I voted

I'm back in town after an exciting trip to Houston to see if I have any bugs in me (I don't). Thanks to Texas's curbside early voter program, I have already voted in the presidential election. So just in case I get hit by a bus, or the terrorists blow up the UT Tower and it falls on my office and crushes me, my vote will still count (as much as it can in Texas, anyway).

While I was gone, I hope you did not miss:

Ron Suskind's piece in the NYT Magazine. Are you a member of the reality-based community? I am!

The continuing death spiral of Bill O'Reilly's sexual harassment problems. While The Smoking Gun is still overwhelmed with people trying to read the amazingly detailed (quite obviously from taped conversations), hilarious and disturbing lawsuit, you can read Steve Gilliard's excellent commentary.

James K. Galbraith (whom David Halberstam referred to as "Jamie" when I was at dinner with the two of them YES, I DO DROP NAMES ASK ME ABOUT MY DINNER WITH ANDREW SULLIVAN SOME TIME) has written an excellent summation of exactly what is and isn't wrong with Social Security. You have to watch a little ad to get to the full article but it's well worth it. Short version: There is nothing wrong with Social Security.