I know it's highly unlikely, but isn't it possible that she was wearing some kind of tiny earpiece or device in her glasses so McCain's handlers could tell her what to say? I imagine there's technology out there that's so small, it's unnoticeable even up close.

She seemed to do better when Biden had the question first. Obviously it's partly because she had an extra 90 seconds to think of an answer. But I noticed a few times during Biden's responses when there was a split-screen shot, she was furiously writing things down and even mouthing something like "ok, got it". Second, she had lots of statistics memorized. Maybe she just had a crib sheet.

I dunno. I just find the speed with which she delivered lots of memorized points highly suspicious, and would love for it to come out that she had plenty of "help" during the debate.

... is that to be effective, you first must have a shred of credibility behind it. By now, anyone with a pulse and operational frontal lobe knows the McCain campaign regularly plays fast and loose with the facts (not that the Obama campaign doesn't, but not NEARLY to the degree the McCain folks do). Thus, any claim they make is instantly fact-checked at one of the umpteen-thousand web sites that perform such services. Thus, with the narrative already being set, with every disingenuous ad and claim they make, they just dig themselves a deeper hole.

Keep 'em coming, Johnny & Sarah!

Sad that it takes a comedy show to be the sole mainstream voice of reason over the sheer absurdity of the GOP and Sarah Palin.

Watching professional newspeople have to pretend that her nomination was not a political stunt inspired by Barnum's axiom has been the most frustrating part of this process. It's political theater of the absurd. Thank you SNL for having the guts to point it out.

I'll be civil to Palin when she shows an ounce of humility and respect for the job she's applying for. Ya hey dere, ya' know? The Vice President of the United States of America is not an appropriate job for a provincial, anti-intellectual, polemic wing-nut. It doesn't matter that she's a woman. In fact, the most sexist aspect of her candidacy comes from people who are voting for the precise reason that she's attractive. That's all they can talk about over at Faux News - how hot their VP is. It's amazingly sexist.

But anyway, as other posters have noted, the entire GOP campaign has become one giant middle finger to anyone who doesn't subscribe to their myopic, simplistic, jingoistic worldview.

The only people Palin appeals to are people who have no idea how their government works, and what the VP even does. And she and McCain know it, and are doing everything they can to exploit it. That should infuriate anyone who gives a shit about this Country. Without irony, McCain and Palin lambaste greedy, manipulative lenders who took advantage of unsophisticated Joe Sixpacks, when their entire campaign is based on taking advantage of unsophisticated Joe Sixpacks.

We're supposed to be civil when this goes on? What planet do you live on?

I disagree with your premise that if it were a 7 game series, the Cubs would be down 3-0. A seven game series changes the entire mindset of a team. Unlike a 5 game series, losing the first game of a 7 gamer is not that big of a deal. Winning game 2 after you've lost game 1 is imperitive in a 5 game series, putting untold amounts of additional pressure on players. If the Cubs knew it was a 7 game series, they likely would have played more relaxed in game 2, rather than panicked. It's all speculation - but one thing is certain: you can't assume everything would have played out the same if the circumstances were different.

While I do think baseball's postseason is long enough, there is something inherently unfair about a 5 game series. Baseball has a 162 game season. Thus, a 5 game series represents 3% of the season. In football, the one game playoff represents 6% of the season. In basketball, the opening rounds are 7 games, representing 8% of the season.

In other words, a five game series in baseball is PARTICULARLY flukey, especially compared to other sports.

I think McCain and Palin think Joe Sixpack is a lot dumber than he is. The post-VP debate polls are showing Palin's cloying provincial routine didn't go over very well. Everyone just assumes that "average" Americans just lap up that pap. They don't.

Palin is telling Joe Sixpacks to band together and never again allow themselves to be manipulated by people seeking to take advantage of them. It's like Amy Winehouse warning a roomful of recovering addicts to stay away from bad influences, and then inviting them over. So they're taking her advice - by not allowing the StraightSmear Express to steal their vote.

Palin is sprouting off the kind of glassy-eyed, naive "optimism" that only a fundamentalist religious whacko can actually believe, and that only appeals to people with the intellectual maturity of 8 year olds:

America is perfect!

We are God's favorite country!

Obama is shady - just look at his name and a select few of the umpteen thousand people he knows!

He's dangerous - you can only trust white people like me and John McCain!

America is that shining city on a hill, with no discernable problems, just butterflies and lollipops and white children holding hands and singing while casting spells on the witches!

The really scary part? SHE ACTUALLY BELIEVES THIS NONSENSE!!! McCain is bright enough to realize it's a cynical last-ditch ploy to sway voters. Palin thinks it's true!