Straight Talk

-If John McCain weren't the nominee, John McCain would be blasting the campaign for the Bill Ayers and Jeremiah Wright stuff.

-Sarah Palin is far from through. Sure, she's a power abusing, frightening, massively wardrobed monster: she's also wildly popular with the republicans in a party where most heroes are dead or ancient. Consider the near-candidates from this past year - Rudy Giuliani is prochoice, Mitt Romney is Mormon, and everyone else has been pretty much forgotten except on Law and Order reruns. McCain is ancient and, after he loses this election, will probably disappear. George Bush's administration has effectively ended the careers of everyone involved with it, at least for the immediate future. So who's left for the right to rally behind? Who can appeal to the middle class and to social conservatives while still defending business and wealth interests? Can you guess? You betcha.

-If history repeats itself and we are heading into a depression, it's probably a bad thing that Sarah Palin reminds me so much of early 30's Hitler.

-I cannot manage to generate any sympathy for Joe the Plumber or the other small business owners who make over a quarter million dollars a year and don't feel like they should pay even slightly higher taxes.

-The middle class means everyone who earns between nothing and 5 million a year, apparently. John McCain said that anyone making over 5 million was rich, and accused Obama of voting raise taxes on families making less than $41,000 a year (which was only true technically). Speaking as someone who is very poor and made about $22,000 last year, I know that a family making less than twice that would be struggling. But they'd be middle class according to McCain. It's not just the republicans, either... both campaigns have been saying 'middle class' constantly, mostly where it would probably be more honest to say 'lower class' or 'poor.' Granted, in this economy even people making six figures might be struggling to maintain their lifestyle, but I'm not sure that it's fair to group people who have to drive the sedan instead of the SUV with people who have to juggle credit cards to keep up with food and gas prices.

-For those of you not in North Carolina, Elizabeth Dole is running the nastiest campaign I have ever seen. Her ads have gone beyond calling her opponent, Kay Hagan, a liar, and have called her a 'fibber,' compared her to a yappy dog several times, and accused her of owning oil companies and wanting to destroy unions.

-The two kids who got caught plotting to kill Obama by driving toward him while firing out the window of a car, dressed in white suits and top hats are just two angry, weird kids. Unfortunately, there are probably more viable plots afoot. Joe Biden was right about the new president facing tests, but odds are they aren't just coming from abroad.

-If the threats the new president faces are not being faced by President Barack Obama, I think I will actually leave the country this time.

-George Bush: lamest duck ever.

MUSIC: born ruffians: foxes mate for life