New heights of stupidity  —  We're fighting multiple wars; our oldest and most established financial institutions are on the verge of collapse; we've fundamentally transformed and then dismantled our constitutional framework over the last eight years, etc. etc.

Apology Not Accepted  —  Back in 2000, after John McCain lost his mostly honorable campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, he went about apologizing to journalists—including me—for his most obvious mis-step: his support for keeping the confederate flag on the state house.

Palin bounce has Democrats off balance  —  Some fear Obama's more aggressive tone could enhance her appeal among white, blue-collar voters.  —  The emergence of Sarah Palin as a political force in the presidential race has left many top Democrats fretting that, just two weeks …

As Campaign Heats Up, Untruths Can Become Facts Before They're Undone  —  From the moment Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin declared that she had opposed the infamous “Bridge to Nowhere,” critics, the news media and nonpartisan fact checkers have called it a fabrication or, at best, a half-truth.

My Fair Veep  —  The rain in Spain stays mainly in the Arctic plain ...  I hope John McCain doesn't throw his slippers at Sarah Palin's head or get as acerbic as Henry Higgins did with Eliza Doolittle when she did not learn quickly enough.  McCain's Pygmalion has to be careful …

Obama knocks press on ‘made-up controversy’  —  Speaking at a high school in Norfolk, Obama took a few moments to address what he calls “the made-up controversy” of the day, Amie Parnes reports.  —  Obama said the McCain campaign moved to “seize an innocent remark and take it out of context …

Warned by the Court  —  A judge repeatedly told Palin and family not to badmouth her sister's ex  —  An Anchorage judge three years ago warned Sarah Palin and members of her family to stop “disparaging” the reputation of Alaska State Trooper Michael Wooten, who at the time was undergoing …

Paul says he turned down appeal to endorse McCain  —  Featured Topics: - John McCain - Barack Obama  —  WASHINGTON - Republican Rep. Ron Paul, the libertarian-leaning Texas lawmaker who attracted a devoted following in the GOP primaries, said Wednesday he rejected an appeal to endorse John McCain's presidential bid.

Fresh blood for the vampire  —  A beady-eyed McCain gets a boost from the charismatic Sarah Palin, a powerful new feminist — yes, feminist! — force.  Plus: Obama must embrace his dull side.  —  Rip tide!  Is the Obama campaign shooting out to sea like a paper boat?

UNFIT FOR HIGH OFFICE  —  One of the interesting aspects of this campaign is watching the scales fall from the eyes of many of John McCain's closest admirers among the veteran DC press corps.  I'm not talking about the freaks on Fox News or any of the sycophants at the AP.

“Astonishingly Inured...” Truth, Lies, The Media And Politics  —  I'm not prepared to answer Glenn Greenwald, in part because doing so would require a book's worth of prep, but a bit of introspection into one of the finer points of the debate won't hurt anyone, right?  —  So why are some voters inured to charges of deceit?

Yes, Palin Did Stop That Bridge  —  “But, you know, when you've been taking all these earmarks when it's convenient, and then suddenly you're the champion anti-earmark person, that's not change.  Come on!  I mean, words mean something, you can't just make stuff up.”  — Barack Obama, Sept. 6, 2008