Scary

Just when I was starting to think the McCain campaign had Palin's ignorance under control, she comes out with this doozy. From ABC:

"If [the media] convince enough voters that that is negative campaigning, for me to call Barack Obama out on his associations," Palin told host Chris Plante, "then I don't know what the future of our country would be in terms of First Amendment rights and our ability to ask questions without fear of attacks by the mainstream media."

Palin's bizarre interpretation of the First Amendment is so convoluted that I am having trouble finding the right words to explain what I think she thinks it means. She should read it again:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

According to Palin, the First Amendment guarantees a politician's right to say whatever he or she wants without being called on it by the press? Is that what she's saying?

The more I mull this over, the more confused I get, but I'm pretty sure the fact that the First Amendment guarantees THE EXACT OPPOSITE of what Palin thinks it does takes her lack of intelligence to a whole new level (emphasis mine):

Without the First Amendment, religious minorities could be persecuted, the government might well establish a national religion, protesters could be silenced, the press could not criticize government, and citizens could not mobilize for social change.

Boo!

I had an opinion about John's post so I weighed in here. Linking's easier than trying to recreate the magic.

Speaking of magic, Happy Halloween (weird segue, I know). I have no costume plans as of yet though I am definitely looking forward to handing out candy. Last year was surprisingly amusing.

Sarah Palin's Rape Kit Sale

My friends at PSA made another video. Pass it around:

From Viewers to Voters

Nielsen: 33.6 million watched Obama ad:

Obama's 30-minute primetime infomercial was seen by 33.6 million viewers across seven networks -- including CBS, NBC, Fox, Univision, MSNBC, BET and TV One.

That's 70% more people than watched the conclusion of the World Series last night on Fox (19.8 million).

Keeping It Real

Once we've got Washington back on track, we should work on fixing the media. We need fewer dopes and more Damons:

Dumbass Insurance Executive Quote of the Day

From Robert Pear's article on women having to pay more for health insurance (emphasis mine):

Thomas T. Noland Jr., a senior vice president of Humana, said: “Premiums for our individual health insurance plans reflect claims experience — the use of medical services — which varies by gender and age. Females use more medical services than males, and this difference is most pronounced in young adults.”

In addition, Mr. Noland said, “Bearing children increases other health risks later in life, such as urinary incontinence, which may require treatment with medication or surgery.”

McSnark

This says it all. From the AP:

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama plunked down $4 million for a campaign-closing television ad Wednesday night and summoned voters to "choose hope over fear and unity over division" in Tuesday's election. Republican John McCain derided the event as a "gauzy, feel-good commercial," paid for with broken promises.

Obama lifts you up. McCain drags you down.

Delusions of Grandeur

She is out of control:

Gov. Sarah Palin suggested that if the Republican ticket is defeated on Tuesday she expects to be a player in the next election four years from now, saying "I'm not doing this for naught."

Way to avoid overshadowing the top of the ticket in the final days of the campaign, Sarah. Real team player you're turning out to be.

UPDATE: Oh what a difference 4 days makes. Remember what Palin told Brian Williams in the interview that aired Friday:

As for furtherance in a political career, I'm not even gonna think about that. I'm thinkin' between now and November 4th what it is we have to do in reaching out to the electorate and letting them know who John McCain is, what we represent, and how electing John McCain is the right decision for the future of America.

Someone's been reading too much of her own press. From today's NYT:

Her prospects, in or out of government, are the subject of intensive conversations among conservative leaders, including the group that will meet next Wednesday in rural Virginia to weigh social, foreign policy and economic issues, as well as the political landscape and the next presidential election.

If the Republican party considers Sarah Palin its future, they're in worse shape than I thought. It's not like she's an intellectual giant who just needs time to learn the nuances of national politics. She's a former beauty queen, a pathological liar, dumb as a post, completely self-absorbed, and utterly unaware.

That should win you back some votes 4 years from now. Have at it.

I've Decided

Everyone - and I mean every single news outlet - should stop covering "undecideds."

With everything that's at stake, if someone's still ambivalent, he's either a raging moron or not paying attention. Either way, what he thinks could not be less significant.

And certainly, he shouldn't be offered a megaphone (i.e. cable news) to shout it.

