New home sales for July will be announced at 10 a.m. (Econoday)

Protests of shootings by police temporarily shut down public transportation stations in San Francisco (CNN)

Former New York governor George Pataki, for some reason, is closer to entering the Republican presidential race (New York Daily News)

Death toll in Syria tops 2,200 (CNN)

A judge is expected to dismiss the charges against Dominique Strauss-Kahn today (NBC News)

Maxine Waters: The Tea Party can go straight to hell:

Did Liberals Choose the Wrong Messiah? by Aaron Goldstein: In 2008, Democrats were looking for the Chosen One. Now many wish they’d settled for the Devil in the pants suit.

Professor Obama Holds Forth on the Mandate, by David Catron: Anyone who paid tuition to attend this guy’s course on constitutional law deserves a refund.

Ron Paul and the Neoliberal Reeducation Campaign, by Jeffrey Lord: The bad ideas that keep Paulists from winning over the Party of Lincoln and Reagan.

The Liberals’ Reality Problem, by Ron Ross: A primer in the politics of denial.

A Day on the River, by Bill Croke: What’s more American than a lazy float on a summer afternoon?

The State of the Smoker, by Patrick Howley: Ghoulish government scare tactics naturally make smoking more appealing to teens.

Simple Minded, by Jay D. Homnick: In remarks directed at Moammar Gaddafi, our president has nothing more to offer than another dollop of condescension.