Good Reads

E.J. Dionne on why my man Joe Biden should be at the top of Barack Obama’s VP short list. Biden has consistently been one of the few Democrats to appear confident and comfortable discussing foreign policy, and he would bring that confidence to the ticket. Obama could do much, much worse than Biden.

Froma Harrop on why it is OK for Clinton supporters to back John McCain. Honest to god, her point is that he would never, ever, stack the court with conservative judges and try to overturn Roe. Remember—if you make this mistake then these next four years will be your fault. The choice is yours.

Richard Cohen on what the anti-Hillary media, pundit crowd, and blogosphere will do now that she is out of the race. (Is that me in the mirror?)

NBA aficionado/writer/guru Bob Ryan on why the Lakers will get every call tonight. If Los Angeles fails to win this particular game it will signify a shocking turn of events.

Curt Schilling, he of the selfless “bloody sock” episode, on that certain something Kobe Bryant seems to be missing.

This is a bit dated now, but Bill Simmons checks in with his NBA Finals preview and sheds a little light on the Phil Jackson/Kobe Bryant relationship along the way.

Ken Berger on why the 2-3-2 format, used only in the Finals, needs to go. Where does David Stern get the balls to blame this travesty on Red Auerbach? Almost more importantly, how is the name “Auerbach” not in Word’s dictionary? WTF?

Finally, Peggy Noonan’s column is a staple of this list. She appears every Friday in The Wall Street Journal and is currently writing commentary better than anyone else in America. You should be checking it out.