And as if on cue, on CNN right now: "If you're still undecided, tell us why."

Classy

The more things change, the more they stay the same (emphasis mine):

Palin, for her part, adopted a much more casual look tonight when addressing an overflow crowd at Shippensburg University in Shippensburg, Pa. In the time between her main speech and her talk to the overflow room, she took off her magenta suit jacket and replaced it with an oversized Navy-blue T-shirt that said SHIP in large white letters and, below that, HAPPENS, in smaller letters. At the very bottom, in tiny letters, lay the name of the university.

In His Own Words

Stand for Nothing Fall for Anything

Oh, this is priceless. From BoingBoing via John, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

In March, Ms. Todd was asked to leave a grass-roots group of Ron Paul supporters in Brazos County, Texas, group leader Dustan Costine said. He said Ms. Todd posed as a supporter of former Arkansas governor and presidential candidate Mike Huckabee and called the local Republican committee seeking information about its campaign strategies.

(...)

About a month earlier, he said, Ms. Todd sent an e-mail to the Ron Paul group saying her tires were slashed and that campaign paraphernalia had been stolen from her car because she supported Mr. Paul.

Seems Palin's not the only woman the McCain campaign failed to vet before pushing her story out to the press.

What's At Stake

Do you have a friend in a battleground state still considering voting for John McCain? Does he have health insurance through work? Does he like it? Think he might like to keep it?

Send him this map.

Just click on your state and find out how many people will lose their employer-sponsored coverage under John McCain's health care plan sham.

Yes We Will

Was It Something I Said?

I'm too embarrassed to admit how I stumbled upon this gem, but it seems Palin's shout-out to her favorite Alaskan consignment shop (you know the one where she used to go before she got all fancy-like) is now facing legal troubles. And it's Palin's fault! From WWD:

Palin told Sean Hannity that she is a frequent customer of Out of the Closet, an Anchorage clothing reseller. Unfortunately for the Alaskan shop, Los Angeles-based AIDS Healthcare Foundation has operated charity resale stores under the same name in California and Florida since 1990. It registered the moniker as a trademark in 1997. In a teleconference Monday, the group, which describes itself as the nation’s largest HIV and AIDS nonprofit, said it sent a cease and desist letter to the Anchorage store. It also threatened a trademark suit if it wasn’t appeased, and invited Palin to donate her campaign wardrobe to its own Out of the Closet operations after the election. The Out of the Closet shop to the north did not return a call seeking comment.

To Tell The Truth

Do they even know what they're saying anymore?

Younger, healthier workers likely wouldn't abandon their company-sponsored plans, said Douglas Holtz-Eakin, McCain's senior economic policy adviser.

"Why would they leave?" said Holtz-Eakin. "What they are getting from their employer is way better than what they could get with the credit."

So now the McCain campaign is admitting the private insurance market sucks? They really are imploding on all fronts.

Jason's got more here. Igor breaks it down too:

[I]n order to defend the McCain health proposal from critics who charge that it would undermine existing coverage, the campaign is awkwardly trying to convince Americans that healthier workers won’t flee employer-insurance pools and increase costs for those who are left behind. In the process, they’ve admitted that the individual health insurance market offers inferior coverage, conceded that workers value the employer health contribution, and have stepped all over their talking points.

All in all, it’s kind of fun to watch.

Laying Down the Law

When I heard that a Republican outfit in PA was sending Jewish voters emails suggesting Obama's candidacy resembled the rise of Hitler, I was livid. I'm glad the Anti-Defamation League is fighting back.

Found via AMERICAblog, the ADL's statement reads, in part:

Regardless of which candidate one supports, it is shocking and profoundly distressing that anyone would see fit to make such an odious, false and repugnant analogy. Not only does it further debase the level of our political discourse, but it also diminishes and trivializes the virulent anti-Semitism and Nazi aggression that led to the slaughter of six million Jews and millions of others.

Read the whole thing here.

I've written about Godwin's Law before (on AMERICAblog, actually), but now seems like an excellent time to bring it up again:

As a Usenet discussion gets longer it tends to get more heated; as more heat enters the discussion, tensions get higher and people start to insult each other over anything they can think of. Godwin's Law merely notes that, eventually, those tensions eventually cause someone to find the worst insults that come to mind - which will almost always include a Nazi comparison.

