Oops: Fowler Uses Satire Defense, Blames 'Right-Wing Nutcase'

Ignore everything you hear. It was recorded by a right-wing nutcase.

Good luck selling that, Don.

Former DNC Chairman Don Fowler apologized on Sunday for joking in a private conversation that the timing of Hurricane Gustav demonstrates that God is on the side of the Democrats.

"If this offended anybody, I personally apologize," Fowler told ABC News. "It was a mistake, and it was a satirical statement made in jest. And one that I clearly don't believe."

Fowler was secretly recorded by the person sitting behind him while flying from Denver, Colo., to Charlotte, N.C., following the Democratic National Convention. His conversation with Rep. John Spratt, D-S.C., was anonymously posted to YouTube and highlighted by RedState.com, a conservative blog.

"One doesn't anticipate that one's private conversation will be surreptitiously taped by some right-wing nutcase," said Fowler. "But that's the nature of what we're dealing with."

Fowler, a superdelegate who endorsed Hillary Clinton in 2007, was caught on tape saying: "The hurricane’s going to hit New Orleans about the time they start. The timing is -- at least it appears now that it’ll be there Monday. That just demonstrates that God’s on our side. [Laughter] Everything’s cool."

McCain and RNC officials announced on Sunday that they will suspend most of the convention program for Monday, including speeches by President Bush and Vice President Cheney. Republicans will only take up essential business when their convention gets underway on Monday and will not hear primetime speeches.

Fowler sinks further into the abyss and blames a dead man.

Classy.

Fowler said his remark was "facetious" and a "satirical comment" on the late Rev. Jerry Falwell.

Following the terrorist attacks of 9/11, Falwell told "The 700 Club," "I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way, all of them who have tried to secularize America. I point the finger in their face and say 'you helped this happen.'"

Another despicable fat slob Democrat is also trying to walk back some ridiculous comments, which were eagerly lapped up by a good chunk of the left.

If all this craziness isn't enough, just soak in some more of the looniness of the past 48 hours.

Thug Mayor Kilpatrick Looks to Cut a Plea Deal to Stay Out of Jail

Barack Obama pal and DNC superdelgate Kwame Kilpatrick is apparently looking to cut himself a sweetheart deal in order to stay out of jail.

Lawyers for Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick have proposed a deal in which he would plead guilty to two felonies, make restitution and serve five years' probation in exchange for avoiding jail time, a newspaper reported Sunday.

The Detroit Free Press quoted "a source familiar with all aspects of the negotiations" as saying Kilpatrick's legal team also said he would give up his law license, not run for office for two years and do 300 hours of community service.

This goon should never again be allowed to run for office, but know Detroit and the Democrats, he'd be elected as soon as he's back on the ballot.

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy hadn't yet accepted the offer, the newspaper said.

And she'd be insane to accept it, if you ask me.

A person briefed on the talks told The Associated Press on Sunday that the prosecutor's office would not agree to any type of plea that doesn't involve jail time. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because of not wanting to publicly reveal specifics of the talks.

One Kilpatrick lawyer, James Thomas, told AP on Sunday morning that he had been out of town for a few days and was unaware of the plea deal proposal. He said that even if he had been aware of it he couldn't comment on it.

Kilpatrick, 38 and in his second four-year term as mayor, is charged with 10 felonies in two cases. He also faces removal proceedings set to begin Wednesday before Gov. Jennifer Granholm.

The newspaper said the mayor would turn over his state pension to the city. Kilpatrick is a former member of the state House, where he was leader of the Democratic minority. It said he also would make at least $100,000 in restitution.

The newspaper said that in a letter to Worthy, Kilpatrick's lawyers proposed having a neutral "legal statesman" assess the offer. It didn't identity the lawyers.

How Symbolic: Obama's Convention Bounce is Zero

The bad news, if you want to call it that, for John McCain is he's still trailing by three points. The good news, that's the exact spread as last Sunday entering the Democrat Convention.

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Sunday—the day before the Republican National Convention is scheduled to begin—shows Barack Obama ahead of John McCain by three percentage points both with and without leaners. That’s exactly the same edge Obama enjoyed a week ago on the eve of the Democratic National Convention.

Today’s numbers show a one-point improvement for McCain, but Obama still leads 47% to 44%. When "leaners" are included, it’s Obama 49%, McCain 46%. Obama is now viewed favorably by 57% of the nation’s voters, McCain by 56%.

There have been significant changes in perception of John McCain in the two days of polling since he named Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate. Since then, 49% of Republicans voice a Very Favorable opinion of McCain. That’s up six percentage points from 43% just before the announcement. Also, 64% of unaffiliated voters now give positive reviews to McCain, up ten points since naming his running mate.

And how much is the base loving Sarah Palin? Soak it in.

Palin herself made a good first impression and is now viewed favorably by 53% of voters nationwide. Her counterpart, Joe Biden, is viewed favorably by 48%. While Palin has made a good first impression, the more significant numbers will come a week from now after the nation has a chance to learn more about her.

The desperate Democrat hit squads have been on a frenzy the past 48 hours, and they're really going to freak out when they see these.

The media may be yukking it up over Palin, but they may not be laughing for long.

Thanks to Gateway Pundit for the link!

Charlie Rangel, Living Large

When we last visited Charlie Rangel, the hulking Harlem hypocrite and Democrat Party albatross was lawyering up and receiving the coveted Narcissus Award for scamming four apartments all to himself in a rent-controlled building.

Well now the New York Post has discovered Rangel has a cozy beachfront Dominican hideaway and has been playing some shady tax reporting games with the IRS.

Stunning, isn't it, that a Democrat would preach taxing the rest of us into submission but hides his own income?

I'm, shocked. Shocked, I tell you.

Not sure what he's going to be more upset by. Facing more heat from the IRS or the embarrassing photos the Post got of him, like the one above.

For 20 years, Harlem Rep. Charles Rangel has owned a beachfront villa in a sun-drenched Dominican Republic resort, yet has only sporadically declared income on the property in federal filings.

While the villa was rented to paying guests for the past two years, for instance, Rangel reported no income from it in 2006 and 2007, The Post has learned. As a congressman, failure to fully list all income and investments can result in civil penalties or criminal charges.

The powerful Ways and Means Committee chairman, a Democrat, owns "casita" No. 412 on the Caribbean Sea at the Punta Cana Hotel, on the lush eastern tip of the country, where he is affectionately known as "el senador."

His three-bedroom, three-bath villa, which can accommodate three couples, is rented for between $500 in the low season to $1,100 a night in the busiest tourist season and is one of the resort's most popular, managers and staff say.

"You are requesting the best casita on the beach," a reservations manager told a Post reporter posing as a customer.

"We are always booked solid on that one between December 15 and April 15. It is always the first one to go," he said.

The 78-year-old Rangel's stone-covered cottage - which boasts flat-screen TVs and a panoramic ocean view - was open to hotel guests in the past two years, General Manager Carolina Jones told The Post.

"It's part of the hotel operation. It's available to customers at all times," Jones said of No. 412. Typically, the owners of the casitas earn 80 percent of any rental income, staff said.

But Rangel's financial disclosure forms, which members of Congress must file annually to the clerk of the House of Representatives, checks "none" for income from the property in 2006 and 2007.

"I have not received any rental income," Rangel said when asked about the villa last week. "There wasn't any income."

