Stories to Watch: 8/26/11

Short one today. I’ve got stuff I need to finish up. Now here’s the news…

David Brooks is no fan of Rick Perry. Not surprisingly, the ‘baggers are. Michele Bachmann continues to be yesterday’s news. In fact, her diva act is starting to get people’s nerves.

Hurricane Irene could be a “multi-billion dollar catastrophe,” according to Nate Silver. It probably won’t be, but it could be. You know that old saying about hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst? Yeah, maybe we should start applying that to something other than military spending.

Details of the Wisconsin Supreme Court dust up are out and the story’s still as clear as mud.

More on just how wrong Obama is about the value of phony centrism; polling shows independents — i.e., the center — wants him to fight the GOP more.

Remember how it was such an awful idea to bail out American automakers? Yeah, about that; it wasn’t.

Finally, Ron Paul pines for the good old days of federal disaster response. You know, back when there was no federal disaster response.