(...)

When it happens, the thread is going to start either degenerating into a long flamewar over Nazi Germany or about Godwin's Law. Either way, the thread is effectively over, and you can safely killfile the thread and move on.

I'd say the "Republican Federal Committee of PA – Victory 2008" has effectively crossed the line with its 'Holocaust'- themed correspondence, and we should be allowed to safely dismiss the McCain campaign and move on.

Me First

I love these reports of Palin starting to wing it:

McCain sources say Palin has gone off-message several times, and they privately wonder whether the incidents were deliberate. They cited an instance in which she labeled robocalls -- recorded messages often used to attack a candidate's opponent -- "irritating" even as the campaign defended their use. Also, they pointed to her telling reporters she disagreed with the campaign's decision to pull out of Michigan.

A second McCain source says she appears to be looking out for herself more than the McCain campaign.

"She is a diva. She takes no advice from anyone," this McCain adviser said. "She does not have any relationships of trust with any of us, her family or anyone else.

"Also, she is playing for her own future and sees herself as the next leader of the party. Remember: Divas trust only unto themselves, as they see themselves as the beginning and end of all wisdom."

The McCain campaign made its own bed on this one. It's a pleasure to watch them toss and turn.

Style Over Substance

If you didn't happen to see the article in yesterday's NYT about "pundit school", here's a snippet:

He is being trained to carve his conservative philosophy into bite-size nuggets — preferably ones that end with a zinger — and to avoid questions he doesn’t like. He is discovering the right way to attack opponents (with a smile) and to steer a conversation in his direction (by interrupting).

TV news has become a shell of its former self.

Health Care Quick Hit

Morning.

If anyone you know - especially a woman you know - still thinks McCain's "$5000 credit/buying across state lines" health care plan is a good deal, send them the following from the NWLC:

Most people in the U.S. get coverage through their own or a family member’s employer, and may be blissfully unaware of how challenging it can be to try and buy coverage directly from insurance companies. But even they could be one job change, divorce, or other major life event away from shopping in the individual health insurance market. Moreover, some health reform plans could lead to an expanded role for the individual market, making it more likely that any of us—major life change or not—could need the coverage offered there. This is why we all must become more aware of the last-resort, ‘Wild, Wild West’ of health insurance, and of the pricey and precarious products that are sold there. It’s no place that you’d ever want to find yourself, and its existence is one more major reason that we need comprehensive health reform that will provide high-quality and affordable health coverage for all.

It's Just a Matter of Time

John's called it. How long before the interactive www.CarveMyFace.com pops up online?

Ladies and Gentlemen, your McCain/Palin supporter.


Anyway, the poem of the week hasn't been updated yet, but it will be by tonight. Also, John's got an excellent column this week (not that they aren't all excellent, but this one is particularly engaging) so remember to click here on Sunday.

Have a great weekend, and please, resist the urge to brand yourself and cry wolf.

Worthless

First Things First

“My dad used to say, don’t tell me what you value. Show me your budget, and I’ll tell you what you value.” - Joe Biden in Virginia last month

Chris Frates in Politico today:

Democrat Barack Obama has spent $113 million in health care television advertising so far this year, eight times that of Republican rival John McCain — an investment that polls show are paying big dividends as the election enters its closing weeks.

Obama has devoted 68 percent of his total TV advertising this year to ads that include health care themes, and McCain has devoted 13 percent. That includes both primary and general election spending, according to the Campaign Media Analysis Group that tracks and analyzes campaign advertising and provided Politico with its tally through mid-October.

In October, McCain spent 1.5 percent of his TV ads on health care, while Obama upped the ante to 86 percent of his total budget.

Top o' the Muffin to Ya!

I'm stealing the title from John who has me in hysterics with each additional email. Here's the latest on one Miss Ashley Todd - fabricated victim of a politically motivated mugging and face carving hate crime. From TMZ:

The PD has released a statement saying "We have received photos from the ATM machine at the Citizens Bank and the photographs was (sic) verified as NOT being the victim making the transaction."

In other words, the woman who says she was attacked at the ATM machine wasn't there at the time of the alleged attack.

But why the muffin top reference, you ask? Just watch (:20 seconds in).