In some previous years, Rangel has reported earnings from the cottage. For both 2004 and 2005, he listed rental income of $2,500 to $5,000 a year. For 2001, 2002 and 2003, he reported rental income of $5,000 to $15,000 a year. And in 1990, 1991 and 1992, he reported that he earned up to $5,000 per year in rent. For some years, benefactors such as American Airlines paid for Rangel's trip to the resort.

Rangel refused to answer further questions about his investment, saying, "I think that's a private matter."

Uh, no, Charlie, it's very much a public matter.

Read the rest of the story. It gets even murkier.

'They Will Not Crush Our Spirit'

No, perhaps they won't crush their spirit. But if we're lucky, maybe they'll crack a few moonbat heads.

Republican National Convention protesters targeted in a series of police raids Friday night and Saturday say they won't back down from their plans to march on the event's opening day.

Organizers have said they hope to attract up to 50,000 people to the protest Monday.

Four people were arrested at two Minneapolis homes and booked on probable cause of conspiracy to commit a riot, said Gina Berglund, an attorney helping to represent protesters. There were no arrests at a third home targeted. Later, the Ramsey County Sheriff's Office said a fifth person was arrested at an undisclosed location.

"A lot of people in the activist community are really on pins and needles about who's next," Berglund said.

Protester Michelle Gross said a fourth home, this one in St. Paul, was being raided Saturday afternoon. Two people were outside the home in handcuffs while police awaited a search warrant, she said. St. Paul police spokesman Tom Walsh said a search warrant was being executed but could not confirm whether anyone had been arrested.

On Friday night, Ramsey County sheriff's deputies raided an organizing site of a group — the RNC Welcoming Committee — that has publicized plans to disrupt convention activities. No one was arrested.

"They will not crush our spirit," said protester Lisa Fithian from Austin, Texas, at a gathering of about 300 people in a Minneapolis park Saturday afternoon. "Our organization will continue. We will be on the streets."

More on these miscreants here.

In a head-slapping coincidence, Socky McSockpuppet happened to be on the scene. All perfectly innocent, I'm sure.

Anyway, this seems like a golden opportunity for these people to show they actually give a shit about their fellow Americans. Considering how most of them apparently have no lives or jobs to worry about, how about making themselves useful and heading south so they can help out folks displaced by Hurricane Gustav?

After all, those they'll be protesting may well be turning their convention into a telethon as it is.

Speaking of Gustav, the Mayor of Chocolate City has ordered an evacuation. Let's hope everyone listens this time.

Don Fowler was unavailable for comment.

Zogby: McCain/Palin Up 47-45%

I'm not buying this one completely, as Zogby has been off before, although as we noted earlier today Sarah Palin was already polling better than Joe Biden.

The latest nationwide survey, begun Friday afternoon after the McCain announcement of Palin as running mate and completed mid-afternoon today, shows McCain/Palin at 47%, compared to 45% support for Obama/Biden.

In other words, the race is a dead heat.

The interactive online Zogby survey shows that both Obama and McCain have solidified the support among their own parties - Obama won 86% support of Democrats and McCain 89% of Republicans in a two-way head-to-head poll question not including the running mates. When Biden and Palin are added to the mix, Obama's Democratic support remains at 86%, while McCain's increases to 92%.

Two words that may scare you off: interactive online. Keep that in mind.

If the daily tracker at Rasmussen moves significantly the next couple of days, then Zogby will have been ahead of the curve.

Via Instapundit.

The Secret Photo Sarah Palin Doesn't Want You to See

Oops, well the cat's out of the bag. I figured I'd tease the folks looking for scandalous photos of Sarah Palin and show them this Vogue cover shot from last year.

I imagine they'll just resort to photoshopping her head onto porn models before long, if they haven't already.

I suspect this photo isn't legit, but she really did pose for Vogue, according to this report.

This photo definitely looks legit.

'He is Muslim, and He Gets Out of Islam...What Are We Going To Do? We Kill Him, Kill, Kill'

It's a good thing they promised to clean up their act. Must have been some really crazy stuff going on beforehand.

Hardline female ‘preachers of hate’ are radicalising Muslim women at one of Britain’s top mosques. The Saudi Arabian preachers were secretly filmed ordering women to murder gays and ex-Muslims.

Undercover reporters from Channel 4’s Dispatches recorded the lectures in the women’s section of Regent’s Park Mosque in London.

An unnamed Saudi woman is seen mocking other religions – labelling Christianity ‘vile’ and an ‘abomination’. Another, known as ‘Angelique’, claims Britain is a ‘land of evil’.

The investigators attended lectures for two months at the mosque, which had promised a clean-up after another Dispatches probe just 18 months ago exposed it for spreading extreme Islamic views.

During one sermon, a woman called Um Amira says: ‘He is Muslim, and he gets out of Islam...what are we going to do? We kill him, kill, kill.’

In the programme, to be screened tomorrow, she adds that women adulterers should be stoned to death and people who have sex before marriage should get ‘100 lashes’.

Regent’s Park Mosque is one of the biggest and most prestigious Islamic institutions in the UK. Opened in 1944 by King George VI, it can hold up to 5,000 worshippers.

After the 2007 Dispatches investigation, which also looked at mosques in Birmingham, West Midlands Police and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) claimed Channel 4 had distorted sermons and tried to press charges.

But watchdog Ofcom dismissed their findings and Channel 4 won six-figure libel damages from the police and CPS.

This time, Dispatches returned to Regent’s Park Mosque to find exactly the same extremist books on sale there and the female preachers spreading radical Wahhabi Islam.

One Saudi woman, who mocks other religions, says: ‘We feel nothing sometimes going past the church. What they say with their tongues is so vile and disgusting, it’s an abomination.’

Another female preacher, Um Saleem, says it ‘breaks her heart’ to see Muslims ‘working in banks, wearing short sleeves...and make-up’.

Lovely people.

Searching for Dirt on Palin

The loonies are out trolling the Internet. Found this one earlier.

Interesting search phrase, huh?

sarah palin is mossad jew bolshevik

Ace noticed last night the phrase Sarah Palin bikini was a popular search. Yeah, like I'd really be put off by the sight of her in a swimsuit.

Are You Ready For Ronstock '08?

Neither am I. What with all the hubbub over conventions and vice presidential nominations, I had completely forgotten about gadfly kook Ron Paul and his merry bad of misfits, miscreants, troofers and crackpots.

Well, they're back. You can bet the media will be happy to give these clowns maximum exposure this week.

There's no room at the Xcel Energy Center for maverick Ron Paul, so his acolytes have packed their cars, hitched rides on "Ronvoys" and will pitch tents at Ronstock '08 in Minneapolis in defiance of next week's GOP convention in St. Paul, Minn.

Almost 9,800 tickets had been sold for the Rally for the Republic, which seeks to bring together activists who are anti-war, anti-government regulation, anti-immigration, anti-taxes, anti-Federal Reserve, anti-outsourcing, pro-individual liberty, pro-civil liberties and pro-Paul.

The Ronvoys — fleets of buses and vans carrying Paul's loyalists — were to begin arriving Saturday. A few rally-goers planned to walk from Green Bay, Wis., and join up with Paul for the final miles of their Walk4Freedom. Other attendees are driving, carpooling or flying in for the convention alternative.

