The clean, cool chill of the holiday air... an asshole in his bathrobe, emptying a chemical toilet into my sewer...

I took this with my camera phone last night while shopping. I have no idea how that book got there. :-)

Good? He is not good, he's terrible, he's the worst.. there is not any man like him anywhere in the world!

Poor conservatives. It's almost like the universe has it out for them. Jindal says volcano monitoring is a waste and a big ol' volcano erupts right in the middle of the republicanist state with the republicanist governor in the country. DHS releases a report warning that right wing violence may ensue out of frustration at the election, the righty talking heads go apeshit and just a few months later a wave of right wing terrorism sweeps the land.

They just can't catch a break. Reality keeps tieng them up, stuffing a gimp ball in their mouth and shoving them roughly into a chest.

Yet, like happy little troopers they aren't going to let the fact that they live in a world built wholly of delusion constructed out of the combined imagination of people like Malkin, Beck, Rand (*) or Goldberg. They're the energizer bunnies of bullshit.

Triumph of the Will indeed.

The current Champions of Asshattery have to be Sarah Palin and her legions of mouth-breathing followers who are taking the art of manufactured outrage to 11.

It's clear to any sentient being (and most of the non-sentient elements listed on the periodic table for that matter) that David Letterman's joke about Palin's daughter was aimed at Bristol Palin, not the 14-year old nobody outside of Eastern Crazy Wingnutia has ever heard of. This is the same adult Bristol Palin that's spent the last few months dancing around on my teevee babbling about not engaging in any acts of depravity before you were ready. Once you're old enough; deprave away! I know I like to deprave every chance I get.

Just a few remarks culled from the legions of Big Thinkers defending Palin-

Palin is dead-on. Letterman is expired. NBC is garbage. This backsliding American culture keeps lowering the morality bar lower and lower. Palin and others who stand up to the fall should be praised. - American

CBS should fire lettermen, i will avoid there sponsors,criminal action should be taken and letterman should be listed as a child porn person.he should have to register as a sex offender. - Chad

Letterman is a moronic pig. No matter what I think about Palin, Letterman is pathetic and will do anything for attention. The disgusting thing is that democrats just love him and as long as he's spitting over the fence, they don't care who he offends. - Richard

I know, I know. You're probably reading those comments and thinking to yourselves the same thing I'm thinking - "I'm hungry. I wonder how long that sandwich has been in the fridge at work and will my coworker miss it if I snag the the thing?"

You also might be having some of the other same things going through your mind as I did after regarding those comments. Why does the mainstream media cover this nonsense? Who are the pond scum that are on Letterman's case and why am I developing that eye tic that's making me look like Clouseau's Chief Inspector Dreyfus?

When you were young did you ever play a board game with a friend that didn't like losing so they just made up new rules as the game went along? Didn't it make YOU feel crazy? That's how I feel when I turn on the television or read the newspaper these days.

You know who the sanest among us are? People like liberality or Fran who pretty much dropped blogging about politics. They've made a wise, healthy decision not to abide crazy.

Good on 'em.

Don't worry, I got what it takes to cure him.

Help me understand something if you could.

Are we supposed to assume Obama is stupid because he uses a teleprompter? And why are we supposed to take accusations of stupidity seriously when they are made by people who are part of a political party that celebrates stupid (Bush, McCain, Palin, Quayle) as a matter of principle?

I'm seriously at a loss here.

Well, I'm certainly proud of you... you blockheads!

Sigh. Back to the real world. It's a wacky place.

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Sarah Palin proves to be that rash that no cream can cure as she campaigned for Saxby Chambliss in the Senate runoff in Georgia.

"We are rebuilding our party. . . . And it's starting right here in Georgia by sending Saxby back to work in the United States Senate," she said.

Put aside for a moment the fact that Palin is more interested in rebuilding her own image by jumping on the Chambliss sure thing, which she will no doubt claim credit for despite all evidence to the contrary.

