US Marshals pull the plug on an auction of the loot Jesse Jackson Jr. bought for himself with his campaign money after TPM raises questions about the authenticity of certain auction items.

Like the guitar purportedly signed by Michael Jackson and Eddie Van Halen.

So yes, not only did Jackson ruin his career and perhaps his life by using his campaign treasury as a piggy bank. He may have been getting snookered into buying phony memorabilia. Great read. Check it out.

Rep. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) on Friday responded to a constituent opposed to drastically cutting food stamps for the young, elderly and poor by citing a Biblical quote: “If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.”

We have arrived at the moment where the flying shark eats Ted Cruz whole in his self-produced movie Defundnado.

The DefundoRama has now sucked in Lindsey Graham. Last week he told us defunding was hopeless. But the pod people just got to him.

With both wings of the House GOP now united on thinking Ted Cruz is a jerk (just for different reasons), Cruz issues new statement trying to get out of the hole he’s dug for himself.

To get a sense of where things are, the House folks just held a big presser and emblazoned on the podium was the hashtag #senatemustact, which in the context of the moment basically means, Ted, time to step. So the focus of the House GOP’s messaging on Defund Obamacare Day is basically attacking Ted Cruz.

Rep. Ted Yoho (R-FL) says Obamacare defunders are following in the footsteps of Rosa Parks and MLK.

A terrible tragedy for two families. But I’m not sure I’ve seen anything that better captures the trajectory of US gun policy. Men who have problems with anger management probably aren’t helped a lot by regularly carrying handguns. And only people who willfully ignore the human condition believe that arming everyone will lead to less gun violence.

Feds auction of Jesse Jackson Jr.’s loot cancelled after questions arise over authenticity of celebrity memorabilia. “”After receiving legitimate concerns about the authenticity of the guitar purportedly signed by Michael Jackson and Eddie Van Halen and out of an abundance of caution …” It gets better from there.

I’ve never had comments in the editor’s blog for reasons I’ve explained elsewhere. But I’m making a one time exception because I want to answer whatever questions you have about the new site platform, comments and everything else. Join me after the jump to ask questions or just see explanations for questions you might have. Read More

Yesterday we saw news that has cheered liberal Catholics and discomfited many of their conservative brethren. Pope Francis told an Italian Jesuit publication that the Church can’t be obsessively focused on a relatively narrow and – as he put it – disjointed grouping of Catholic doctrine at the expense of the fullness of the Christian message. He was explicitly talking about abortion, gay marriage and contraception. Read More