The Truffle

McCain probably wishes he'd suspended his godforsaken campaign for good last month. Barry Goldwater's granddaughter has endorsed Obama. She speaks for her siblings and some cousins as well. Ow. OW! Even McCain campaign chairs are saying he's toast. William Weld, ex-governor of Massachusetts, backs Obama. (Yes, I know what the Freepers will say: "Weld's a RINO, anyway. Who needs him?") Another, erm, RINO for Obama is...drum roll please... Julie Nixon Eisenhower . Julie. NIXON. EISENHOWER. Former Republican Senators Charles Mathias and Larry Pressler also back Obama. So does former Minnesota governor Arne Carlson . Wow. A lot of old-school, long-time Republicans there. It sounds like a lot of them are really, really unhappy with their party. For many of them, this could be their first ever vote for a Democrat. Before the Freepers laugh them off, let's let Larry Pressler have the last word: "We have to be a moderate party. We can't be f...

More details emerge on the horrible murders of Jennifer Hudson's mom, brother, and nephew. From (groan) TMZ : We've obtained arrest reports and other docs in connection with a sting operation in Chicago. On March 4, 2002, Chicago cops targeted Jason Hudson, Jennifer's murdered brother, and Gregory King, the father of Julian, the murdered 7-year-old boy. Both men allegedly sold crack cocaine to a registered informant. Cops then raided the very home where Jason was murdered last week. According to documents, Jason, Gregory and Julia (Jennifer's sister) were all arrested. Julia was never charged with a crime. Jason was charged with cocaine trafficking, but the main count was dismissed in 2004 because the judge ruled police conducted an illegal search. During that hearing, Jennifer's mom had to choose whether to go to Hollywood to watch her daughter on "American Idol" or be in court...she chose the latter. Gregory was convicted. Jason agreed to enroll in a dr...

From a campaign Web site that Mr. Palin probably doesn't even know about. And to top it all off, Mr. Palin, having hosted a travel show, knows foreign affairs like the back of his hand. While he can't see Russia from his house, maybe he can see Continental Europe.

In the midst of the electoral tomfoolery, I've had trouble keeping up, which is one reason I've been light on the posting. The other reason is that I have had a freelance project and done some volunteering for Team Obama, which has cut into my free time. But no longer. Someone needs to alert the wingnutosphere! Terrorist fist gestures have found their way into America's pastime ! Someone call Faux News! Michelle Bachmann! John McCain's campaign! Someone! Anyone! Even all-American white dudes are doing it now...

I found this video made by Janette Hillis-Jaffe, an Orthodox Jewish mother of two, explaining while she'll be voting for Obama. More on Hillis-Jaffe here .

Just learned that Mr. Stubbs, the Four Tops' lead singer, died at the age of 72. I was stunned to learn he was, well, that old. First Isaac Hayes and now Levi. As a lover of all things old-school soul, I'm seriously saddened. In honor of Mr. Stubbs, here are a couple of clips of the Tops at their commercial height. RIP Levi. You've earned it.

Blondie rules. Enough said.

Via Newshoggers we find Jules Crittenden in meltdown mode over Paul Krugman's Nobel Prize. I wouldn’t want to suggest Krugman excuses terrorism or hates America. It is likely, however, that his extensive Bush-bashing, Saddam-dismissing, GWOT-mocking absurdism was a heavy thumb on the Nobel scale. Curious that an economist whose work on patterns and locations is Nobel-worthy couldn’t do the math to figure out that a sociopathic mass-murdering megalomaniac with a pattern of supporting terrorism, seeking WMD and invading neighbors, located on some of the most strategically important real estate on Earth, with whom much of Europe was eager to trade again, is someone who could no longer be tolerated.... Memo to Bushitler regime: Is there a reason Krugman is not yet locked up in the hated Crusader gulag of al-Guantanomiyah with the traitors Moore and Cronkite? Say, isn't Jules Crittenden the same whiner who published John Cole's home address when Cole became a Democrat? Why y...

Okay, it's really interesting that Buckley's kid is voting for Obama . Here's the stand-out quote from Buckley fils: Dear Pup once said to me sighfully after a right-winger who fancied himself a WFB protégé had said something transcendently and provocatively cretinous, “You know, I’ve spent my entire life time separating the Right from the kooks.” Well, the dear man did his best. First of all: Pup? Chris Buckley calls his dad PUP? Second of all: WHEN did William F. Buckley lift a finger to weed out the nutcases in his movement? Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Ann Coulter write for his little magazine at one point? Oh sure, she was finally shit-canned for suggesting that the US should--what was that again?--"invade their countries, kill their leaders, and convert them to Christianity." But Buckley et al. probably knew how unhinged Trash Can Ann really was when they hired her. Even after the National Review sacked Annie, it continued to employ lik...

Via Andrew Sullivan , a really sweet vid of an Iraq war veteran returning home to be greeted by his pooches. Just watch it and tell me you don't get a little sniffly.

Should I bother to watch the final presidential debate or will it just not be worth the bother? I mean, I kinda know what to expect at this point.

Here's a concept even scarier to the wingers than "President Barack Hussein Obama": Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman. Yes, he now received the same economics previously won by Milton Friedman. Somewhere, Rupert Murdoch is crying in his beer--or, in his case, expensive cognac. At some point, reality overload will set in amongst the movement conservatives. I'm not sure I want to be in the room when it happens.

If you want to sound inspiring, try talking about hockey moms and Joe Sixpack. Oh, wait...never mind.

"Obama will cut taxes and small businesses will have to fire people OMG OMG OMG!!!1!1!" Of course, Brokaw doesn't let Obama respond. So Obama has to wait for another question and then tie it into the tax claim.

