John McCain says Barack Obama is "rich", but by McCain's own definition - an income of $5million or more per year - Obama, at $4million last year, is not in that category.

John McCain alleges that he was "tortured" while staying at the posh Hanoi Hilton back in the 1960s - but by his own bill, signed into law by his BFF George Bush, he merely underwent "enhanced interrogation" - something the United States does regularly and (gods help us) proudly.

Doesn't McCain ever listen to himself?

This won't stop the Clinton-hating trolls, however.

McCain will be on-site in New Orleans as Gustav approaches, the winds and rain whipping his thin white hair, on all the broadcast and cable channels. He'll be flying in emergency supplies and handing them out to grateful New Orleaners, per breathless reports on all channels. Campaign ads will relentlessly recap the dramatic footage into November, and the talking heads will gush constantly about it. Bush will probably give him some sort of presidential medal.

After the election, the superficial nature of the "aid" and general lack of any concrete benefits from McCain's actions will come out, and everyone will agree it was all just a publicity stunt, and an exploitive one at that.

But it will have worked, and President McCain will reign for the next eight years - or until Washington is nuked in WWIII, which historians agree was started by the United States...

"I'm not giving up."

Good for you! None of us lefties should give up. Senator Obama is quietly moving to get contributions and assistance to the Gulf Coast. Perhaps we can toot his horn for him. McCain's actions are eminently mockable - let's give Jon Stewart a hand. What will Heckuvajob Bushie do this time around? Will it be all smoke and mirrors, like McCain's response? Whatever, link it back to 2005, when he was once again AWOL.

gehgoeson is right - just because McCain seems to have the media mesmerized is no reason to stop trying to break the spell.

You know, given that McCain supposedly knew Jr. Palin was preggers, this whole story adds credibility to the speculation that Gov Palin's selection as Veep was just a ruse - a way to deflect press attention from Sen Obama's great acceptance speech, which you don't hear anybody talking about anymore, do you?

"Give it a week, and she'll be gone" they said (I'm sorry, I can't remember who posted this).

Looks like they were right. Meanwhile, as an added bonus, we get to hear those mean-spirited, nasty libruls going on about the irresponsibility of getting pregnant at the age of 45, the irresponsibility of Choosing Life™ for a Down's Syndrome baby, misogynistic denigration of Palin's record, and now the whole fainting act over the pregnant teenage daughter deal.

As many of the women have pointed out, it's cruel and rude to try to score political points about this family tragedy, and focus media condemnation on a mere child. It's not what Democrats do. But it is what Republicans do. Hideously, by pointing out Republican hypocrisy, the Dems ending up looking - hypocritical!

Check and mate (sorry). If Karl Rove didn't orchestrate this, I'm sure he's proud of whichever of his protegés did.

Thanks, I guess... The big question, for me at least, is how to get the Democrats to become more nimble at framing and interpreting so that they could do the same thing.

Seriously - the Repubs, through sophistry, framing, and ad hominem logic - have been experts at turning lemons into flaming lemon meringue pie. By contrast, the Dems typically take filet mignon and turn it into a cheap grade of dogfood. It helps a lot that the media aids and abets both sides to work these marvelous/apalling transformations, but the Democrats definitely have a lot to learn about communication.

I (somewhat crudely) point this out to help break the tendency toward an echo chamber, in which everyone chimes in with how obviously bad this is for McCain.

You're right - literally nothing is bad for McCain, or for any other Republican. The question is, how to break the Republican spell?

"But enjoy living in your Orwellian paradise... I understand once you give up your self respect, the rest is easy."

I don't understand your replies. Maybe you misinterpreted my posts, and I need to write better. I'll try again:

Every issue can be looked at from a variety of perspectives. If you choose, as the Republican Party has, to throw in dishonest, unfair, and purely irrelevant perspectives, the options are much, much greater. But the fact is, everything can be analyzed in many different ways. Everything. The trick is selecting the point(s) of view that most benefit your side, that best further the arguments you wish to advance.

The Democrats, for the most part, have the advantage of having facts on their side. But they've been failing to take advantage of this, by some kind of communication clumsiness and lack of imagination. They can learn - a limited amount, to be sure - from the way the Republicans operate.

It isn't necessary for Democrats - or me - to give up our "self respect" or go all Orwell. Just use our brains and recognize that you've got to suit your arguments to the audience.