Paul, a Texas congressman who failed in a bid for the Republican presidential nomination, considers the rally a celebration of traditional Republican values of limited government — and a poke in the eye of the GOP. They don't plan to crash the Republican party, but to show they and their Campaign for Liberty are not going away.

"No matter how much our message is ignored or ridiculed, as was done in the campaign, no matter how much they did to us, it only energized our grass roots," Paul said.

Yes, the establishment is just quaking in their boots.

The GOP Hates Women So Much They Decide to Put One On the Ticket

The Kos Kidz are so cute when they project. Much less cuter when you try to figure out what torments these psychopaths so much.

Anyway, this one jumps to the head of the pack for unhinged nutroots blogpost of the day, although the day is very young still.

I think the essence of it is Republicans hate women so much so they put one on the presidential ticket. Or something like that.

Instead, the amalgam of cranks, kooks and lunatics, whose religious beliefs must be mine or else, who are frustrated by the demise of the Soviet Union as a cause to rally against, or even declare war on, who tried to run the last Democratic president out of office by a hypocrisy that was breathtaking (they impeached him!!! but couldn't find one member of their party willing to question why their President was reading books to schoolchildren and vacationing after receiving information of a impeding attack on this country), pretends to be outraged that Senator Obama did not pick the admirable Senator Clinton as his running mate, and offers the governor of a state who has served for two years and tells us that experience makes her more qualified than Senator Obama to be president.

So much psychosis, all jammed into one sentence.

You know you have a serious psychological imbalance when the guy calls both Paul Krugman and John Kerry brilliant.

When Stupid Meets Crazy

Goodness. Two of the far left's nuttiest spokesthings got together Friday, with entirely predictable results.

So much crazy, so little time.

Sometime you really have wonder at what cost some are willing to see their political ideology advanced.

To liberal documentary filmmaker Michael Moore, the bounds are seemingly endless. Moore has made a recent career out of attacking President George W. Bush, bashing conservatives and criticizing business. His latest outrage occurred on MSNBC’s August 29 “Countdown with Keith Olbermann” and when he commented about the coincidental timing of an unfortunate disaster – the potential for Hurricane Gustav to make landfall at the beginning of the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn.

“I was just thinking, this Gustav is proof that there is a God in heaven,” Moore said, laughing. “To have it planned at the same time – that it would actually be on its way to New Orleans for day one of the Republican Convention, up in the Twin Cities – at the top of the Mississippi River.”

After that comment, Moore backed off a bit and did say he hoped nobody got hurt and he hoped everybody is taking cover. However, he failed to make note of the $43.625 billion in damage the last hurricane to strike New Orleans caused – Hurricane Katrina in 2005 – and the billions of dollars the storm cost taxpayers.

Moore also took the opportunity to take a dig at President George W. Bush and the presumptive Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain.

“I can’t see what you showed,” Moore said to “Countdown” host Keith Olbermann about a video clip including Bush and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. celebrating McCain’s birthday. “I don’t know if you showed the cake there that they had there, three years ago today – with McCain and Bush. When Marie Antoinette – when she said, ‘Let them eat cake,’ I think she was speaking figuratively. They literally were while New Orleans was drowning – eating cake. So, it’s, um, I don’t know – let’s hope things get better.”

Olbermann, whose opinions tend to fall on the same far left end of the ideological spectrum as Moore, said it was even weirder than Moore observed. Olbermann said “one of” Focus on the Family preachers connected to Chairman Dr. James Dobson’s was allegedly calling for everyone to pray for rain during Sen. Barack Obama’s Democratic convention speech.

First Impressions Count: Palin Viewed More Favorably Than Biden

Well, she is a looker and doesn't have those messy hairplugs. Still, what does it say when hardly anyone knows who she is and she already rates better than the Democrat VP nominee with much wider name recognition?

Sarah Palin has made a good first impression. Before being named as John McCain’s running mate, 67% of voters didn’t know enough about the Alaska governor to have an opinion. After her debut in Dayton and a rush of media coverage, a new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey finds that 53% now have a favorable opinion of Palin while just 26% offer a less flattering assessment.

Palin earns positive reviews from 78% of Republicans, 26% of Democrats and 63% of unaffiliated voters. Obviously, these numbers will be subject to change as voters learn more about her in the coming weeks. Among all voters, 29% have a Very Favorable opinion of Palin while 9% hold a Very Unfavorable view.

By way of comparison, on the day he was selected as Barack Obama’s running mate, Delaware Senator Joseph Biden was viewed favorably by 43% of voters.

These numbers also look positive.

In the new survey, 35% of voters say the selection of Palin makes them more likely to vote for McCain while 33% say they are less likely to do so. Most Republicans say they are more likely to vote for Palin and most Democrats say the opposite. As for voters not affiliated with either major party, 37% are more likely to vote for McCain and 28% less likely to do so. Those numbers are a bit more positive than initial reaction to Biden.

The daily presidential numbers haven't moved much the past couple of days and we likely will have to get through the GOP Convention and then next weekend to see if things move significantly. Obama leads by four points and one would have expected a larger bump after he delivered a speech that knocked people's eyelashes off.

Judging by the nutroots reaction Friday, I expect to hear stories about how Palin secretly eats human flesh.

Ed Morrissey has more on the desperate Democrats.

Palin: A Brilliant Trap?

Kirsten Powers seems to think John McCain laid out the trap for Team Obama, and they bit right away.

SHE'S just a beauty queen.

She's another Dan Quayle.

And ironically, the biggest criticism of Sarah Palin, John McCain's veep choice, is she has no experience. Funny, coming from the Barack Obama camp.

Following McCain's announcement of Palin - the first female to be put on a GOP ticket for the White House, and only the second in US history - the Obama campaign skipped the niceties and blasted her as the "former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience."

She's also a governor of Alaska (my home state), the first woman in that office and the youngest elected in state history. She has an 80-plus percent approval rating. She has turned the state upside down with her reformist zeal and has made enemies of the Republican establishment.

And she can talk energy policy, one of the biggest issues facing this country.

Is she a gamble? Definitely. But so is Barack Obama, who has himself dismissed experience as a prerequisite for leadership, despite his spot atop the Democratic ticket.

At this point, Palin is so unknown, there's no way to make a clear judgment about her. But listening to Obama supporters take to the airwaves to shriek with indignation about her lack of experience is just a little too rich. Where were they when Obama, two years into the Senate, announced his candidacy for president?

One Obama supporter and political operative blogged, "In picking an unknown, untested half-a-term governor from Alaska . . . John McCain is following in a long line of reckless men who have rolled the dice for a beauty queen."

Do we really have to do this again?

Yes, we do. Because these people cannot help themselves.

There's such anger and hatred spewing forth from the left over this pick, it's hard to quantify whether most of these attacks are simple misogyny or perhaps signs of mental illness.

Over at the blog where MSNBC's prime nutcase hangs his shingle, we may have the winner of the most deranged post. Really, do these people think before they hit publish?

Seems the comments at this Washington Post item are also promoting this lurid line of attack. I guess they don't monitor comments at Howard Kurtz's newspaper. Howie enjoys noting offending comments at right-wing blogs. I wonder whether he'll notice?

Meanwhile, the Nation calls her a Buchananite. The comments there are also lovely.

Among many offenses, these jokers note she's a global warming denier.

Oooh, she must have a cooties as well.