UPDATE: From our Senior Made-Up Story Correspondent John:

Trying to confirm. From a KOS diary…

“A Pittsburgh police commander says a volunteer for the McCain campaign who reported being robbed and attacked near a bank ATM in Bloomfield has confessed to making up the story. Police say charges will be filed.”

That would officially make this my favorite story ever!

Mine too.

UPDATE 2: BS Confirmed!

Police sources tell KDKA that a campaign worker has now confessed to making up a story that a mugger attacked her and cut the letter "B" in her face after seeing her McCain bumper sticker.

Turns out you can make this sh*t up.

Just Like You

Elisabeth Hasselbeck is going to join Sarah Palin on the campaign trail.




It's good to see the McCain/Palin campaign adding a little diversity to the tour.

I just hate when rich, plastic white women are underrepresented.

"B" Aggressive

How did I miss this one?

Todd told police she was withdrawing money just before 9 p.m. Wednesday when a man approached her from behind, put a knife to her neck and demanded money, police said. She said she gave him $60.

The robber then noticed the bumper sticker, punched her in the back of the head, knocked her down and used the knife to carve a "B" on the right side of her face, the woman told police.

It was unclear what the "B" was meant to symbolize, Richard said.

So we are to believe a McCain volunteer (who draws like a 4th grader, btw) is attacked by a politically inclined mugger with an extremely steady hand and a skill for lightly etching backwards letters and then refuses medical treatment but takes a picture of herself and circulates it online?

You know your made-up assault has totally jumped the shark when even Michelle Malkin calls bullsh*t.

UPDATE: Here's the latest.

il-Advised il-Preparedness

Quiet morning, I know. Had some stuff to tend to on the work front. We are now officially up on the air in NC with our "Fighter" ad:



Also, we've got a print ad out today in MI-7. Tim Walberg picked a fight with the wrong peeps:



And finally, today in Palin news, I've been watching the clip from last night's Nightly News b/c everyone's talking about how awkward it was. It was. But it also offered another small glimpse into the vacant space that is Palin's knowledge base of international affairs and foreign relations. From Think Progress:

PALIN: You have to have some diplomatic strategy going into a meeting with someone like Ahmadinejad or Kim Jong-il, one of these dictators that would seek to destroy America or her allies. It is so naive and so dangerous for a presidential candidate to just proclaim that they would be willing to sit down with a– a leader like Ahmadinejad and just talk about the problems, the issues that are facing them. So that — that’s — that’s some ill-preparedness right there.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (notice she never says his first name) is not a dictator. He's the elected President of a republic, and he's accountable to the Supreme Leader. Lumping him in with Kim Jong-il is simplifying the nuances of other nations' political processes and governments to a dangerous degree.

UPDATE: I changed the title of this post b/c the phrase irks me to no end, especially when Palin says it ("that’s some ill-preparedness right there").

Fiscal Conservative Chic

Sarah Palin to the RNC*:

I'm totally prepared to be Vice President of the United States of America. I just have nothing to wear.

*not really

Missing the Point

I don't really care whether or not the $150,000 spree was legal. We know by now "legal" is just a formality for the McCain/Palin campaign:

It would be illegal for the McCain-Palin campaign to buy a new wardrobe for Palin and her husband, say campaign finance lawyers contacted by ABCNews.com. But the law is silent on whether such purchases can be made by the Republican National Committee (RNC).

...The McCain-sponsored campaign finance reform bill in 2002 specifically bars the campaign committees from purchasing items for personal use such as clothing, campaign finance lawyers say.

That same ban, however, is not written into the statute for other fundraising entities like PACs or the political party, creating one of the many loopholes that allow campaigns to skirt some of the restrictions put on election spending...

But I think it's despicable that the RNC spent $150,000 of donor money - probably some of it culled from those working class people they claim to care so much about - making over the VP candidate and her family. Some might go so far as to say they spent $150,000 to put lipstick on a pig.

Amazing Disgrace

Politico: McCain ‘amazed’ by Palin treatment

Other things that amaze John McCain:

• How anyone lives in just one house
• Modern technology
  
• Why anyone wouldn't want to stay in Iraq indefinitely when flak jackets are so slimming:
  
  
  
  
• Kids these days
  
• That anyone cares about that washed-up old terrorist Ayers. "But if they want to talk about him, who am I to stop them?"

