a bad day

MarketWatch: Eleven reasons America is the top socialist economy

Hullabaloo: Coming soon to an inbox near you!

Jesus' General: BushCo working with the terrorists

Hendrik Hertzberg: Well Regulated

The Reality-Based Community: If Ann Coulter had liveblogged the Gettysburg Address

his vorpal sword: Barack Obama as Nat Turner.

Jesus' General: "Disarm the Negroes"

Wonk Room: Right-wing bloggers are insisting that McCain was wrong to admit he was wrong!

Martini Revolution: George Bush, American Idiot

Hightower Lowdown: Free market hypocrites and incompetent, anti-government ideologues

The Smirking Chimp: Campaign 2008: The things they wont discuss.

Faithful Progressive: The IRS is messing with the United Church of Christ.

Scholars and Rogues: Fox News says the terrorists are sending killer robots after us!

INSTAPUTZ: Fringe dweller smack down every day

Vox Verax: Reasonable folks in the Grand Old Party are hard to find these days. But there are some...

HOLY CRAP: It's no surprise to hear this long-time resident of Wingnuttia expelling Christian Nationalist horse exhaust, but John McCain, too? This End-Times-loving bigot is pleased to welcome McCain to the fringe, although another religious nut is unhappy about it...Those running for high public office, and untaxed radical clerics should be required to learn something about our First Amendment... Prophets of Moderation...Priests policing themseves, haven't we already seen that?...Bibleman! ...In Gosh We Trust...Suing Jesus...Interfaith Alliance Media Roundup...Jesus' General has a fundraiser going...God doesn't like California and He doesn't like mammograms, either

Mock Paper Scissors: Tengrain Presents...Economic Stimulation!

Jesus' General: From Swiftboating to Pork Shot Hand Ointment.

No More Mister Nice Blog: Fred Thompson is convinced that Mike Huckabee is too liberal to be President. Did you get that?

One Po'd Veteran: Just a few stats from the war....Just a few. Stats. From the war....

The staff of the Mighty Corrente Building is having a fundraiser to cover their server costs. Help out if you can...

Mike is back tomorrow send tips to finnsagain AT aol...

Technology Review: John Hockenberry on "what I learned about network television at Dateline NBC." A long but important story for understanding the mindset of those in control of old media (h/t Make Them Accountable)

Halfway There: Once upon a time, in 1960...

The Largest Minority: British satirists John Bird and John Fortune performed this depressingly accurate sketch on how the market works

Daily Kos: The following exchange was heard between two Republicans outside of Big Red's Beef and More Beef Restaurant in Des Moines...

endless simmer: This food blog started a presidential endorsement process to make sure their readers know who the best candidate for eating is.

HOLY CRAP: Holy Iowa!...Promise Keepers on steroids...Domestic religious terrorism...Is Huckabee going to Rock & Roll Hell?...World-O-Crap ...The Pope will wage war on Satan in 2008...12-year-old Georgia Clyde thought she won a Deseret Morning News essay contest but because she's not a Mormon, the paper said fuhgedaboudit...John Gorenfeld's book on Sun Myung Moon will be available in March of 2008..."Rapture Ready" Jesus' General is disappointed with the way 2007 turned out

"They are interested in your stuff, however, and sooner or later, they will swamp your kind out of existence." Sadly No on the dwindling honkie tribe.

Jesus' General's effort to seek guidance from Wiley S Drake results in little satisfaction.

Marc McDonald looks at how FOX blew it's chance at credibility.

You'll want to save this for when you've got more than a minute - Blue Herald's massive new Right Wing Cartoon Watch

And finally, it's a passing as sad as any, and as I hold the final issue of the Weekly World News in my hands, I must try hard to think about the good times, even though the grave of Elvis grows a bit colder, and Bigfoot trudges sadly through the frozen tundra which scientists predict will be a tropical paradise next year after the reversal of the magnetic poles. When again shall we see the everyman outrage of Ed Anger, who introduced the phrase "pig-bitin' mad" to the English lexicon? Or the sage advice of Dottie, who routinely advised the lovelorn that their best course of action would be suicide? So long, Bat Boy. Branches Up, Roots Down offers the eulogy.

Guest blogged by Mark Hoback. Send tips to mhoback AT verizon Dot net.

Jesus' General: Fox's Black Problem

and congratulations to our very own Logan Murphy for his official induction into the Dirty F*&king Hippie Brigade.