There's plenty more ugliness, and you can find a good chunk of it here. One of the alleged Palin scandals is thoroughly debunked here.

Seems to me McCain made a solid pick. That notion is only reinforced by the unhinged reaction from the left.

Edwards to Hit the Lecture Trail, Jacks Up Speaking Fee

Who said cheating on your cancer-stricken wife and fathering a child (ahem, allegedly) didn't have its advantages?

Just weeks after former presidential candidate John Edwards admitted cheating on his wife, he's not shying away from public speaking engagements -- and his fee has gone up, his agent says.

Edwards is due to speak at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign on Oct. 14. The agent for the former North Carolina senator has told the university student group organizing the event that Edwards is looking to add to his speaking calendar and that he's charging more, said university spokeswoman Robin Kaler.

Edwards is to speak on "The American Dream," Kaler said. Tickets are free, but the student group is paying him $65,000.

Sixty-five large! That is some nice coin, Silky. Well, I guess having to funnel money to and shuttle around Lisa Druck Rielle Hunter and your alleged love child is setting him back a bit.

It would be interesting to see whether any students at UIUC think the money could be better spent.

Edwards has come under fire in the past for his speaking fees. In 2006, he was paid $55,000 to speak at the University of California-Davis about poverty.

And just our luck here in the New York area. His first appearance will be at Hofstra University.

Someone will be conspicuous by her absence.

In a return to the public stage, John Edwards has confirmed plans to talk politics a month after admitting to an extramarital affair. But his wife won't be at his side.

A representative for the former Democratic presidential candidate confirmed Friday that he would speak alone at Hofstra University in New York on Sept. 8, school spokesman Stuart Vincent said. It was initially billed as a joint appearance to talk about the 2008 election, but Vincent said Elizabeth Edwards would not attend.

Dennis Goldford, a professor of politics at Drake University, said the rapid return to the stump could make it difficult for Edwards to overcome the anger of his former supporters. Edwards went into seclusion last month after spending the better part of the past six years on the trail — running for president twice, serving on the Democratic presidential ticket in 2004 and pushing to shrink the gap between rich and poor.

"I don't think the dust has settled sufficiently," Goldford said. "You're going to see a lot of people who are extremely skeptical. It would seem that you would need a little more time."

You would think. But, um, Mr. Goldford, we are dealing with a bottom-feeding megalomaniac here.

Ironically, the athletic teams at Hofstra are named the Pride. It would be nice if the school showed some pride and self-respect and told this charlatan to stay home. Or wherever it is he's staying these days.

Shocker: Class on 'Sexonomics' Arouses Interest

Who could have seen this coming? And from the Canadians, no less.

Then again, they have been getting frisky of late.

A university is offering a course on 'sexonomics'.

Where economics is usually about the value of the pound versus the dollar, stocks and mortgages - but now it is about sex.

After Freakonomics, the cult best-seller which examined the economics of life, comes a university course in Sexonomics, an economic analysis of sex.

And, inevitably, it has been deluged with applicants.

Students are queuing up to enroll in The Economics of Sex and Love which discusses love, marriage, speed-dating and teenage sex in a course offered by a leading Canadian institution.

Love and sex are profoundly based in economics,' says assistant professor Marina Adshade, who normally lectures on currency fluctuation, GDP, international monetary trends and domestic spending.

'Most people would agree sex involves some form of negotiation; it involves investment and, particularly where marriage is concerned, a contract.

'There are costs and benefits to all aspects of love and sex and these are covered by economic principles.

'I could teach a course about industrial organisations and maybe only have five per cent of the students fully engaged after a while.'

In contrast, she said, the Sexonomics course would be 'something they will be really interested in.'

The 12-week course is designed for second year students at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia.

The university, which includes three former Canadian Prime Ministers among its alumni, is already considering expanding the course next year because of the high level of interest.

Countdown to McCain VP: Is It Palin? Update: Why, Yes It Is

He could do a lot worse. At least she's a full blown conservative Republican.

Tim Pawlenty says he's out. Same for Romney. Leaving us with a relatively obscure, for now, Governor of Alaska.

John McCain kept his vice presidential pick a closely guarded secret hours before the high-stakes announcement Friday as a top prospect, Gov. Tim Pawlenty, seemed to scratch his name from the list.

"I'm not going to be there. I plan to be at the state fair. You can draw your conclusion from that," Pawlenty said on his weekly call-in radio show on WCCO-AM in Minneapolis. He also called it "a fair assumption" that he will not be McCain's running mate.

Associates close to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney were saying the same thing, telling The Associated Press that the former presidential candidate had not been offered the job by McCain.

As the political community turned desperate for any clues, speculation moved toward several darkhorse candidates including Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the so-called "hockey mom" credited with reforms of her out-of-the-way state.

A Gulfstream IV from Anchorage, Alaska, flew into Middletown Regional Airport in Butler County near Cincinnati about 10:15 p.m. Thursday, said Rich Bevis, airport manager. He said several people came off the plane, including a woman and two teens, but there was no confirmation of who was aboard.

"They were pretty much hustled off. They came right down the ramp, jumped in some vans here and off they went," Bevis said. "It was all hush, hush."

Still, more mystery.

We'll know soon enough.

Update: Sure enough, meet Sarah Palin.


Ed Morrissey has the analysis.

With multiple media outlets confirming now that Governor Sarah Palin will indeed join the Republican ticket as John McCain’s running mate, McCain has clearly chosen to play offense rather than defense. Instead of a safe choice, such as closest runner-up Mitt Romney or genial Everyman Tim Pawlenty, McCain took some risk with a relative newcomer to national politics. Palin will inject risk, excitement, controversy, and an unexpected historic note to the Republican convention.

Ace likes the pick, for obvious reasons.

Michelle Malkin is impressed.

Update: It's hard to imagine a more petty reaction from Obama.

Barack Obama's campaign is blasting John McCain for putting "the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency."

The scathing description of Sarah Palin, from Obama spokesman Bill Burton, comes as Democrats scramble to gather a response to a selection that nobody in the political world expected.

"Governor Palin shares John McCain's commitment to overturning Roe v. Wade, the agenda of Big Oil and continuing George Bush's failed economic policies -- that's not the change we need, it's just more of the same," added Burton.

Via Ed Morrissey again.

More reaction here. Mark Levin approves.

She's being very well received.

Update: Whoops. Damage control time from a bitter Team Obama.

Barack Obama and Joe Biden issued a joint statement a few moments ago welcoming Sarah Palin to the WH contest:

“We send our congratulations to Governor Sarah Palin and her family on her designation as the republican nominee for Vice President. It is yet another encouraging sign that old barriers are falling in our politics. While we obviously have differences over how best to lead this country forward Governor Palin is an admirable person and will add a compelling new voice to this campaign."

Sorry. You blew it the first time, assholes.

Krazy Keith Cries for More Security

The increasingly delusional and paranoid MessNBC blowhard Keith Olbermann apparently is starting to equare his nutroots idolatry with actual popularity.

As if any sane person even gives a hoot enough about this boob that he'd have to fear for his safety. He should probably be more concerned with the women he used and discarded after a failed night of sex.

MSNBC's increasingly paranoid Keith Olbermann is threatening to quit unless his bosses beef up his security, sources say.