Collection Fashion Plate

Hey contributors to the RNC, look what you bought:

RNC shells out $150K for Palin fashion

...According to financial disclosure records, the accessorizing began in early September and included bills from Saks Fifth Avenue in St. Louis and New York for a combined $49,425.74.

The records also document a couple of big-time shopping trips to Neiman Marcus in Minneapolis, including one $75,062.63 spree in early September.

The RNC also spent $4,716.49 on hair and makeup through September after reporting no such costs in August...

Want to bet Levi didn't pay for his own makeover?

Bought and Paid For

I love it. Palin's in a pickle...again:

AP INVESTIGATION: Alaska funded Palin kids' travel

Read the whole thing and send it around to everyone you know. Especially this part:

In all, Palin has charged the state $21,012 for her three daughters' 64 one-way and 12 round-trip commercial flights since she took office in December 2006. In some other cases, she has charged the state for hotel rooms for the girls.

And this:

On Aug. 6, three weeks before Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain chose Palin his running mate, and after Alaska reporters asked for the records, Palin ordered changes to previously filed expense reports for her daughters' travel.

In the amended reports, Palin added phrases such as "First Family attending" and "First Family invited" to explain the girls' attendance.

"The governor said, 'I want the purpose and the reason for this travel to be clear,'" said Linda Perez, state director of administrative services.

Or this:

In October 2007, Palin brought daughter Bristol along on a trip to New York for a women's leadership conference. Plane tickets from Anchorage to La Guardia Airport for $1,385.11 were billed to the state, records show, and mother and daughter shared a room for four nights at the $707.29-per-night Essex House hotel, which overlooks Central Park.

The event's organizers said Palin asked if she could bring her daughter...

...Griffin, the campaign spokesman, said he believes someone with the event personally sent an e-mail to Bristol inviting her, but he did not have it to provide.

I've stayed at the Essex House (thx to CNN). It's gorgeous. And more expensive than a lot of other hotels in the area. Alaska taxpayers foot the bill for some pricey mother daughter daughter daughter vacations.

Nope. No abuse of power. No extraneous spending. Move along. Nothing to see here.

Win, Lose, or Drew

Drew Griffin - of lousy ACORN reporting fame - just sat down with Sarah Palin, and the whole interview is supposedly coming up on the SitRoom next hour. Griffin teased his own segment saying he talked to Palin about Troopergate, fiscal conservatism, etc. and thinks he got some new insight into the Governor even though she was just fresh off a stump speech.

I'm doubtful but curious, and curious wins so now I have to watch the SitRoom.

Crap.

UPDATE: Here we go. Palin says her job as VP is going to be "reformer" and "energy independence." And helping kids with special needs. Prioritizing federal dollars to give children opportunity. Whatever. We know that's not true.

Could that have been less enlightening? If that was the interview's best soundbite, this is going to be a long hour.

Part 2 of interview: They're spacing these puppies out. Griffin asks about Palin's big crowds and if this means she's coming back in 2012. No joke. That's his question. Palin turns around and gives a very meandering answer that attacks Biden's comments on Obama being tested on the international stage. This sit-down is getting us nowhere and offering us nothing.

As we wait for the next segment, I'll add a little color. Either this interview was downright terrible or another program's called dibs, and the SitRoom doesn't have the ok to show the whole thing. CNN shows are competitive, and if Drew's salary comes out of another program's budget, then his interview is essentially property of that hour, and we won't get the whole sit-down in one chunk until then.

And no, I won't be tuning in to catch it. I'm not at all intrigued anymore.

UPDATE 2: Yes, there is more. No, I didn't hear it. I had work to do. Apologies for starting something I couldn't finish. Who knew they'd drag it all out over three straight hours?

Image info: I saw this first a while back, but a friend just emailed it to me so now's as good a time as any to put it up.

Standards and Practices

I've got a TV on in my office to keep track of what's being said about health care - especially now as the candidates give multiple speeches a day at different spots around the country. It's tough to find a station I can tolerate with the sound on for extended periods of time, but I mostly alternate btwn CNN and MSNBC. Just now, the following lower 3rd (that's the text below the talking heads) popped up on the former:

Visting Grandmother
Will this help or hurt Obama?

