Our Endorsements: Mitt Romney Makes Out With Himself

* In The Washington Spectator's new animated video series, A Brodner Minute, illustrator Steve Brodner has the candidates swapping spit with their benefactors.

* Jeff Ross is going to Canada to roast an entire country.

* Breeding the moderation back into Republicans, from The Onion.

* Republicans get cheeky with their Valentine's, via Buzzfeed.

* From McSweeney's: "American Policy Suggestions from a Chicago Sports Fan."

* All the world's books on Abraham Lincoln could build a 3 story tower. No, really.

Tags: Abraham Lincoln, Barack Obama, Canada, Chicago, Daily Links, Democrats, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Republicans, Rick Santorum, Sports, Valentine's Day

Our Endorsements: Mitt Romney Has the Floor

* Mitt Romney has created hundreds of jobs in the chair holding industry.

* Splitsider contemplates the comedians who made us think this year.

* Rick Santorum gets another kind of "Rick Roll'd."

* Creatively defaced money, from Happy Place.

* Barack Obama responds to Matt Romney. (Reference.)

Tags: Abraham Lincoln, Barack Obama, Birthers, Daily Links, George Washington, Jon Stewart, Louis C.K., Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Seth Meyers, Stephen Colbert, Twitter

Barack Obama Is the Fourth Best President Ever, According to Barack Obama

The left has had a lot of fun mocking Newt Gingrich for comparing himself to important historical figures like Abraham Lincoln, Charles de Gaulle, Margaret Thatcher, Ho Chi Minh, Jessica Rabbit, a dishwasher, Uranus and, let's say, the song "November Rain."

But now President Obama's the one getting a Newt-sized head…

Obama's comments in a recent 60 Minutes interview that his legislative and foreign policy accomplishments top all but three former presidents has sparked fierce blowback among right-leaning blogs.

The 60 Minutes Overtime video shows Obama telling correspondent Steve Kroft… "I would put our legislative and foreign policy accomplishments in our first two years against any president — with the possible exceptions of Johnson, F.D.R., and Lincoln — just in terms of what we've gotten done in modern history. But, you know, but when it comes to the economy, we’ve got a lot more work to do."

I don't know why these right-wing blogs are so outraged. Obama has clearly accomplished more than any other president ever.

Sure, Teddy Roosevelt created the conservation movement and ushered in an era of humane labor laws, but President Obama successfully got, like, five Democrats to agree with him one time.

Of course, George Washington literally founded the United States of America and freed us from the British, but President Obama once got a law passed by giving up only 80% of its provisions.

Thomas Jefferson may be responsible for acquiring a third of our country's land mass and writing the Declaration of Independence, but President Obama is… just… so… cool.

Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images News/Getty Images

Tags: Abraham Lincoln, Barack Obama, Franklin Roosevelt, Lyndon Johnson, Newt Gingrich, Theodore Roosevelt

Humble Newt Gingrich Likens Self to Only Five Presidents in GOP Debate

My initial reaction to being asked to watch any more Republican debates is to reach for the Eighth Amendment and seek judicial relief from the cruel and unusual punishment of this interminable campaign season, but lately I've come to consider myself lucky. After all, Newt Gingrich's historical perspective usually costs well into the seven figures, yet here he is, condescending for free…

"Just like Jefferson, Jackson, Lincoln and FDR, I would be prepared to take on the judiciary," Gingrich said.

Citing Lincoln's criticism of the Dred Scott decision, Gingrich said he had no time for legal experts – including former U.S. attorneys general – who argue his plan would undermine the separation of powers.

"I would suggest to you, actually, as a historian I may understand this better than lawyers," Gingrich said, adding that law schools have "over-empowered lawyers to think that they can dictate to the rest of us."

Hopefully, it's not too contemptuous of Gingrich's superior learning to point out that Andrew Jackson's confrontation with the Justice Marshall and the Supreme Court was precipitated by the president's policy of Indian removal and wholesale ethnic cleansing of several Native American tribes, in violation of treaty obligations. And Franklin Roosevelt's "court packing" scheme is usually not held up as the finest moment in American constitutionalism. So giving Gingrich the benefit of the doubt, I assume we're going to go the Lincoln route and impose martial law within the catchment of the 9th Circuit Court, until those liberal activist judges stop being so activist liberal.

But I know the real surprise here isn't the brilliant historical exposition, but the modesty of Gingrich comparing himself to only four of our country's most famous leaders…

Newt Gingrich, ahead in the polls and facing withering criticism from his own party, compared himself to Ronald Reagan in the last debate among the GOP presidential contenders before the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses.

Still, only five! What a blessed relief from the "arrogant" former constitutional law professor in the White House.

Photo by Pool/Getty Images News/Getty Images

Tags: Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Jackson, Debates, Franklin Roosevelt, Iowa, Judiciary, Newt Gingrich, Primaries, Republicans, Supreme Court

Happy Evacuation Day, Everyone!

Today, on this beloved American holiday — when we celebrate the 11,000 loyal patriots who perished on British prison ships during the Revolutionary War — here's hoping you have a festively tall Evacuation Day pole on which to climb.

The Daily Show airs Monday through Thursday at 11/10c.

Tags: Abraham Lincoln, American Revolution, Jon Stewart, New York City, Sarah Vowell, Thanksgiving, The Daily Show, United Kingdom, Video