Olbermann - upset to be anchoring at the Democratic National Convention from an outdoor set near Denver's train station - "announced that his bosses [had] better find a more secure location for him to broadcast from at the Republican National Convention [in St. Paul, Minn.] or he's not going," one insider said. "He thinks someone will assassinate him." MSNBC had no comment.

Even before he left New York, the biggest mouth at MSNBC was worried about his safety. When a car was late to take him to the airport, Olbermann threatened via e-mail to stay home, another insider told Page Six. The blowhard whined to producers, "I could have been attacked on the street."

I get the feeling this idiot was slapped around a lot on the playgrounds and still has lingeing fears someone's going to sneak up andgive him a wedgie.

Seriously, who'd waste a second to take a shot at this clown. You'd just have to approach him and go "boo" and he's curl up in the fetal position.

What a loser.

Meanwhile, Olbermann continues making more friends in the media.

So Olbermann was outraged that the AP's Babington had written, in his analysis of the speech, just off the wire, that Obama had tried nothing new and that his speech was lacking in specifics. He read the first few paragraphs on the air, lamented that it would be printed in hundred of newspapers on Friday, and concluded, "It is analysis that strikes me as having born no resemblance to the speech you and I just watched. None whatsoever. And for it to be distributed by the lone national news organization in terms of wire copy to newspapers around the country and web sites is a remarkable failure of that news organization.

"Charles Babington, find a new line of work."

Olberman even criticized the reporter on his time-keeping, noting that the article said the speech was 35 minutes long when it was, he said, actually 44 minutes long. A few minutes later, the AP copy showing up at news sites had been corrected to "44 minutes."

For a guy who's been fired as many times as Olbermann, suggesting someone find another line of work is most amusing.

As noted at NewsBusters, the modern-day Murrow apparently found out about Babington's piece while surfing the Daily Kos sewer while on the air.

Very professional.

The only security surrounding the clown should be from NBC as they watch him clean out his desk.

Agent Mulder, Sex Addict

Life imitates art once again.

"X-Files" star David Duchovny, who currently plays a womanizing writer on the cable television series "Californication," said on Thursday he has entered a facility for treatment of sex addiction.

Duchovny, 48, sprang to fame starring as the conspiracy-minded FBI agent Fox Mulder on Fox network's paranormal thriller "The X-Files," which spawned two big-screen spinoffs, one of which ran in theaters this summer.

He has been married since 1997 to actress Tea Leoni, with whom he has a 9-year-old daughter and a 6-year-old son.

"I have voluntarily entered a facility for the treatment of sex addiction," he said in a statement released through his lawyer, Stanton "Larry" Stein. "I ask for respect and privacy for my wife and children as we deal with this situation as a family."

Hey, maybe you'd be addicted too if you were getting busy with Tea Leoni.

Duchovny gave no details of his addiction, but fans got a taste of the actor's sex life last month during a press tour when he revealed that he and Tea got very steamy in a sauna during a getaway weekend in Vancouver.

"We were just all over each other - the sauna wasn't going to stop me," said Duchovny, "and I recovered pretty quickly."

Tea, however, passed out.

He's a machine.

Cuba Puts Punk Rocker on Trial

Denounce communists and face prosecution. Sounds like an omen of things to come in an Obama administration.

Cuba is to charge a punk rocker today with "social dangerousness" because his songs denounce and deride the communist government.

Gorki Aguila, lead singer of Porno para Ricardo, faces up to four years in prison for openly defying the revolution and scorning Fidel and Raul Castro as "geriatrics".

The 39-year-old has been in police custody since Monday and was due to appear at the Playa municipal court in western Havana to be charged with subverting "communist morality".

The case has triggered protests from artists and human rights groups. Supporters were due yesterday to assemble at Havana's Malecón promenade to protest. "We invite everyone to gather and shout Gorki," said the band's website.

Police arrested Aguila at his home where he was completing a new album provisionally called Geriatric Central Committee, a reference to the ageing leadership.

Formed 10 years ago as part of an underground music movement, Porno para Ricardo is banned from official airwaves.

Funny, but I haven't heard a peep from Democrats about this all week during their Denver lovefest. Probably because they're busy trying to silence critics under threat of prosecution.

"These over-the-top bullying tactics are reminiscent of the kind of censorship one would see in a Stalinist dictatorship, with the only difference being that those guys generally had to wait until they were in power to throw people who disagreed with them into jail."

More on Gorki at Babalu.

Jury Acquits Former Marine

I have written, and others have written on here, about the case of a Marine being tried in a civilian court in California for involuntary manslaughter for actions taken in Fallujah. Today the jury acquited that young man.

A former Marine accused of killing unarmed Iraqi detainees was acquitted of voluntary manslaughter Thursday in a first-of-its-kind federal trial.

The jury took six hours to find Jose Luis Nazario Jr. not guilty of charges that he killed or caused others to kill four unarmed detainees on Nov. 9, 2004, in Fallujah, Iraq, during some of the fiercest fighting of the war.

That is about 5:59 minutes longer then it would have taken me. I am glad he was not guilty and now I wish somebody would go after the prosecutor and judge in this case for some of legal malefeasance for the witch hunt they engaged in that has put this young Marine and his familythrough so much.

Internet Supersleuths Uncover Subtle McCain Racism

Watch the ad and see if you can detect it first.

Then read about the unbearable levels of stupidity.

Naturally, 77% of the Kos Kidz believe it's intentional.

Thanks to Ace for the link.

Update: Seems our friends at Six Meat Buffet noticed some not-so subtle racism in a McCain ad.



Such disturbing images.

'It Is No Surprise the American Public Chose a Poodle for Obama'

An online poll has selected a poodle as Barack Obama's White House dog.

Seriously.

And it fits him perfectly.

As the Democrats were meeting in Denver this week to crown Barack Obama as their presidential nominee, the American public selected the Poodle as its choice for his family's dog.

In a national poll of 42,000 people, the Poodle narrowly edged past the Soft-Coated Wheaten Terrier as the top dog for the Obamas, the American Kennel Club (AKC) said.

"It is no surprise the American public chose a Poodle for Obama," said spokeswoman Lisa Peterson, adding the breed is the eighth most popular nationally and the third most common type of dog in Washington, D.C.

She said that, apparently, with no irony intended.

Spitzer Downfall Mob Orchestrated?

Hmm. Plausible perhaps, but likely never proven.

Writes Gasparino: "Spitzer's hooker girlfriend, Ashley Dupre, apparently had some friendship with someone alleged to be one of the family's associates. Spitzer had made cases against the mob early in his career as a prosecutor, so in Dietl's mind, why wouldn't the crime family rat out a rat?"

Gee, I'd be shocked if some bimbo from the Jersey shore had mob connections.

I had to chuckle yesterday when the oily Sheldon Silver was teeing up Mrs. Clinton at the DNC roll call that our good friend Eliot was conspicuous by his absence.

'Dr. King's Dream Is Now a Reality'

Heh.

Smears! Vicious McCain Attack Ad Set to Air Tonight

Maybe supersleuth Bob Herbert can detect the stealthy phallic symbols and racist codewords.

Typical snide response to for such a magnanimous gesture.

Obama campaign manager David Plouffe -- who did not know the content of the ad until we read him the script -- just told us that the McCain ad is "a very nice gesture. We appreciate that. I wish more of his ads had that tone.