I'm at a loss. Obama's going to see his dying grandmother, and someone felt it appropriate to put together a segment on the political ramifications of that decision?

Pressing Issues

For the record, I said it first (about a month ago to be exact).

Christopher Hitchens: Stop Covering Palin

Cost v. Coverage

Articles like this aren't helping. Health care reform is complicated, and pretending the McCain/Obama distinction is just a numbers game fails to address the issues of providing comprehensive coverage that meets our needs and regulating an industry that profits by denying care when we need it most.

If Joe the Plumber works for his buddy and doesn't get health insurance through work, McCain's plan will do nothing for him and his son. He will get $5000 to go out and try to find health insurance on his own. When he does, that $5000 will cover only a fraction of what he needs, and G-d forbid someone suffers an illness or accident, Joe's bills will pile up faster than he can say "tax lien."

WebMD should do its homework and stop regurgitating the same shallow price point that belies the truth.

Serenity Now

All the yelling on MSNBC is giving me a headache. *mute*

I'm really glad it's Friday.

As always, here's your link to the poem of the week and your reminder to check out John's column here on Sunday. Why?

I'll give you a hint...
If you're tired and fried
It will help you remember
The child inside

We could all use a lot more levity these days.

Have a great weekend.

Down the Tubes

When anyone asks, I say Yes, I love my new gig, and No, I don't miss the media. Especially now.

I truly believe most are doing an atrocious job this election cycle, and I am relieved not to have to defend the profession.

Sarah Palin is less than three weeks away from possibly winning the second highest office in the land, and she's held ZERO press conferences. ZERO. Hearing much about that anymore? Me neither.

But it's urgently important we all rush to interview a guy who does some plumbing in Ohio, doesn't believe in Social Security, and owes back taxes.

Joe the "Plumber" has answered more off-the-cuff questions than the Republican VP candidate. How sad is that?

Paying the Price

Last night, John McCain said:

The average cost of a health care insurance plan in America today is $5,800. I'm going to give them $5,000 to take with them wherever they want to go, and this will give them affordability.

The Kaiser Family Foundation says the cost of a family health insurance plan today is $12,680.

So who's right?

Well, 158 million people get their health insurance through work. So 158 million people are used to - and have come to expect - the standard benefits that come through employer-based insurance. That benefits package runs $12,680/year.

15 million people buy health insurance on their own. And according to AHIP, the health insurance industry front group, the average cost of a family plan in 2006-2007 was $5799. But what do you get with that $5799 plan?

When you buy bargain health insurance, you buy defective insurance that's not going to meet your needs.

Someone should inform Senator McCain that last time employer-based family premiums cost close to $5800 was back in 1999:

Premiums rose a modest 5 percent this year, but they have more than doubled since 1999 when total family premiums stood at $5,791

UPDATE: Don't just take my explanation for it. Here's more.

A Moment in Time

Totally stole this find from Joe. It's just beyond fabulous.



UPDATE: The resemblance really is uncanny:

Another Disconnect

Palin to Charlie Gibson on abortion and the health of the mother:

GIBSON: John McCain would allow abortion in cases of rape and incest. Do you believe in it only in the case where the life of the mother is in danger?

PALIN: That is my personal opinion.

GIBSON: Would you change and accept it in rape and incest?

PALIN: My personal opinion is that abortion allowed if the life of the mother is endangered...

McCain last night:

McCain: Just again, the example of the eloquence of Sen. Obama. He's health for the mother. You know, that's been stretched by the pro-abortion movement in America to mean almost anything.

That's the extreme pro-abortion position, quote, "health."

Blue Collar Mascots

I'd take Larry the Cable Guy over Joe the Plumber any day.

From MSNBC's First Read, here's the background on Joe.

My history with plumbers.

Last But Not Least

Prebate warm-up:

This is my favorite story today. This is my favorite Palin clip today.

And here are the questions I want asked about health care tonight:

• How does a $5000 tax credit help when the average family health care plan now costs more than $12,500/year, and how are working families expected to pay the difference?
• Why let insurers sell across state lines if it wipes out state consumer protections in the process?
• Where will people with pre-existing conditions get quality, affordable coverage if they’re pushed out of employer-based health insurance into the individual market?

