A lotta more

• Like nonpartisan politics? James Monroe showed us why its not such a hot idea.
• Jon Chait on magical thinking and the cult of the presidency.
• A very cool bit of analysis from Nate Silver showing that the Ames Straw Poll results are, in fact, highly predictive of the Iowa Caucus.
• Scott Lemieux: "How the hell did Pawlenty ever get elected in Minnesota? Did Martha Coakley move to Duluth and get the Dem nomination that cycle?" Fair question.
• Shorter Ruth Marcus: The GOP is just like "Gilligan's Island," featuring Grandpa, Ward Cleaver, and other non-"Gilligan's Island" characters.
• Blogging by academics can improve their professional reputation.
• Scott Adams on the virtues of boredom.
• The University of Chicago is hosting a conference on Jersey Shore studies. I hope to do a paper on how each of the Situation's ab muscles represents a member of the congressional supercommittee.
• A classic Doonesbury on the death of teaching.