Oh, so every McCain ad is supposed to kiss Obama's ass?

What a puke.

McCain VP Announcement Imminent, Pawlenty Cancels All Appearances

Looks like we won't be waiting around until 3 am to get this announcement.

DENVER - Republican presidential candidate John McCain decided on a running mate early Thursday, and one top prospect, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, abruptly canceled numerous public appearances.

The Arizona senator will appear with his No. 2 at an Ohio rally on Friday, aides said, though they provided no details on who McCain had picked.

Without explanation, Pawlenty called off an Associated Press interview at the last minute, as well as other media interviews in Denver, site of the Democratic National Convention.

Others believed to be in contention for the No. 2 slot on the GOP ticket included former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who was meeting with donors throughout California, and Democrat-turned-independent Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, who was vacationing on New York's Long Island.

I can live with Pawlenty, but would prefer Romney.

Please, not Lieberman. Decent enough guy, but way too liberal.

Now, does it come tonight or do they wait for tomorrow's McCain appearance in Ohio? The media and Obamatons will have a hissyfit if it's tonight.

Joe Biden's Foreign Policy Problems

Greasy Joe may have seniority, but it doesn't necessarily translate into worthwhile experience.

The author is from Chicago. I just hope the Obama people don't try and silence him.

While Biden was busy supporting partition, he was opposing the plan by Gen. David Petraeus to use a new strategy to win the war and hold the country together. Petraeus wanted to deploy more troops to Baghdad to clear, secure and hold neighborhoods. Biden's response, in June 2007, was strong and unequivocal: "The surge isn't going to work either tactically or strategically." John McCain risked his political career to take the opposite view. He will not let Biden off the hook easily.

In what promises to be a tight, hard-fought race, Biden's foreign-policy expertise is not the asset Obama was seeking for victory in November.

Meanwhile, Conservative Punk notes a bizarre claim from the left relating to Biden's dubious experience.

Happy Anniversary, Bill Ayers

How ironic that on the day The Messiah was handed the Democrat nomination and his supporters were busy intimidating a radio station, his terrorist buddy was celebrating his 40th anniversary of being arrested at the Chicago DNC in 1968. Somehow I overlooked this special moment yesterday and I was busy trying to stifle a tingling sensation coursing up my leg as He descended upon Denver.

For those Democrats who are too young to have a proper appreciation of their party's history, which likely includes most of Senator Obama's supporters, we direct your attention to a memorable moment in DNC history that shows how the current nominee really is connected to the party's past as much as its future.

It was forty years ago today that Barack Obama friend and political ally, and unrepentant terrorists, William Ayers was arrested while protesting the DNC proceedings. William Ayers set no bombs that day, but he was only working his way up from petty criminal to domestic terrorist. And of course this was long before Barack Obama and he struck up the friendship that would lead Ayers to launch Obama's political career at his house.

'I Am Not One of Those People'

Obama smears himself. I wonder if he'll cry about this tonight?

Grim News: Economy Grows by 3.3%

Hmm. Will the Democrats have anything left to run on come this fall?

The economy shifted to a higher gear in the spring, growing at its fastest pace in nearly a year as foreign buyers snapped up U.S. exports and tax rebates spurred shoppers at home.

The Commerce Department reported Thursday that gross domestic product, or GDP, increased at a 3.3 percent annual rate in the April-June quarter. The revised reading was much better than the government's initial estimate of a 1.9 percent pace and exceeded economists' expectations for a 2.7 percent growth rate.

The rebound comes after two dismal quarters. The economy actually shrank in the final three months of 2007 and limped into the first quarter at a feeble 0.9 percent pace. The 3.3 percent growth in the spring was the best performance since the third quarter of last year, when the economy was chugging along at a brisk 4.8 percent pace.

Cancel that train to Hooverville.

Just Perfect: Temple of Obama Built By Britney Spears Set Designers

Really, this must be some kind of plot orchestrated by Karl Rove. For the better part of a month now Team Obama has been moaning about being compared with Britney Spears, yet they actually use the same set designer.

They really are that dumb.

Democrats will kneel before the "Temple of Obama" tonight.

As if a Rocky Mountain coronation were not lofty enough, Barack Obama will aim for Mount Olympus when he accepts his party's nomination atop an enormous, Greek-columned stage - built by the same cheesy set team that put together Britney Spears' last tour.

John McCain's campaign mocked the massive neoclassical set created for Obama's speech at 75,000-seat Invesco Field. Some Republicans have dubbed it the "Barackopolis," while others suggested the delegates should wear togas to fit in among the same Doric columns the ancient Greeks believed would stroke the egos of Zeus and Athena.

"It's only appropriate that Barack Obama would descend down from the heavens and spend a little time with us mere mortals when accepting the Democratic nomination," said Republican National Committee spokesman Danny Diaz.

The McCain campaign quickly dispatched a memo calling the stage the "Temple of Obama."

"We would have expected to read something like this in The Onion. Fortunately for us, it's true. Unfortunately for Obama, it's true," a McCain adviser told The Post.

But the set is designed to evoke the White House and the Lincoln Memorial, not the Acropolis, said staging supervisor Bobby Allen, a Spears set vet.

"We've done Britney's sets and a whole bunch of rock shows, but this was far more elaborate and complicated and we had to do it in far less time," said Allen, of RDA Entertainment.

"The biggest challenge has been making sure we don't damage the playing field underneath."

Asked who is harder to sat isfy - the Democrats or Britney - Allen replied: "I better not answer that."

H/T Lauren.

Previously.

'Things Were a Lot Better in 1980'

Democrats in Denver long for days gone by. Seriously though, if you want memories, is 1980 the year you want to remember?

Jimmy Carter was unavailable for comment.

EVEN if the modern presidential convention has become a largely symbolic affair, the constant flow of nightly parties and celebrations has always been reason enough to keep the stodgy tradition going.

But this year at the Democratic National Convention, there is a new complaint being whispered by disgruntled guests: partying in Denver is a downer.

“Normally at conventions, you’d have people regaling you with what happened the night before,” said Emil Hill, a Washington communications executive who has been party-hopping steadily all week. “This time, not a single person has given me a story. I guess when you lose two elections in a row, people learn from that.”

Maybe their spirits picked up after Bill Clinton spoke last night.

But at least some Republicans are having fun.

Or even the distracting presence of some young people — staff members of the Republican war room set up here — who have mischievously crashed social events and helped themselves to free liquor all week long.

Says here things have been a disaster.

'I'm Going To Be Honest With You, the Profession Is Dying'

I doubt too many folks in Chicago will be shedding tears today, though this could be a watershed moment in the death spiral of print journalism. Me, I saw this coming 20 years ago. Still, I have friends in the business and there's a lot of concern, for obvious reasons. There's plenty of room on the web, of course, but those coming over have a lot of catching up to do.

Mariotti Quits, Says Newspapers Are 'Dying'

In a bombshell announcement in the world of sports journalism, star columnist Jay Mariotti has abruptly resigned from the Chicago Sun-Times.

Only after taping his last ESPN TV from the Sun-Times newsroom today did Mariotti open up.

Mariotti told CBS 2's Dorothy Tucker that he decided to quit after covering the Olympics in Beijing because newspapers are in serious trouble, and he did not want to go down with the ship.