Here we go:

9:00PM - Random nugget. My college boyfriend dated Bob Schieffer's daughter before we met.

9:07PM - McCain: Obama talks about the very very rich.

Huh?. McCain thinks Obama talks about the rich? McCain's clearly confused. And flustered. It's obvious.

9:10PM - This format is atrocious for McCain. He looks awkward.

9:13PM - Obama: Net spending cut...don't say health care. don't say health care. don't say health care... If we make investments now, that will save on Medicare and Medicaid in future. Jackpot!

9:16PM - McCain: What would I cut? Across the board spending freeze. I'd cut the marketing assistance program. Ethanol subsidies. (Buh-bye Iowa). What's the marketing assistance program? Anyone? I can't find it online.

9:21PM - McCain sounds defensive and looks angry.

9:25PM - Senator Palin? Did McCain just say Senator Palin? Whoa.

9:29PM - McCain: Obama is spending unprecedented amounts of money on negative ads. Actually, no. He's spending unprecedented amounts of money. Some of the ads are negative.

9:33PM - McCain is delusional. He thinks he has stood up and spoken out against the nasty anti-Obama rhetoric.

9:35PM - ACORN - greatest fraud in history? What? Wow.

9:38PM - McCain is clearly disconnected from his own campaign. He thinks he's talking about issues.

9:39PM - Obama gets to brag about Biden. Let's see what McCain's got up his sleeve about the moron.

9:41PM - McCain: Palin is a role model to women and reformers. I just turned to CNN and watched the women line flatten.

9:52PM - McCain's sighing and eye-rolling and smirking cannot be going over well.

9:55PM - Health Care! Obama: We have to control costs and expand coverage. This is the issue that will break your heart over and over again. If you have insurance, you don't have to do anything. Keep it. We're going to try to lower cost. If you don't have health insurance, you can buy into a pool like we have at lower cost. We will make sure insurance companies won't exclude based on pre-existing conditions. This will cost on the front end, but over the long term, it will save.

McCain: Flat out lying about Obama advocating single-payer.

Obama: McCain will be taxing health benefits. If you get $5000 and the plan costs $12,000...that's a loss for you. Finally! I'm glad he said it.

McCain: "Hi. I'm not listening to my opponent. Welcome to my alternate reality." Average cost of a plan is $5800. $5800? According to whom? I have NEVER seen that before ever anywhere, and I do this for a living.

Ok. I'm done. I've heard enough. I'm just going to wind down and mellow out. Obama won. Again. I'm off to compile research about health care plan costs. Expect some juicy deets in the next couple of days.

G-night.

Ok, I lied. One more. Trig Palin has Down syndrome. McCain seems to think Trig has autism.

Yes I Will

Contrary to attempts to convince myself otherwise, I'll be blogging tonight's debate.

Chances are it'll be more sporadic than last week's marathon session, but if they get into health care, all bets are off.

Back in a few...

What Goes Around

My Mom forwards me the best email sometimes. Here's her latest:

Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs

The seven dwarfs always left to go to work in the mine early each morning.

As always, Snow White stayed home doing her domestic chores.

As lunchtime approached, she would prepare their lunch and carry it to the mine.

One day as she arrived at the mine with the lunch, she saw that there had been a terrible cave-in.

Tearfully, and fearing the worst, Snow White began calling out, hoping against hope that the dwarfs had somehow survived.

'Hello!...Hello!' she shouted. 'Can anyone hear me? Hello!'

For a long while, there was no answer.

Losing hope, Snow White again shouted, 'Hello! Is anyone down there?'

Just as she was about to give up all hope, she heard a faint voice from deep within the mine, singing....

'Vote for McCain/Palin! - Vote for McCain/Palin!'

Snow White fell to her knees, crossed herself and prayed.....

'Oh, thank you, God! At least Dopey is still alive!'

Ice Queen

Sarah Palin's giving a speech in Scranton, PA right now wearing a polar bear broach.

This is the same woman who doesn't believe in protecting the species.

I sense the irony is totally lost on her. She probably just thought the white pin thingy looked awesome against her bright blue suit.

UPDATE: I found an image of the ensemble. Check out her right lapel:

Cute

Unbelievable

We're sending out this web ad (below) tomorrow to help raise money to keep another ad on the air:



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