To the extent Chambliss' re-election will say anything about the mood of the country towards the Republican brand it would simply be Americans sending the message that when the bus carrying the Republican party runs through the guardrail on the bridge and plunges hundreds of feet to a fiery explosion that voters hope the passengers have mercifully passed out before the bus smashes into the ground, rather than screaming in terror as doom rushes towards them.

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It's nice that the media is focusing on pardons. Unfortunately, it's a pardon from 8 years ago.

WASHINGTON — In the much praised career of Eric H. Holder Jr., President-elect Barack Obama’s choice to be attorney general, there is one notable blemish: Mr. Holder’s complicated role in the 2001 pardon of Marc Rich, a billionaire financier who had fled the country rather than face federal tax evasion charges.

Rich's pardon was political cronyism at it's worse, but it paled by comparison to the pardons issued by the first President Bush of "true patriot" Casper Weinberger, Elliot Abrams and the rest of the Iran-Contra traitors. There are pardon's looming over war crimes from the current President Bush that will make tax evasion look like penny ante stuff. No doubt the media will cover those just as intensely.

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Jeb Bush's idea that the GOP form a is obviously self-serving. I'm certain Bush would want to be the shadow president of this shadow government.

"In Washington we need to show humility and be the loyal opposition. I actually think we need to organize ourselves in the form of a shadow government and make it based on policy and not on partisanship," he said. "People are sick and tired of the partisanship, just for partisan sake, but they aren't sick and tired of a loftier debate about policy."

Policy instead of partisanship? That doesn't describe the Republican party we've grown to love. They have no policy and they represent no ideas. The only reason they exist is partisanship.

Besides that point we've seen how the GOP governs. Their method of governance has left the economy in shambles and millions of people dead. The adults are about to take over again to try and fix the giant hash they've made of things. A Republican shadow government would have the same feeling as when they're actually in charge; the Lost Boys playing at being grown-ups.

Actually, as long as they don't have any actual power this might be a good idea. They can do less damage that way.

Well it's kind of a... kind of a mass, it keeps getting bigger and bigger.

Ed Rollins says that after the election Sarah Palin "is going to be the most popular Republican in the country."

Talk about your low bar...

It was bad, Mama. They laughed at me.

If you're having trouble imagining Sarah Palin as President there's a great page somebody put up that imagines it for you. Be sure to click on the door to the Oval Office more than once.

While we're on the subject of Palin; here's John Cleese in an interview saying Michael Palin isn't the funniest Palin he knows anymore.

I cannot condone an act of sacrilege with my presence.

I, for one, hope this rumor that Sarah Palin will appear on "Saturday Night Live" is not true.

Palin doesn't get to be in on the joke. She IS the joke.

This is one of the many reasons SNL is rarely anywhere near as funny as "The Daily Show" these days. The rich and powerful should be mocked, not coddled.

An intellectual carrot. The mind boggles.

About half way through the debate I had to put down the scotch I was drinking as I realized Palin was going to say the word "maverick" so much during the evening that I would be in no condition to go to work the next day if I kept up the drinking game I was playing.

Palin lied aggressively, seemed unaware of her own ignorance of specific senate votes she tried to call Biden/ Obama on, tried to turn practically every issue back to her "strong suit" of energy policy in Alaska, referred repeatedly to the Bush administration as "ancient history" and pretty much exceeded all expectations because she wasn't as horrible as she's been up to this point in interviews. Ain't democracy great?

Biden looked and sounded like a Vice President. Palin looked and sounded like the Assistant Manager at the local Krispy Kreme.

My throw-something-at-the-tv moment was during the debate but in the post-debate coverage on NBC which was flat out atrocious. Here the Republican strategy of working the refs paid off in spades as NBC anchors and guests spun the debate hard as a Palin win.