"It's been a tremendous experience, but I'm going to be honest with you, the profession is dying,'' Mariotti said, "I don't think either paper [Sun-Times or Chicago Tribune] is going to survive.

"To showcase your work ... you need a stellar Web site and if a newspaper doesn't have that, you can't be stuck in the 20th century with your old newspaper.''

Mariotti blamed the scandal-plagued past at the paper for its downfall. Former top execs Conrad Black and David Radler looted the company for millions of dollars, and both were sentenced to jail. The paper's ad revenues have been plummeting and more layoffs are expected.

'Hype' You Can Believe In

Just devastating. Sure, the Obamatons cry whine and squeal about this being a smear, but they will not be able to dispute the facts.

Meanwhile, I guess the media dam protecting The Messiah is spouting a few leaks.

Related.

Too Good To Be True: Obama Plans 'On the Road to Change' Bus Tour

Following his Greek-style coronation tomorrow night, The Messiah actually plans a bus tour with Greasy Joe and the charming Stepford Wife, Michelle Obama. How amusing is this? A guy who's spent the better part of six months throwing his radical associates under the bus is actually going to campaign on one.

I pray for Joe Biden's own safety he doesn't order Michelle to the back of the bus.

Team McCain must already be cueing up the jokes.

Alas, there's but one minor problem. They desperately want to avoid Detroit.

It is the limbo that is killing Detroit.

The mayoral scandal that affects so much, and is being talked about so much here in Denver, may now be affecting whether a new Obama-Biden bus tour stops in Motown.

Sens. Barack Obama and Joe Biden and their wives will board a bus here Friday for a tour of Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan, the campaign announced this morning. The foursome head from here to Pennsylvania, the first stop on the bus tour. But the campaign would not say whether the tour's Michigan leg includes a stop in Detroit.

Called the “On the Road to Change” tour, to mobile message machine was planned to give the senators their first joint opportunity to talk with voters about the economy.

A stop in Detroit, the city hit the hardest in the state hit the hardest by an economy that is hitting America hard, is a no-brainer.

But it’s not an automatic yes. And that’s a shame.

Sen. Barack Obama has not been near Detroit since June when he attended a major fund-raiser and a rally at Joe Louis Arena.

That was weeks before Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick’s woes worsened. He was charged with assaulting a sheriff’s deputy and, in a separate case, spent a night in jail for violating his bond by leaving the country.

Memo to Chocolate City: Try Being Prepared This Time

The media and Democrats have shamelessly milked the astonishing lack of preparedness prior to Hurricane Katrina and pretended the whole thing was George W. Bush's fault.

Well, you're on notice, folks. If you're told to leave again, get out. Otherwise, I don't want to hear any whining.

"We know it's going to head into the Gulf. After that, we're not sure where it's heading," said Rebecca Waddington, a meteorologist at the Miami-based National Hurricane Center. "For that reason, everyone in Gulf needs to be monitoring the storm. At that point, we're expecting it to be a Category 3 hurricane."

The tentative forecast track pointed Wednesday toward Louisiana and Mississippi, which took the brunt of Hurricane Katrina three years ago Friday. But the average error in five-day forecasts is about 310 miles (500 kms) in either direction, meaning the likeliest targets could be anywhere from south Texas to the Florida panhandle.

The Army Corps of Engineers is looking to guard the West bank levees.

Fortunately, Louisiana now has a competent Governor in Bobby Jindal. Unfortunately that moron Ray Nagin is still in charge of New Orleans.

New McCain Ad: 'Obama, Dangerously Unprepared'

Apppropriately named Tiny to reflect the incredible shrinking Obama.

'It Was An Absolute Hate Crime'

So what was this hate crime?

Why, goofing on Barack Obama, of course.

Silly, maybe, but a hate crime? Puh-leeeze.

The head of the Snohomish County Republican Party apologized Tuesday after the organization's booth at the Evergreen State Fair in Monroe sold "$3 bills" depicting Barack Obama wearing Arab headgear and featuring a camel.

Geri Modrell, the Snohomish County Republican chairwoman, said a volunteer had brought the bills to the fair thinking they were funny.

"I don't think it's funny," said Modrell, who said she ordered the bills removed as soon as she learned about them. "They were offensive. The volunteers are being told very clearly they must not do these sorts of things."

The $3 bills, which are sold on a conservative Web site, feature signatures from "Teddy Kennedy" as chief socialism adviser and Al Sharpton as new spiritual adviser. Obama's face, in the traditional Arab headgear, is pictured above the words "Da man."

The Arab headgear and the camel on the bill are clearly references to the false rumor spread by some Obama critics that he is a Muslim. Obama, who is expected to be officially nominated as the Democratic Party's candidate for president this week in Denver, identifies himself as a Christian. He attended Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago for many years. The rumors about his religion have been fueled by time he spent as a child in Indonesia, a predominantly Muslim country.

The bills offended some passers-by at the fair, including Ronnie Thibault, a Monroe woman who said Republicans at the booth threatened to call security on her after she complained.
...
Susan Ronken, a volunteer at the nearby Democratic Party booth at the fair, also saw the bills, which were present at the booth for at least two days this week.

"It was an absolute hate crime," said Ronken, who lives in Stanwood.

Patrick Bell, a spokesman for the state Republican Party, said the party does not condone any such messages about Obama's religion.

After Thibault complained to Republican Party officials, Modrell, the Snohomish County GOP chairwoman, said she immediately called her volunteers at the fairgrounds to ensure that the $3 bills were removed. She later went to the fairgrounds to make sure no other offensive materials were present.

So horrifying and offensive is the image, none of the news stories I found even dare show it.

So I found it myself here. Apparently bills goofing on George W. Bush and many others there haven't casued such outrage. Offending The Messiah though is verboten.

Incredible what babies these Obama supporters are. Good thing he's going down to defeat. I don't know if I could take four years of bellyaching over the slightest criticism.

These Democrats would do well to learn from Bush. The man has been mercilessly savaged for eight years now and I have't seen him whine once.

Grow up, people.

No Way, No How, No Bounce

Dude, where's Obama's poll bounce? Sure, maybe it'll materialize eventually, but so far nothing.

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Wednesday shows Barack Obama and John McCain each attracting 44% of the vote for the second straight day. When "leaners" are included, though, McCain picked up another point since yesterday and now has a statistically insignificant one-point advantage over Obama, 47% to 46%.

This is the first time since August 9 that McCain has held any advantage over Obama. The candidates have been within two points of each other on every day but two for the past month.
...
On a partisan basis, 82% of Republican voters say America is winning the War on Terror, just 34% of Democrats agree.

What do those numbers show you?

In other grim news for Democrats, 54% of Americans now think we're winning the war on terror.

In an related unscientific poll conducted by JWF Associates, 100% of the the tattered remnants of Al Qaeda also believe the United States is winning, while 99% of the media is praying for defeat.

McCain Aide Mocks Obama: 'Is This From the Onion?'

If Barack Obama is so sensitive about being typecast as an empty-headed celebrity, why does he continue to keep teeing it up for the McCain campaign.

He's just making it too easy.

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's big speech on Thursday night will be delivered from an elaborate columned stage resembling a miniature Greek temple.

The stage, similar to structures used for rock concerts, has been set up at the 50-yard-line, the midpoint of Invesco Field, the stadium where the Denver Broncos' National Football League team plays.