"Obama hasn't taken on the leaders of his party on a single issue." Uh...Senator McCain? Obama's party wasn't in the White House. They weren't the ones who ran the country into the ground. That was YOUR party. YOU only made a handful of token gestures in opposition to the Stupid-in-Chief. And quit whining about earmarks. Don't tell me Arizona hasn't gotten earmarks.

I'm not comfortable with the caricature of McCain as a mean grump. I think McCain is afflicted with the Bob Dole syndrome. Dole let himself be cast as a cranky old man. After he lost, he showed that he actually had a sense of humor! Dude appeared on Cartoon Network talking about Bugs Bunny. He did a Pepsi commercial with Britney Spears. For an old fogey failed presidential candidate, Dole is actually kind of a funny guy. I wonder why he didn't follow Fred Thompson into acting. I'm hoping McCain loses so that maybe he can take up a second post-Senate career as a standup comedian. Or maybe a nightclub act with Cindy. Admit it--you've always wanted to see Cindy McCain in a sequined dress, standing next to John McCain as he sings "Big Spender."

McCain reminds everyone of how he suspended his campaign in a display of political grandstanding serious effort to aid with the bailout. Uh, Senator? That was basically a PR disaster for you. Someone bring up Phil Gramm. Please. McCain is trying his whole faux maverick schtick. Sure, it's about as authentic as Naugahyde. He's calling Fannie and Freddie "the match that started this forest fire." Which automatically reminds me of a lame Billy Joel song. "I've got to correct a little of McCain's history, not surprisingly." MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Once again, it's up to the grown ups (Obama and Biden) to let everyone know that just because Little Johnny and Little Precious Princess Palin pretend they're mavericks, this doesn't mean that they really are mavericks. Some people should stick to playing house, ya know what I'm saying?

Thus far, it can be boiled down to: Obama: "People in America are struggling and really need help." McCain: "People need help and I'll really try to sound inspiring. Can't you tell how inspiring I am?"

Let me repeat myself. I love love love LOVE this election season. This is the year that 2004's usual gang of idiots are watching their slimy tactics come back to bite them on the ass. Case in point: Jerome Corsi, who was booted out of Kenya for lacking a work permit. Dear oh dear.

Fidel and Raul Castro are not "dangerous dictators." Yes, they're dictators, but they haven't been dangerous for...well...several years. They're dinosaurs. Please bone up on your foreign affairs.

Palin: "I'm gonna look right at the cameras and try to be telegenic as I say things that people told me to say." Biden: "Excuse me. She just said a lot of stuff that's bullshit, and I can explain very clearly why it's bullshit." PS: Oh great. Did she just say "white flag of surrender"? Someone who prepped her hasn't gotten the memo that this cliche is discredited. PPS: She's saying "nukuler" and not "nuclear."

It'll go like this: Joe Biden: Knowledgeable discussion of Iraq, Russia, Iran, and other countries. Precious Princess: "I'm right next to Russia!"

Palin has rehearsed very nicely, but she sounds really vapid. Joe Sixpack. Hockey moms. Is there a string in her back you can pull to make her spout this stuff? Biden maybe needs to sound more populist. Or even state more of his own views. But he's pointing out where McCain has gotten the economy wrong. Whoops! Biden relates a conversation with a guy whom he met at a gas station. Palin keeps saying "darn." Her eyes are weirdly vacant. Why does Biden keep lowering his gaze. Of course, Biden calls her on the lie that Obama voted to raise taxes. From Daily Kos: "TALK TO THE EFFIN' CAMERA, BIDEN!" Uh oh! Ifill points out that taxing health benefits is a bad idea! Bad liberal media mean lady Ifill! Baaaaaaaaaaad Ifill! Biden talks about fairness and points out that most Americans will not see a tax increase. He's really got the patience of a saint to debate this twit. She's channeling St. Ronnie Reagan. Except probably not.

Can Palin be any more cliched? I mean, really, she repeated that "mavericks" line again. The Precious Princess is not sounding convincing.

Well, this is very interesting news. Even a raving bigot has decided to vote for Obama. Specifically, he referred to Obama using the word that rhymes with "bigger." (Via Badtux .)

The liberal media is so, so mean to her.

You're on Olbermann, saying you think Palin will do well in the debate and is a good speaker. Senator, there's a damn "D" after your name. Will you and everyone else in your party stop flattering vapid wingers? I know you've mostly stopped doing this, but really...STOP IT!!!!

The lady's name is Toyah Wilcox and she was a punk star in the UK during the early 1980s. Nobody in the US knows who she is, except for a handful of King Crimson fans, who know she's married to Robert Fripp. This clip is from "Urgh! A Music War" and it's a really striking song. Early 1980s synthy dance rock at its best.

Team McCain seems to be throwing in the towel and sending campaigners to states like...Maine. Reliably Dem-leaning, true-blue Maine. What else can they do to bungle this campaign? How about having Sarah Palin do another in-depth interview? With Keith Olbermann?

Gwen Ifill has written a book called The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama . The book hasn't been published yet. In fact, the book won't hit the shelves until January. However, since she has written a book with "Obama" in the title, the wingnutosphere is convinced that she won't be a fair moderator for tonight's VP debate. I know the righties are unusually protective of the Precious Princess. But throwing a snit fit over a book none of these yahoos have read yet? This is really, really reaching. WorldNutDaily has decided it's a pro-Obama book, because...uh...because why, really? Actually, it's likely that "Obama" is included in the book's title because, well, he's the best-known African-American in politics today. Nobody knows if this book will really the puff portrayal that Joe Scarborough, Michelle Malkin, et al. are pretending it is. Actually, here is the description on Amazon . Ifill argues that the Bla...