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.

Rick Perry to make 2012 intentions clear Saturday  —  Rick Perry intends to use a speech in South Carolina Saturday to make clear that he's running for president, POLITICO has learned.  —  According to two sources familiar with the plan, the Texas governor will remove any doubt …

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

Aaauuuggghhh!  Market Commentary Edition  —  Carnage in stock markets as I write — and all of the headlines I see attribute it to S&P's downgrade.  —  They really are trying to make my head explode, aren't they?  —  Once again: S&P declared that US debt is no longer a safe investment …

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 …

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.

Barack Obama on credit rating downgrade: U.S. ‘always will be a triple-A country’  —  President Barack Obama came out swinging Monday in his first public remarks since Standard & Poor's downgraded its U.S. credit rating, offering reassurance that “no matter what some agency may say …

Obama Job Approval 50% or Higher in 16 States and D.C.  —  Idaho residents least approving, at 27%  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Residents of 16 states and the District of Columbia gave President Obama approval ratings of 50% or higher during the first half of 2011, led by the District of Columbia, Connecticut, Maryland, and Delaware.

Berkshire, Other Insurers Get ‘Negative’ Tag from S&P … Cue the music from “Jaws.”  —  After Standard & Poor's bit an appendage from the U.S.'s credit rating, the credit-rating firm is smelling blood in the water at Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway.  —  S&P today is marking down ratings …

Poor People Own Appliances Because They're Cheap  —  My colleagues Melissa Boteach and Donna Cooper have a great piece on the Heritage Foundation's “poor people aren't actually poor because they own cheap electronics” theory of poverty.  This infographic nicely highlights the silliness …

It's a Growth Scare  —  FTalphaville has been saying this all day, and it's right.  The action in the markets looks nothing like worries about US solvency; it looks exactly like what you expect to see when markets suddenly realize that the economy's growth prospects look terrible.

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.”

Drew Westen's Nonsense  —  There are some strong criticisms to be made of the Obama administration from the left, especially concerning Obama's passive response to the debt ceiling hostage crisis, and his frightening willingness to give away the store to John Boehner.  I've made many of these criticisms myself.

Obama's horrifyingly bad speech  —  He was a half hour late.  His head turned from side to side as if he were attending a tennis match.  He practically never looked in the camera, as if he were averting our gaze.  And those were the strong parts of President Obama's disastrous speech.

Job participation  —  The White House and much of the chattering class cooed on Friday when unemployment dropped to 9.1 percent and 117,000 jobs were reportedly created in July.  But these numbers, upon closer inspection, show no progress on the jobs front.