Special Editorial: Yikes  —  THE WEEKLY STANDARD's official reaction to last night's Republican presidential debate: Yikes.  —  Reading the reactions of thoughtful commentators after the stage emptied, talking with conservative policy types and GOP political operatives later last evening and this morning, we know we're not alone.

The Power of Flat Out Lies  —  The level of crazy in last night's debate was too high to really keep track of, but Paul Waldman points to this statement from Herman Cain about why he'd be dead if healthcare reform had been the law of the land back when he was diagnosed with cancer: … Paul comments:

TPM2012  —  Santorum: ‘I Condemn The People Who Booed That Gay Soldier’ (VIDEO)  —  In an appearance Friday afternoon on Fox News, Rick Santorum responded to one of the most controversial moments from Thursday night's debate: When a few audience members could be heard booing …

Bill Clinton: Netanyahu isn't interested in Mideast peace deal  —  Former U.S. President says a cynical perspective of Prime Minister's calls for negotiations 'means that he's just not going to give up the West Bank'.  —  Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is responsible for the inability …

‘Irvine 11’ jury finds all 10 students guilty  —  After more than two days of deliberation, an Orange County jury on Friday found 10 Muslim students guilty of two misdemeanors to conspire and then disrupt a February 2010 speech at UC Irvine last year by the Israeli ambassador to the United States.

Is This the Sanest Man Running for President?  —  If you're seeking the presidency but no one notices, are you still seeking the presidency?  Gary Johnson was governor of New Mexico for eight years, balanced the hell out of his budgets, and climbed Mount Everest with a broken leg.

Ron Suskind's Larry Summers problem  —  Jacob Weisberg isn't a big fan of Ron Suskind's new book, nor, for that matter, of Ron Suskind.  I've also been reading ‘The Confidence Men,’ and like Weisberg, I'm not impressed, but for a very different reason.  Let's call it, as Suskind does, the Larry Summers problem.

Majority Rates Obama Same or Worse Compared With Bush  —  Half say Obama has been worse than Clinton  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Asked to compare Barack Obama with George W. Bush, Americans are more inclined to say Obama has been a better (43%) rather than a worse (34%) president, with 22% seeing no difference between the two.

The Social Contract  —  This week President Obama said the obvious: that wealthy Americans, many of whom pay remarkably little in taxes, should bear part of the cost of reducing the long-run budget deficit.  And Republicans like Representative Paul Ryan responded with shrieks of “class warfare.”

Morgan Freeman: Tea party is racist  —  Morgan Freeman says that the Obama presidency has made racism in the U.S. more apparent.  —  During an interview that airs Friday, CNN's Piers Morgan asked the actor, “Has Obama helped the process of eradicating racism or has it, in a strange way, made it worse?”

John Mearsheimer Endorses a Hitler Apologist and Holocaust Revisionist  —  Gilad Atzmon is a jazz saxophonist who lives in London and who has a side gig disseminating the wildest sort of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.  He is an ex-Israeli and a self-proclaimed “self-hater” …

U.S. Presses Europe to Stop Spread of Greek Debt Crisis  —  WASHINGTON — The Obama administration, increasingly alarmed by the spillover effects of Europe's financial crisis, has begun an intensive lobbying campaign to persuade Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and other leaders to act decisively …

Cram It!  Senate Dems And Republicans Reject Holding Disaster Aid Hostage  —  By a bipartisan vote of 59-36 Friday, Senate Democrats and several Republicans tabled (read: effectively killed) House-passed legislation to fund the federal government beyond September 30.

Warren's TARP panel under scrutiny  —  Congress gave the oversight panel a broad role in ensuring the Treasury Department was managing TARP funds appropriately.  Passed by Congress in 2008, TARP didn't require Warren's oversight panel to provide a budget, nor did it limit the amount of money it could spend.