On S&P, Downgrades, and Idiots  —  This is not going to be one of those posts that laments S&P's decision to downgrade the US, but then says that S&P was probably right about our oh-so-dysfunctional political system.  —  No, S&P was flat-out wrong — no caveats.

LEAP OF FAITH … - POLITICS - PROFILES - THE TALK OF THE TOWN - COMMENT - THIS WEEK'S ISSUE - THE FINANCIAL PAGE - NEWS DESK - THE POLITICAL SCENE

The Conservative Crazy Eyes Cliche & Other Stupid MSM Photo Tricks  —  Sigh.  Seriously, Tina Brown?  —  Yes, I'm talking about you, Oxford University-educated Newsweek/Daily Beast editor Tina Brown.  —  You've resorted to recycling bottom-of-the-barrel moonbat photo cliches …

A Self-Fulfilling Euro Crisis?  (Wonkish)  —  There will probably be big action in the euro zone tomorrow; so, some quick analytical notes.  —  The big question, I believe, is whether the Italian and maybe Spanish crises are the kind of thing that might be brought under control by ECB bond purchases.

Iowa Caucus: Bachmann, Romney and Paul on Top  —  In the Iowa caucus race for the Republican presidential nomination, five candidates are in double digits, and many voters are open to changing their mind before caucus day arrives.  —  The first Rasmussen Reports telephone survey …

Axelrod Hits Romney, Calling Reaction to S&P Downgrade ‘Pathetic’  —  David Axelrod, one of President Barack Obama's closest political advisers, had harsh words for former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, the front-runner in the GOP presidential field, who has criticized the debt deal …

Duncan to issue ‘No Child’ waivers  —  Seeing “no clear path” toward reauthorizing the “No Child Left Behind” education law, the Obama administration will unilaterally issue waivers to states, exempting them from some of the law's regulations.  —  “Today we're less than a month from the start …

Exclusive: S&P's flub-filled draft press release  —  Ahead of its downgrade of the U.S.'s AAA rating Friday night, Standard & Poor's sent a draft press release - obtained by POLITICO - to the Treasury Department that afternoon that included several numerical errors, setting off a heated …

American Tinderbox  —  For some time now, residents of some US cities have noted occasional incidents of seemingly random, racially motivated violence in which young Black males are involved.  The hot weather and bad economy seem to be combining to generate a small but possibly significant uptick this year.

On Deck: Why I May Run for President  —  Adam Smith wrote in The Wealth of Nations that “the first duty of the sovereign, that of protecting the society from the violence and invasion of other independent societies, can be performed only by means of a military force.”

Wis. Dem memo: Victory predictions “dangerous”  —  MADISON Wis. — Democrats on the ground here are increasingly confident they will pick-up two state Senate seats, but are warning that winning the third necessary for a takeover is a tenuous prospect.  —  Despite hype from some in the party apparatus …

Explosive Jackie O tapes ‘reveal how she believed Johnson killed JFK and had affair with movie star’  —  Jackie Onassis believed that Lyndon B Johnson and a cabal of Texas tycoons were involved in the assassination of her husband John F Kennedy, ‘explosive’ recordings are set to reveal.

Pawlenty changes his approach on health care  —  He favored exchanges and was ‘open to’ mandates.  Then he ran for president.  —  WASHINGTON - In his presidential campaign autobiography, “Courage to Stand,” former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty recalls a man in a wheelchair who approached him at an airport in Mankato.

Waiting For A Landslide  —  In 1955, a political scientist named V. O. Key published an essay entitled “A Theory of Critical Elections.”  He argued that realignments in American politics are usually punctuated by transformative elections, in which the old order suddenly gives way and a new majority emerges in its place.