Items of Interest

~ Jeffrey Rosen of The New Republic has posted an outstanding example of smear journalism which is now being eagerly propagated through out the right-leaning media and wingnut bloggers. My initial reaction is that it is horrid journalism as well as being both racist and sexist. Glenn Greenwald offers more particulars on its inaccuracy as does law professor Darren Hutchinson. Even Wonkette gets how bad a post it is. And FDL points out just how tough a fight those poor white males must endure to gain adequate representation on the Supreme Court. And last but not least, a former clerk speaks up on Judge Sotomayor's behalf [via Ambinder].

~ My husband read "Going Dutch: How I Learned To Love the European Welfare State" in NYT magazine this weekend. It's an interesting and provocative read. It's certainly earning comments elsewhere in the blogosphere.

Ezra Klein's are certainly worth some time.

It turns out that there's a bit of a paradoxical relationship between believing your country has a lot of economic mobility and your country actually having a lot of economic mobility.

~ Matt Yglesias got it right in this comment about an ADL of Israeli Jews (no Israeli non-Jews) and their attitude towards a preemptive strike on Iran. [via]

Just as food for thought, what would the ADL say about a poll showing a large majority of Iranians supported the idea of military action aimed at destroying Israel's nuclear facilities?

~ Interesting article about Desiree Rogers in the WSJ magazine, of all places. Don't bother with the comments though unless you really like reading ignorant and racist slander.

~ Jane Hamsher highlights an exchange of letters between Glenn Greenwald and wingnut Clark Kincaid. Greenwald's response is a zinger.