Salon

mcnallyjackson:

A whole slew of greats—Eula Biss! Ander Monson! Luc Sante! Lawrence Weschler!—pick their 10 favorite essays. 

We love long reads!

theatlantic:

For nearly two decades, the leaders of Al Qaeda have denounced the Arab world’s dictators as heretics and puppets of the West and called for their downfall. Now, people in country after country have risen to topple their leaders — and Al Qaeda has played absolutely no role.

In fact, the motley opposition movements that have appeared so suddenly and proved so powerful have shunned the two central tenets of the Qaeda credo: murderous violence and religious fanaticism. The demonstrators have used force defensively, treated Islam as an afterthought and embraced democracy, which is anathema to Osama bin Laden and his followers.

So for Al Qaeda — and perhaps no less for the American policies that have been built around the threat it poses — the democratic revolutions that have gripped the world’s attention present a crossroads. Will the terrorist network shrivel slowly to irrelevance? Or will it find a way to exploit the chaos produced by political upheaval and the disappointment that will inevitably follow hopes now raised so high?

Read the rest at the New York Times

We also noticed how all of the country’s experiencing democratic revolutions are the ones Bush didn’t invade.

The show skewers Jezebel, sexy female stand-ups, lame period jokes — and we all win

Asks Glenn Greenwald:

Will those who previously defended Obama by claiming the DOJ *must* defend statutes now criticize him for not defending DOMA any longer?