How Does this Picture Go With This Quote?

You see, Barney Frank -represented by a hapless Cubbie- is trying to steal the second base that is middle class wealth while George Bush -represented by Shoeless Joe Jackson of the Black Sox- is attempting to tag him out with the old "Hidden ball of Socialism" trick. And by ball, I mean bailout bill. Andy by middle class, I mean executives for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mack! So you see, it really does make sense. Or somebody over at Time.com just got a little happy with the tags on this photo.

The Palin Effect: New Hampshire Edition

Whatever else Palin has going for her, I have always thought she would be a liability in my home state of New Hampshire. Turns out that a couple of polls today have proven me right. At first blush, this might seem a little surprising. Palin is a moose-hunting maverick, right? And New Hampshire is much beloved of both moose and mavericosity. She's a former small town mayor and there are plenty of small towns. But once you go past the superficial appeal, there isn't much left. She's a strong christian conservative in what is ulitimatly a pretty secular state.

She is an obvious gimmick in a state that tends to prefer 'straight-talk" (even if it comes from xenophobic idiots like Pat Buchanan). And while I much enjoy watching moose I have never heard of a mooseburger (and I could have lived quite happily without, thanks). Moose here are mainly something to avoid hitting with your car. I think McCain made a real mistake choosing Palin, but I do look forward to a new generation in which Trig and Piper are popular names.

Politico Gives Stark Rundown of Debate Performances

Politico writers John F. Harris and Mike Allen pop up today with a solid piece of post debate analysis under the heading, "Palin clears bar, still falls short." In the piece they discuss how Palin managed to disappoint all those who watched the debate wishing for real blatant blunders, delivering a performance that steered clear of anything extreme on the gaffe front. Still, they go further into what we all saw, describing Palin as being both on defense basically the whole time, and struggling to go on the offensive as McCain's advisers, no doubt, wanted her to against Biden. Their critique is smart and to the point:

Washington power lawyer Robert Barnett, who helped Biden prepare, said viewers would come away with the sense that Palin "is a nice person, an interesting person but not a qualified-to-be-the-president-of-the-United-States person."

They do give each VP candidate credit for having their moments, saying:

From the moment she blew a kiss as she walked onstage, the Alaska governor was folksy and spunky, dropping a “bless their hearts” here, a “God bless ‘er” there and “darn right” — twice. She showed a cheerful confidence that must have been hard to muster after the humiliating coverage of her amateurish interviews...

Biden offered a fluent, self-assured performance of the sort that cannot be especially hard for him after two presidential campaigns, 35 years in the Senate and countless appearances on Sunday morning programs...

Still, all in all, our friends at the Politico came around to the point well summarized in their title, that last night's debate while it wasn't a debacle also didn't change basically anything about the larger trends in the race.

The debate did nothing to arrest — and may even have helped cement — a gradual but unmistakable turnabout in the race, with Barack Obama gaining in polls and momentum and McCain losing ground in must-win states. The financial meltdown has put a new premium on competence, and Palin did nothing to show she is ready to be in charge...

In many ways, Obama-Biden has taken ownership of the play-it-safe vote, and McCain-Palin have become the more unpredictable and potentially risky choice.

The Foreclosure "Crisis" Put Into Stark Detail

It's not that I've doubted the existence of the wave of foreclosures but sometimes it's hard to comprehend this as really being a crisis what with life seeming to go along as usual. The places we hear about being hard hit are far from my home and friends, so I don't see or hear about it first-hand. Aside from a couple of developments on which construction has seemed to freeze, there are no local signs of a problem.

This depressing news report (hat tip to Wonkette via Andrew Sullivan and others) and its images of foreclosed houses' contents being trashed really made it hit home for me. The video is worth watching, but not if you are having a bad day or want to cruise into the weekend on a high note.

In Case You Missed It... Sarah Palin's Addiction to Winking

I think the soundtrack is a little cheesy, but it works. Here's some documentary evidence of Mrs. Palin's winking frenzy last night.

Charles Krauthammer, Fox News Regular and Right Wing Mainstay Says Obama Passes Reagan Test

In an article I'm sure will soon be making the rounds on all sorts of similar blogs and websites, Charles Krauthammer, a regular on Fox News, and a member of the right wing pundit royalty has announced that Obama has passed the Reagan threshold and is, in his eyes, likely to be our next President. In his piece titled "Hail Mary vs. Cool Barry," Krauthammer isn't exactly laudatory, in fact throughout he repeats many right winger (what else would I expect here) talking points about Obama's experience, associations with folks like Jeremiah Wright, etc. but his point is not to drive these things home.

He also backs into some of his praise, allowing how John McCain isn't necessarily to blame for circumstance making Obama seem a reasonable choice:

"You can't blame McCain. In an election in which all the fundamentals are working for the opposition, he feels he has to keep throwing long in order to keep hope alive. Nonetheless, his frenetic improvisation has perversely (for him) framed the rookie challenger favorably as calm, steady and cool."

Overall, however, the opinion that carries through the piece is that in spite of all the faults Krauthammer might find with Barack, he believes that Obama has shown poise, confidence, and the type of leadership that allows him to seem plausible as commander in chief, a test that likely helps seal the deal, taking him from the new hotness to very like our new President in the next few months.

Interesting stuff, mainly because of the author.

The True Story of Palin's Debate Semi-Success

A friend, Dave, posted this on Facebook today, and I couldn't resist throwing it up here. The image really speaks for itself, and is kinda great. I wonder how much the recent debate talk has helped stock in companies that manufacture flash cards.



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