Read Stuff, You Should

I've fallen a bit behind in my "replace" updates...it started to seem a bit redundant to me. Fortunately, Politico's Jennifer Haberkorn was on the job. One caution: I think it's totally fair to bash House Republicans for the phoniness that was the "replace" half of repeal-and-replace, but I don't think it's at all fair to bash them on the repeal side. They've more than fulfilled that half of the promise, in my view. This brings up one of the difficulties with the fact-check approach to candidate promises...it's always a bit tricky to know when an elected official deserves to be blamed for not "keeping" a promise when others are involved. On the other hand, sometimes, as with replace, it's obvious that House Republicans were never serious.

More good stuff:

1. Am I going to tell you to read a long post that can only conclude that "there are no easy answers," and that won't give you information about the debt limit or the GOP nomination contest? Sure am. It's from Andrew Gelman, and well worth your time -- because you really want to know how to tell whether some goofy claim you're reading about is worth taking seriously.

2. Alan Abramowitz on myths about independent voters.

3. Long-time readers know that I was a big fan of Dylan Matthews and his Research Desk feature on Ezra Klein's blog last summer -- and yup, I'm very happy to see that it's back. Here he is on pay and public employees.

4. What's the most important story that's mostly being ignored? Executive branch and judicial nominations. Terribly important. David Ingram reports on what's gone wrong within the White House on judicial nominations.

5. Oh, how about some WH 2012? Will Wilkinson on Newt; Amy Sullivan on Rick Perry and Christian conservatives (and see too Sarah Posner's take); Ross Douthat on the Mittster; and Conor Friedersdorf goes to see the Sarah Palin movie.

6. Economics, budget, and debt limit. Paul Krugman says unemployment is (gasp!) a consequence of recession (but alas, it needs to be said); Mike Konczal knocks down the myth of the all-powerful Fannie and Freddie; Andrew Sprung watches Obama negotiate; and Julie Ingersoll argues that some Christians see default in biblical terms.

7. Joel Meares reports on the Daily Caller; Friedersdorf listens to Rush Limbaugh in Joplin. And Adam Serwer, always must-read on torture and detention (and, this time, on Marc Thiessen).

8. Megan McArdle gives one argument for immigration.

9. This has been out for a while, but I finally got around to it recently: what Washington DC looked like in 1814. Very cool.

10. And if that's not enough...Dan Drezner reads too many pundits; Amanda Marcotte is right (and interesting) about Potter; Serwer on terrorism and Galactica (but I disagree that the show slipped as it went along); and the always-great Christina Kahrl on Dick Williams.

Enjoy!