Who's holding McCain responsible for this inanity? Certainly not the one man in the whole country who should be. The first words out of Obama's mouth this morning: "I certainly don't fault Senator McCain for these problems, but I do fault the economic philosophy he subscribes to...."

This sums up our candidate's fatal flaw. He is constitutionally incapable of delivering this line as it needed to be delivered on a day when he absolutely, positively had to go on the offensive. You want to make the media pay attention? You want to put your opponent back on his heels? You want to get this thing off the Palin personality and onto the issues? You want to get the American voter to see you as a fighter? You don't say "I don't blame John McCain for this," you say: "We can blame this unfolding economic nightmare on Senator McCain's economic philosophy. It's in the marrow of his bones, it is in the very fabric of his party, and it is why they continue to claim that everything is just swell. They are in denial, and it is a dangerous denial."

Tomorrow's headline: "Obama says McCain in Denial," and suddenly we're not talking about frickin' lipstick on pigs any longer.

The fictional character Ms. Huffington used to launch her critique of Obama was a white dude. The fact that she appropriately chose other fictional characters who were black to reinforce her point does not in any way make what she said a racial critique. In fact if we really want to get into how meaningless racial dynamics are to this discussion, let's just look at one of those pivotal moments in presidential debate history where the black guy journalist asked the white candidate how he'd react if his wife had been raped. The race of neither man mattered in that case. What mattered was the utter wimpiness of the Dukakis response when the moment called for some righteous anger, be it modeled on Mr. Finch or Mr. Tibbs. Arrianna was dead-on in her critique of Obama, which could serve as a critique of most Democratic candidates for office for the last quarter century. Some DLC hack has whispered in their ears that the American people don't like anger. Meanwhile the party of angry white guys has accumulated untold power over our politics and our public discourse. Please save your racial analysis for an academic paper. We have a very important election to win, and if Obama doesn't show some of this righteous anger in the debate next week, he's losing. We're losing--every ebony and ivory one of us.

Lifelong Sox fan here (that's Red not White), and I'm here to say it's been an absolute honor to root against Jeter all these years. Not just a terrific player but a classy one as well, and any Sox fan of long standing who endured watching the Bronx Boors of Mickey Rivers, Thurman Munson, Reggie Jackson, and Nut Case Deluxe Billy Martin fame rule over our world have to admit it's been a tremendous relief to go up against an opponent who combines talent and respect for the game as beautifully as Jeter.

From Charles Taylor's profile of Newman:

"Newman's biggest hits, 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid' (1969) and 'The Sting' (1973) both of them directed by George Roy Hill and both of them stinkers, gave a hint of how Newman's cockiness might have become schtick. Because the roles are little more than winks and smiles directed at his co-star, Robert Redford, Newman couldn't bring them the conviction he managed for 1967's 'Cool Hand Luke,' an equally phony movie that was also a big hit."

Why does the fact that most of us go to movies for pure enjoyment never seem to register with critics? Is it that they just plain and simply resent the "big hits" because it intrudes on their exclusive enjoyment of certain talents? If you can't sit in the dark and enjoy watching Butch & Sundance, The Sting, and Cool Hand Luke, is it any wonder that you have to be paid to go to the movies?

"At night, when all the world's asleep,

the questions run so deep

for such a simple man.

Won't you please, please tell me what we've learned

I know it sounds absurd

but please tell me who I am."

--The Logical Song

I love everyone trying to read logic into what McCain's going to do next. If you can't tell by now, this whole campaign is going to end up with him rolling marbles around in his hand and yelling about the missing strawberries. No it doesn't make sense for him to drop Pailin, but it didn't make sense for him to pick her either. Or to declare the economy fundamentally strong. Or to suspend a campaign and skip a debate and then do neither. Could Straight-Jacket John McCain dump the moose lady and throw yet another Hail Mary to Lieberman or Ridge...or the Jebster. Of course he can, folks. That's who he is. This is what he does.

Bonus prediction, the Downs Syndrome baby will need mommy's attention on Thursday morning so the debate will have to be called off. Expect anything and everything from these zombies right up until the polls close. And, please, stop trying to be logical about it!

As a Red Sox fan, I must jump in here to defend the Angels. Whatever percentage of their 100 wins came against inferior teams is totally irrelevant to this discussion, which is about Angels versus Red Sox. Head-to-head this year, they just killed the Sox. Although I missed all their games against the A's, Mariners and Rangers, I watched all their games against the Sox, and I can tell you that the only chance the Sox have rests on this hoary, old axiom: the playoffs are a new season.