• Why the White House has not weighed in the Cordoba Initiative: The pro-construction side polls horribly nationwide. [Ben Smith]
• Meanwhile, the Obama administration is sending the extremely radical imam behind the center on a diplomatic outreach tour of the Mideast … just like the Bush administration did. [American Prospect]
• An especially good Tony Judt obit. [NY Observer]
• A fourth-grader reads Portnoy’s Complaint. [The Millions]
• Steve Stern, author of The Frozen Rabbi, reveals and revels in his musical taste. [Paper Cuts]
• Tonight! Lower East Side Tenement Museum! Go see our very own Sara Ivry interview novelist Ghita Schwarz! [Tenement Museum]
Marc Tracy is a staff writer at The New Republic, and was previously a staff writer at Tablet. He tweets @marcatracy.