Some 80,000 supporters will see Obama appear from between plywood columns painted off-white, reminiscent of Washington's Capitol building or even the White House, to accept the party's nomination for president.

He will stride out to a raised platform to a podium that can be raised from beneath the floor.

Hello ball:

When Sen. Barack Obama moves the Democratic National Convention from the Pepsi Center to Invesco Field on Thursday, the freshman senator is planning to speak from a columned stage resembling an ancient Greek temple.

"Is this from the Onion?" quipped a McCain adviser.

The reference to the satirical newspaper came after Reuters reported that Obama is planning an elaborate rock concert set-up complete with post-speech fireworks.

The national anthem will even have a touch of celebrity: Jennifer Hudson, the Oscar-winning actress and former American Idol castoff, will perform the honors at the onset of the evening.

Starting with a July ad which included footage of Paris Hilton and Brittney Spears, the McCain campaign has been airing a series of television ads which paint Obama as a celebrity lacking in substance.

They've been so quick to spoof The Messiah, I can already envision a spot goofing on this as soon as the fireworks go off Thursday night.

Ace is speechless.

Instapundit links. Thanks!

Update: Behold the Temple of Obama (H/T Hot Air).



Update: Good one from Larry in the comments:

Let me be the first:

It's the O-cropolis!

Bangladeshi Baby Born With Two Heads

Yikes.

Police have been called in to control the crowds after a two-headed baby was born in Bangladesh.

More than 150,000 people - almost double the size of the crowds at Wembley Stadium - have surrounded a hospital after news spread that a baby boy had been born with two heads.

Police were called in to control the masses as the baby was moved from one hospital to another for security reasons.

Officials feared that unless the baby was moved from the clinic in Bangladesh, where he was born, to a more secure hospital, the crowd would force their way in to gaze at the amazing sight.

If that happened, it was feared, mother and baby would be crushed.

In the past babies born with physical abnormalities have been viewed in countries such as Bangladesh and India as living gods.

Last night the boy, named Kiron, was under police protection as doctors tried to determine whether he had any future.

Kiron was born in a caesarean operation on Monday, weighing 5.5kg, in Keshobpur, 100 miles from the capital, Dhaka.

'He has one stomach and he is eating normally with his two mouths,' said gynaecologist Mohamad Abdul Bari.

'He has one genital organ and a full set of limbs.'

'No Way, No How, Nobama'

Despite the media gushing about unity and how much of a team player Hillary Clinton pretended to be last night, the backbiting continues. And that was just Day 1 of the Clinton-fest with the Big Ooze, Bill Clinton, scheduled for this evening.

Even as Hillary Rodham Clinton told supporters to go for "O" last night, strategists close to the Clintons yesterday trashed the convention as the "Seinfeld" of nominating fetes - a gathering about nothing.

"If this party has a message, it's done a hell of a job hiding it, I promise you that," James Carville, who was integral in Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign, told CNN.

Democratic strategist Paul Begala, another former Clintonite from '92, took umbrage over former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner - the convention's keynote speaker - suggesting he would use his speech not to slam GOP candidate John McCain but call for bipartisanship.

"This isn't the Richmond Chamber of Commerce," Begala quipped.

Warner's speech did harshly criticize McCain as well as President Bush.

But Begala's comments again highlighted the simmering tensions between supporters of Hillary and those of Barack Obama, which has so far been the dominant story line of the convention.

Hillary herself has made public pleas for unity, and has said she'll release her delegates and cast her vote for Obama.

The two camps worked out a deal where both candidates' names would be placed in nomination, but there would be a truncated roll call followed by a call for unity.

More here on the simmering tensions.

A significant number of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s top fund-raisers remain on the sidelines and unwilling to work for Senator Barack Obama, a nettlesome problem that appears to be contributing to the campaign’s failure to keep pace with ambitious fund-raising goals it set for the general election.

The lingering rancor between the sides appears to have intensified at the Democratic convention, with grousing from some Clinton fund-raisers about the way they are being treated by the Obama campaign in terms of hotel rooms, credentials and the like. Tensions were already high, particularly in the wake of revelations that Mr. Obama did not vet Mrs. Clinton or ask her advice on his vice-presidential pick.

Many major Clinton fund-raisers skipped the convention; others are leaving Wednesday, before Mr. Obama’s speech.

One of those skipping town will be Bill Clinton himself.

Maybe he's got a McCain fundraiser to attend.

Political Widget - Republican

'I Have No Party. I'm a Complete Independent'

A laugh riot at MessNBC. One of their most biased reporters--and that's saying something--pretends to be an independent during an on-air spat with token Republican Joe Scarborough.

ANIMOSITY among MSNBC anchors has reached a mile-high peak at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, with on-air squabbling between such big egos as Joe Scarborough, Keith Olbermann, Chris Matthews and David Shuster.

Scarborough, who served in Congress as a Republican representative from Florida, seems to be particularly touchy being the only host who isn't openly pro-Democratic.

Yesterday, after Shuster referred to "your party, the Republican Party," Scarborough went off, sparking a seven-minute exchange.

"I will let you know that 'my party,' my party loathes me much more than your party, the Democratic Party, loathes me," Scarborough seethed. "What about your party? What's your party, David Shuster? David, what's your party?"

"I have no party. I'm a complete independent," Shuster replied.

"Oh, I feel so comforted by the fact that you're independent. I bet everyone at MSNBC has 'independent' on their voting cards," said Scarborough.

Scarborough declined to talk to Page Six, but sources say he and NBC anchor Tom Brokaw disagree with MSNBC's decision to position itself as the channel for George W. Bush-haters.

At a forum on Sunday, when Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell called MSNBC "the official network of the Obama campaign," Brokaw said, "I think Keith has gone too far. I think Chris has gone too far."

Speaking of those two, they're at each other's throats. Get more popcorn ready. We may have a full-scale on-air brawl before long. Shame is nobody will see it.

Tim Russert spins in his grave.

'She's Definitely a Tramp -- Just Nasty'

The folks in this Tennessee town are shocked--shocked!--that a scene from a porn flick was shot on a local playground.

Granted, it's probably pushing the envelope and they'll probably hunt down the offenders.

But the most amusing part is the reporter for the TV station surfing the porn website--fore research purposes only, of course. Check out the video clips at the link.

Bartlett Grove Park sits in the middle of a subdivision. It's a favorite spot for children, and was recently the site of an adult website porno shoot.

The video clip we discovered begins innocently enough.

"I thought I'd come out for the day," says the "model."

She then exposes herself on the playground slide.

"She's definitely a tramp -- just nasty," parent Barbara Taylor said in reaction to the video.

Taylor had a typical reaction.

"I think it's disgusting," she said. "I think I'm not letting my kids go down that slide anymore."

Danny Berryhill is a Baptist minister who lives right across the street.

"I don't have the words," he said. "I'm a Baptist minister, and I have no words."

Except for hubba hubba and what was the website address?

Hillary's Pantsuits Get Test Run Before Big Speech

Hmm, which color doublewide should I go with?

DENVER - Hillary Clinton is set to address the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday night, but the real action started a little bit earlier.

Clinton aides brought out on stage several different pantsuits, each of them a different color, to see how the color of each reacted to the lighting and backdrop at the convention site.

Presumably this was to help Clinton of New York decide which color of her trademark garment would be best to wear for her big performance.

My guess is she goes with the devil red.