Heading back to California this afternoon, and hoping the allergy attack I’m experiencing goes away somewhere over the Rockies.

Here are some hypo-allergenic midday news/views treats:

* A participant in the Texas Textbook Wars explains the baleful influence of David Barton on what kids learn about U.S. history.

* At TNR, John Judis provides a backgrounder on Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, the anti-immigration activist who’s in danger of losing re-election in November.

* Yes, she’s being criticized for encouraging binge drinking, but MoJo’s Tim Murphy figures Mary Landrieu’s participation in an LSU “keg stand” helped her Looziana street cred.

* Conservative blogosphere just can’t help itself: NFL domestic violence incidents interpreted as part of liberal war on masculinity.

* Greg Sargent argues alleged “rift” between Obama and military leaders over how to proceed in Iraq and Syria has been overblown.

And in non-political news:

* McDonald’s rolling out condiment customization as cure for sales woes.

As we break for lunch, here’s Leonard Cohen performing his early-90s hit “The Future” live in London.

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Ed Kilgore

Ed Kilgore is a political columnist for New York and managing editor at the Democratic Strategist website. He was a contributing writer at the Washington Monthly from January 2012 until November 2015, and was the principal contributor to the Political Animal blog.