Jim Messina tried to claim in his video announcing the Q2 numbers that 98% of all donations were $250 or less, and the average contribution was $69 from around 550,000 contributors. That gives the impression of a grassroots-fueled army. Messina didn’t say that these numbers excluded the DNC contributions, mostly maxed-out $30,000 donations. And now, the fact of these bundlers complicates Messina’s narrative even more. It’s possible – in fact, given the numbers, it’s likely – that a portion of the under-$250 contributions were collected by bundlers. I think we can say with confidence that bundlers aren’t going to “ordinary Americans” for those collections. They are rich elites who go to their rich elite friends.

Organizers now say supporters have a challenge to “match the courage of the hunger strikers” and “effectively pressure the CDCR to immediately negotiate on the standards any negotiation should follow: with the prisoners in good faith, addressing all of the demands, and with the prisoner-approved outside mediation team.”

Conor Friedersdorf goes where no man wants to go.

Goldman Sachs may be a vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money, but as macroeconomic analysts they’re usually pretty solid. Which makes sense, because macroeconomics smells a lot like money. But if you look retrospectively at their forecasts, they generally get things right. Which is why everyone should be pretty frightened by their most recent analysis.

Abby Dees isn’t afraid to talk about sex. Or frame questions for you about sex. She, unlike some of our political activists who ask that we downplay our sex, is willing to acknowledge — even celebrate — the role sex plays in sexual orientation. As she writes, “Duh.”

Yet another “family values conservative” (where “family values” means sticking it to mothers and kids) is well on his way to getting a divorce. Quelle surprise. NOT.

Over several nights, MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell (Last Word) has argued that Mr. Obama has pursued a brilliant strategy that has not only split the Republicans over their unwillingness to accept any tax increases but also put him in an advantageous position for getting a “clean” debt limit bill without egregious cuts, as well as gaining political traction as the only responsible adult in the room.

The Murdoch phone-hacking scandal is billed as British tabloids run amok, and the US media seems fixed on the “Gosh, I’m glad that could never happen here” storyline. Sadly, the phone-hacking label is a misstatement — that’s the symptom, but the problem is deeper. Behind the phone-hacking, however, are the revelations of the incestuous nature of politicians and journalists in the world of British politics and media.

And that, my friends, is a well-accepted part of the DC world. See “Russert, Tim” or “Mitchell, Andrea (Mrs Alan Greenspan)” or “White House Correspondents Dinner” or . . .

You get the idea. I just wish the Media Villagers did.

A separate article in the Wall Street Journal said the short list was narrowed to Raj Date, Richard Cordray and Jennifer Granholm. But Granholm already turned down the job, saying Warren deserved it, and she doesn’t work at CFPB. So it’s probably down to Cordray and Date, and in all honesty, I’m fairly sure Date will be nominated. The fact that nobody would leapfrog Warren and take the job was working to constrain the Administration’s options for a time, but once Date expressed willingness, Warren couldn’t very well say no to someone she hired.

The bright side (if there is a bright side) is that Warren will be able to speak more freely if she’s not the head of the agency, and we could use some adults in the conversation right now. A giant manufactured debt ceiling crisis is being used to force Shock Doctrine austerity on the country. I hope somebody will ask her how she’d handle things if she was President. What do you think Elizabeth Warren would do if she was in Obama’s shoes right now?