Over the course of the Minnesota Senate race I gave Al Franken $1,625 in campaign contributions. Since Senators serve for six years, or 2,190 days, I guess you could say that I paid about $1.35 per day to send Al Franken to Washington. I'm not saying I'm a saint; a lot of people gave Franken a lot more money than I did. But as Norm Coleman has managed to lop 239 days off Al's term, by my calculation Coleman owes me $322.65.

Where do I send the invoice, Norm?

I couldn't agree more. Mostly because we've just escaped from eight years of nightmarish, Bushian hell, and deep down we all know it could happen again.

The good news is that Sarah Palin doesn't wear well. Mike Murphy pretty much confirmed that for me the other night when he told Chuck Todd that since her brief peak during the first two weeks of the general election campaign, Palin's poll-rating trajectory has been consistently downward.

Of course, it'll stop, eventually: At her base. And that's where the other good news is. The religious nutbags on the right certainly adore her and will never stop adoring her, no matter what happens. But as Purdham points out in his VF article, and as these e-mails between Palin and McCain's seasoned campaign team reflect, significant factions of the Republican Party do NOT. I look forward to some delicious internecine warfare.

The only question that never seems to get asked is WHAT in the world John McCain was doing for six or so months, between the time he clinched the nomination and made this treasonous choice of a running mate. Did he just sit around with his thumb up his ass? How could he have made such a rushed and uninformed selection when he had all that time to ponder it? It's just incredible.

Why do the Palins hate America? And who leaked these e-mails to CBS?

That Mark Sanford's latest excruciating stream of consciousness — a tape of which was painfully played on Keith Olbermann's show tonight — made Bill Clinton's public remarks on Monica Lewinsky look positively elegant and dignified by comparison.

And ooh, yes, please, hire Froomkin!

Not only can't Harris spell, but he doesn't know the difference between "he" and "him." What an idiot.

I generally never argue with an anti-choice man. I'm sorry, but after all these years I just can't imagine why anyone who doesn't have or hasn't had a uterus should have any say in the matter. Then, of course, Bill O'Reilly is not a man.

Second, when it comes to people like O'Reilly/Hannity/Beck/etc., I'm reminded of all the advice all our mothers gave us: "Oh, honey, just ignore them." Sort of like when Earl Spencer gave that remarkably cheeky speech at Diana's funeral and a furious Prince Philip was later counseled to... do nothing, absolutely nothing. It was sound advice. We should all ignore these Fox clowns, except, of course, for telling restaurant and bar managers that they'd better change the channel or they'll lose our business.

On Salon's home page, the teaser for this War Room report is right next to a "Five Things" item about how Obama invokes Jesus more than Bush did. So, is this the same nonsense we had to deal with in the 2008 campaign? About how Obama was a secret Muslim but he still needed to be held accountable for the rantings of his CHRISTIAN minister?

...Because Romney has been traveling the country lately, talking substantively on the issues, on his own (considerable) dime, attempting in an earnest and quite traditional way to position himself for the 2012 nomination. And what happens? The hapless Republicans can't manage their own fundraising dinner, which means that Palin, and to a lesser extent, Gingrich — with their madcap scheduling adventures and juicy allegations of plagiarism — get 10 times more ink than the Mittster could ever hope to get with his erious-minded, issues-oriented travel. Ya almost gotta feel sorry for the guy.

THAT'S the kind of story I'd like to see Salon following, over and over and over again. Because Republican disarray and infighting are the gift that never stops giving.

Between wanting this awful Limbaugh person to be ignored and wanting him to get even more coverage. On the one hand, he's despicable and doesn't deserve the attention. (In fact, his carefully played vitriol and the publicity it receives probably put more money in his pocket, so why should we want to contribute to that?) On the other hand, he's hastening the death of the current Republican Party. So I can't decide. What may ultimately tip me, though, is my concern for the safety of the President of the United States.

Meghan McCain is a thorn in the side of the Republican Party's right-wing base. The nutbags over at Free Republic, for example, despise her. Talk about sexist putdowns, my God! THEY'RE the ones who think that Meghan doesn't have a right to an opinion because she's, um, fat. (Sarah Palin, of course, is perfect.)

Since Megs drives the Freepers up the wall, if Kos wants to take her on in a phony Twitter spat — and, in the process, make her seem more important than she is — it's a-okay by me. The fact that he does it by mimicking the right-wing's disdain for her makes it even more fun.

Confusion to the enemy!

And I mean that without irony, that when I needed to avail myself of my Constitutional right to reproductive freedom, I could do so in a professionally run clinic, in complete medical safety, without harassment, and without my healthcare providers worried that their cars or their homes or their persons would be staked out and terrorized day after day after freaking day. As we are clearly reminded today, that is not the case everywhere in America. So, since the rule of law evidently does not apply equally in this country, I was... just lucky, I guess.