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Chris Matthews and four liberal male guests had a nice laugh Friday over the announcement that Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) has been named to serve on the House Intelligence committee. Viewers are advised to prepare themselves for a truly disgraceful level of sexism displayed on MSNBC's "Hardball" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

For general discussion and debate about politics, the economy, sports, or whatever else tickles your fancy.

Did you know that the "big new tax law" signed by President Obama yesterday "will save taxpayers, on average, about $3,000 next year," and that it will have "tax breaks for being married, having children, paying for child care, going to college or investing in securities"? Don't spend that extra $3,000 yet, because it mostly won't be there. With the only major exception being the 2-point cut…

You may have never heard of the 17-year-old actress Taylor Momsen, but she represents everything that’s wrong with pop culture today. At seven, she starred as the adorable Cindy Lou Who in Jim Carrey’s “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” but there’s nothing adorable in what she’s done lately. Momsen is a “multiple threat,” matching acting on CW’s smutty teen series “Gossip Girl” with a “music…

Nancy Frazier O'Brien of the Catholic News Service reports that the number of Catholics in Congress will decline from 162 to 150 -- but underneath the numbers is a dramatic party shift among Congressional Catholics: For the first time in recent memory, the number of Catholic Republicans in the House -- 61 -- nearly equals the number of Catholic Democratic House members, at 65. That marks a…

The New York Times promoted the "DREAM Act" on Saturday with a Julia Preston article that never located a single lobbyist for stricter immigration enforcement. Instead, Preston assisted in publicizing a major administration push: "Five cabinet secretaries have made calls, held news conferences or blogged on the issue." It didn't matter how ridiculous it sounded to border enforcers:  On a call…

Leave it to the Associated Press, with the assistance of the "magic" of seasonal adjustments, to make the November housing market appear as if it was a bit better than the two months that preceded it. It wasn't. Thursday, the wire service grabbed the single crumb that was available, namely the Census Bureau's report earlier that day that annualized, seasonally adjusted housing starts had…

Barack Obama's tax compromise victory has got tingles running back up Chris Matthews' leg. After showing a clip of the President at Friday's bill signing, the "Hardball" host raved to guests Eugene Robinson and Howard Fineman about the Commander-in-Chief's "cute smile we all love...That wonderful, boyish smile" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

For all of the bluster and glory, for all of the pomp and circumstance and yes, for all of the anticipated hope and the promised change, the whirlwind of hype and expectation surrounding the President a mere two years earlier has virtually dissolved, and Barack Obama has set a course that will leave his legacy as no more than a footnote in American Presidential history.

It seems that Eliot Spitzer's mind is still in the 1980s, as he twice stated on Thursday's Parker-Sptizer on CNN that the new START Treaty was with the Soviet Union. Spitzer trumpeted "the all-important START Treaty, that will finally cement a nuclear disarmament agreement with the Soviet Union," and then noted that the treaty would deal with the "nuclear warheads that are pointed by the Soviet…

With a huge bipartisan majority, the House passed Obama's tax compromise plan Thursday evening 277 to 148.  139 Democrats voted for the measure with only 36 Republicans voting against it. As a result, Charles Krauthammer said in the Washington Post Friday the GOP made a huge mistake supporting this plan, and that this victory by the President clears the way for his reelection:

More than 8,000 participated in the public online voting for the Best Notable Quotables of 2010 (8,403 to be exact), weighing the idiocy and outrageousness of dozens of quotes from liberal reporters and celebrities. We posted the results a few hours ago.  You can see which ones won and how many votes each quote earned by visiting: http://mrc.org/notablequotables/bestof/2010/publicballot/…

On Friday's CBS Early Show, congressional correspondent Nancy Cordes reported on the passage of legislation to extend current tax rates and described it as: "an early holiday gift for every American taxpayer." She pointed out how "The cost of all that led 112 Democrats and 36 Republicans to vote no."   Moments later, she falsely claimed: "The bill also cuts the estate tax rate from 45% in…

No matter how soothing the White House overtures to business leaders sounded this week, an inconvenient fact remains: Washington is gripped by crab-in-the-bucket syndrome. And there's no cure in sight. Put a single crab in an uncovered bucket, and it will find a way to climb up and out on its own. Put a dozen crabs in a bucket, and 11 will fight with all their might to pull down the striver…