At the end of John F. Kennedy’s favorite musical, Camelot, King Arthur meets a small boy who wants to join the Round Table, unaware that it has been destroyed. Arthur knights the lad (who is supposed to be young Thomas Malory, author of Le Mort d’Arthur) and reprises the title ...read more

My operating theory for this year's Republican presidential primary has long been that the GOP base isn't driven by a desire for an "outsider," but by unquenchable white male resentment. There were several moments at last night's debate that I think will put that theory to the ...read more

Welcome to our coverage of the third Republican Presidential Debate on CNBC, moderated by Carl Quintanilla of Squawk on the Street, Becky Quick from Squawk Box, and chief Washington Correspondent John Harwood. As before, we will have debate clips in near-real time, posted in ...read more

"I absolutely believe he has no right to be lecturing the rest of us. Gun control's not going to solve this." -Bobby Jindal speaking about the Oregon shooter's father to ABC's News Leave it to Bobby Jindal, the GOP's least charismatic and most desperate Presidential candidate ...read more

Poor old Bobby Jindal - the world's least inspiring politician really is doing his best to pull the rug out from Donald Trump's feet to regain the momentum he never had in the Republican primary. Here he was hyping tomorrow's debate: And Matt Taibbi calling him out for ...read more

Debunking right wing attempts to smear and destroy institutions beneficial to women, minorities and the poor is never difficult to do. The childishness employed by right wing hit groups can be quickly neutered with simple google searches, or in the case of the Planned Parenthood ...read more

In yet the latest example of Republican governance giving a big middle finger to America's collective intelligence, Wisconsin governor and terrible person Scott Walker is planning on skipping $108 million in debt payments to cover a $283 million budget shortfall caused by his ...read more

(Photo: Reuters/Lucas Jackson) The fates have always been kind to Dinesh D'Souza. In addition to giving him a political disposition which conveniently allows him to pass himself off as an intellectual among people who don't know any better, he somehow miraculously managed to ...read more

Louisiana blogger Lamar White, Jr. and photographer Robin May bring us this image of Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal's official (see update below) portrait. I just can't put my finger on what's wrong with it. Ah, now I know -- it's missing the monkey's paw. Update: ...read more

Dammit, I really hate it when my most cynical estimations of the American public are proven true. A couple of days ago we mentioned here how the mayor of Paris was planning to sue Fox News because the network incorrectly, ludicrously claimed that parts of Paris and the U.K. ...read more

Yes, the very same Louisiana governor who giggled at the idea of "volcano monitoring" and who described "magnetic levitation" as if it was that thing Yoda did to lift Luke's X-wing out of the swamp, seriously accused President Obama's energy team of being "science deniers." ...read more

In what was ostensibly the launch of 'Republicanism 2.0' young guns Paul Ryan and Marco Rubio both gave 'vision' speeches at the Jack Kemp Foundation dinner last week, spelling out their revamped conservatism they hope to sell the American public. Michael Tomasky was not ...read more

By Bob Cesca: We've all known a kid who upon losing a board game would freak out, hurl the game across the room and storm off while shouting something like, "This game sucks anyway!" The modern permutation of this unhinged sour grapes tantrum is to chuck a video game controller ...read more

By Ben Cohen: Oliver Willis posted a short but insightful piece on his blog over the weekend outlining the Republicans strategy for getting elected. Titled: 'Conservatives Realize They Have To Lie About Conservatism To Be Elected', Willis argued that the only way they can get ...read more

The Daily Banter Headline Grab. From TPM: Late last week more than a dozen Republican governors declared that they will not build the insurance market exchanges called for by the Affordable Care Act, including prominent names like Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, John Kasich of ...read more

By Bob Cesca: As I watch the convention coverage and glance across the throng of Republican delegates, I can't help but to think, "Ah yes. This makes sense. The nation's most confused and contradictory Americans have gathered to nominate a liar for president." I know. I know. ...read more