Cut to Brian Williams and Dan Rather who both quickly agreed Palin cleaned Biden's clock. Then to Peggy Noonan who claimed Palin "killed." Then to Geraldine Ferraro who called it a split but though Palin did great and couldn't remember Barack Obama's name. Then to three panelists, two of which thought Palin won with the third calling it a tie. Nice to know right wing bitching about NBC could so easily put them in the bag for their side.

Bottom line: I think many of us are tired of waking up in the morning and realizing we're quite a bit smarter than our President and Vice President. It's disconcerting. The last thing we need is John McCain and Sarah Palin to continue that proposition.

If you don't know then nobody knows but I know you know and you should know better.

We interupt our October horror film quotes for a Chrissy Snow update.

Sarah Palin will not win tonight's debate despite the bar being lowered so far it's currently burried at about six feet under.

In addition I would really wish guys online would stop referring to her as a "MILF." There is nothing milfy or in the least bit attractive about her. But then I'm attracted to smart women so there you are. Phhhtttt!

Then there's this bit of satire which sadly doesn't read as satire.

"In one part of the interview, I asked her what newspapers and magazines she read before being asked to be John McCain's running mate," Couric said. "And she couldn't name any. So again, I turned to the crew and I said, 'Hold it, guys,' and I went to the Governor privately and said, 'Governor Palin, did you not understand the question? I'm asking you to name some newspapers or magazines you read. You can't come up with any? I'm just trying to make sure you're clear and to give you a fair shake here.' And she said, 'Okay. Nightline? Is that a magazine?' I said, 'No, that's a television show.' She said, 'What about Lou Dobbs? Isn't that a newspaper?' And I said, 'No, that's a man. Lou Dobbs is a man.' And there wasn't much more I could do. I'm not a miracle worker."

Jack, I have a two-part question... Why?

Yeah, Sarah Quaylin is ready to lead. She can't even take questions.

In the negotiations, Republicans wanted to limit the amount of time available for their neophyte candidate, Palin, to be questioned on a single topic.

Of course they did.

Oh, I love surprises. It's funny that you never suspect them!

Happy Friday!

Dang. That Palin interview was just embarrassing. Especially this part...

GIBSON: What do you think of the Bush Doctrine?

PALIN: Forgive me if I'm wrong Charlie but I believe George Bush was a Governor not a doctor before he became President.

GIBSON: "Doctrine." As in "tenet" or "philosophy."

PALIN: I'm pretty sure George Tenet was our spy guy before. You aren't going to get me with that trick question.

GIBSON: Here's a hint; it's something President Bush put in place following the September the 11th attacks.

PALIN: His mountain bike? His wife? He puts her in her place all the time.

(Gibson can be heard sighing.)

GIBSON: As I understand it the Bush Doctrine means the United States reserves the right to use preemptive force against countries we suspect of aiding terrorists.

PALIN: Umm. What do you think of it?

GIBSON: Well, I... wait a minute. You're the one that's supposed to answer the question.

PALIN: I think that the Bush Doctrine is good. In fact it's the best doctrine ever. All Americans would be happier if they followed President Bush's doctrine.

A wrong decision is better than indecision.

Today has been spent in the discussion about Sarah Palin's "historic" nomination for VP by the Republican party.(*)

Much of the discussion has centered around the question of whether Palin has the experience and the qualifications to be Vice President or, in the chance that McCain chokes on a piece of chicken at the Old Country Buffet, President of the United States.

Excuse me but isn't this the wrong fucking question? Because personally I don't really care about who the Republicans nominate to be Vice President. They could nominate Tony Fucking Soprano for all I care. It still wouldn't solve the problem that their PRESIDENTIAL nominee is an intemperate, senile old man with little to no grasp of economics or foreign policy.

Screw Sarah Palin's qualifications. John McCain isn't qualified to be President. What does it matter who he chooses to serve with him?


(*I assume by "historic" they mean over twenty years after the Democrats had actually broken that particular taboo. Historic as in "we've advanced as far as the twentieth century." Next thing you no they'll be making the historic move of changing their party's platform to allow women to wear skirts that show their ankles. Assholes.)