Monday Night Links

* The upcoming issue of Criticism is all about The Wire. Looks great.

* Making the rounds: How the bubble destroyed the middle class. The consequence of all this is that the “middle class” of the last forty years in the U.S. is essentially an accounting fiction.

* Apocalypse now: Nearly a fifth of the contiguous United States has been faced with the worst drought in recent years.

* Super Mario Bros., with the lowest possible score.

* And cynical, self-defeating betrayal we can believe in: Obama proposes raising Medicare eligibility age to 67. Taibbi: Obama Doesn’t Want a Progressive Deficit Deal. See also.