Where's the Hagee stuff in this? I must be missing something--I don't see it.

And, aside from labeling the Revolutionary Guards as "terrorist"--probably technically accurate but not very politically smart--I don't see much in this speech to argue with.

Don't get me wrong--I don't care for Palin. She killed Bullwinkle. She's clearly either nuts or a hypocrite (or both!). But dissing her for this speech gets us nowhere.

More ignorance about Chicago. Obama wasn't embraced by Chicago machine politics until he became the senatorial nominee. Obama is a product of South Cook machine politics--considerably less monolithic and top-down than the city machine.

To say you know the four people mentioned in the ad is simply saying you come from Illinois and you're in politics. Gasp!

I understand Palin knows Ted Stevens; does corruption pass by touch? And McCain, of course, was part of the Keating Five--a scandal considerably similar to today's financial scandal.

Not that the press, including Salon, likes to mention that, of course.

What's really creepy is that McCain looks like he's channeling Johnny Carson in this segment. The same hand in the pocket, the same up-on-the-toes--my god, even his hair looks similar!

Palin "debating" Biden? Look for the same kind of audio pack on her as we saw repeatedly on the Fortunate Son. Nobody in their right mind is going to let Painful Palin go up against Biden on her own.

I'm not reading through 200+ letters to find out, especially when many of them are filled with GOP talking points. Here's my take, though:

McCain's sick. He's in no shape to debate. Palin's an ignoramus; she's in no shape to debate, ever.

Barack moving ahead with this single debate will give McCain the excuse to cancel ALL the debates, including Palin's. Thus, the American public will never get the opportunity to see how weak, sick, and confused both parts of the GOP ticket are.

Mark my words....

...to come on Salon's letters and read the canned GOP talking points. So far they seem to come to:

1) Obama's a black man.

2) He occasionally misspeaks.

3) Obama is no better than Palin.

4) Did I mention he's black? As in "Negro, Afro, African American...."

The n word is just a head nod away for them.

Meanwhile, McCain is clearly sick and confused, Palin is ignorant and confused, and the election is beginning to slip away from them.

C'mon, Glenn. For the Right, freedom is defined as "my ability to do as I want;" oppression is defined as "other people's freedom."

What a bunch of *liars* these folks are! And desperate--utterly desperate--to boot. Dan *Quayle* could connect with voters? Only if he used jumper cables! Sarah Palin doesn't have a grasp of the issues? No! But she can field-dress a moose--now *there's* a quality that folks want in the White House!

The real question, to my mind, is: has the GOP drunk so much of its own fetid Kool-Aid that they can no longer distinguish reality from their own lies? I mean, do they believe this crazy shit themselves? Do they think *we're* stupid enough to just swallow and smile?

McCain/Pain in 2008! No, that's not a typo--just a prediction if the election proves that the American people have the IQ of lemmings!

Infuckingcredible. Somebody tie Lee Atwater in copper wire--we can use his rolling in the grave to power the East Coast.

This video is supposed to show "bluster" and "grumpy-old-man" 'tude?

I think McCain sold out long ago (KEATING FIVE!!!) but I find him far more likable when he behaves the way we saw on this tape, and far less likable--hell, far less human--when he "smiles" his way through, as he did in the debate.

The Biden-Palin dynamic is not about gender. Palin has painted herself as a bitch with lipstick; if Palin doesn't "have a pair," heck, what woman does? She can gut a moose.

It's about smarts, not gender.

If Biden "picks on her" he'll be the smart kid humiliating the class dummy. Palin rides the short bus, and everybody knows it.

Nobody cares anymore that Palin's a "girl." That's she's the village idiot is much more relevant.

" according to his blustery response during this segment of his interview this week -- discussed in detail Wednesday, along with the full video, by our own Vincent Rossmeier -- with the Des Moines Register:"

Then follows the clip.

It seems to me that the "blustery response" refers to what we're seeing in the clip--this is clearly the Des Moines Register clip, not the smiling stuff.

I just don't see a lot of bluster here. As the post suggests.

Please to read the post carefully, bd.

Do we know that SP was using index cards?

I suspect that it's some kind of bizarre Idaho accent.

I also think she swears like a trooper when she's not on camera.

Watching Joe last night, I wondered why he didn't do better in the nominating race.

It strikes me that last night he had a frame; he was constrained by the fact that his opponent had both a certain charm and a certain sense of vulnerability. If he beat on her--as he could have, a number of times--she'd just blink and smile and look terrified. So Joe took the best advice he was given--don't focus on SP, focus on the John in the campaign. Don't beat her up, don't be condescending, don't be too much of a modern guy, for whom girls are accessories rather than people.

He had a frame he never had when he was running for himself. Or even now, out on the campaign trail, where, as one commentator said, he comes off as a crazy uncle on occasion.

Joe self-disciplined is an awesome thing. I'm an optimist, and a humanist: I believe people can change. I'm hoping that Joe can learn from his great performance last night, and change.