Farhad demonstrates EXACTLY the problem with journalists today: they fall in "wuvvvv" with the candidates.

"But McCain, he's so handsome, and he *seems* so sweet and honest-ish . . . Not like that geeky Kerry guy (just don't like the cut of his jibe), not like that boring Al Gore, not like that absolutely icky Mr. Nader (could you imagine kissing him???). Or, my goodness, the fruit-cake with the scream, what's his name, Howard something or other (Howard! Ughh... That is just such a gay name)..."

So good to know it's not about the issues, Farhad. 'Cause it's not like McCain has found any political expedience in getting on the immigration thing, being a Senator from illegal-immigrant heavy Arizona and all. And cracking down on soft-money? Surely a principaled stand from a guy who knows just exactly how those kind of illegal finance things work (that his law just so happens to destroy Democratic fund-raising efforts without impacting Republicans is surely a well-meaning accident).

But, yeah, McCains's cute. It's understandable how a libby little writer-boy could get a crush on the man. Especially when he does that cute little eye-roll thing that says, "Yeah, sure, I just broke-bread with a Jew-hating fundy, and I helped a coked-up wingnut win the whitehouse, but c'mon.... I'm a good guy. Vote for me, and I'll let you ride in my bus."

Just do us one favor, Farhad -- before you settle down in Mr. Big's Lap on the Bullshit Express, remember what kind of pilot he was in Vietnam. His best skill? Intercepting enemy missiles with his fuselage. (No wonder the guy graduated last at the academy.)

So have a nice ride, keep an eye out for the incoming, and don't forget to wipe the lipstick off your collar before you come back to the Mrs. M.

~

Note to previous poster about the red stars:

Red Stars are given out by space aliens, according to Broadsheet writer Lynn Harris, who also frequently receives more of them than her readers. One wonders: is this confirmation that Joan Walsh really does come from Pluto?

We report. You decide.

This is what we want from Salon. IT should be front page now. Bush authorized CIA leak via Cheney to Scooter to Miller. GET IT ON YOUR FRONT PAGE NOW SALON.

This is REAL news. I am waiting to see how the leaker-in-chief wriggles out of this one. Did Clinton make him do it?

That's it. That's the story. He did it and he lied about it. He pretended he didn't know who did it. But IT WAS HIM.

Just like Nixon. Just like Clinton. But more serious. He lied during a war.

That is the message.

Now let's get it out there loud and clear so the toothless red-state Jesus-freaks and their inbred relatives can digest it.

We don't need 800 pages of detailed legal jingo. We got a very simple story. The president lied so he could start a war, and he leaked to cover it up, and then he lied and lied and leaked and leaked and lied and leaked . . .

That is the story folks. Lies like a dog. Leaks like a Soviet commode.

Keep it simple. Pound it home.

AND IMPEACH THE MOTHERFUCKER

"There's a social hierarchy at Duke, and they're at the top," explains O'Sullivan. "They must have such a feeling of power."

Her friend Katie Brehm, also a sophomore, chimes in, "But we give them that power. Why do we look up to them?"

"Because they're hot!" says Julia Blessing, a sophomore from Ann Arbor, Mich. "And they have, like, the best parties."

BASICALLY:

10: Women worship jocks

20: Jocks gain power

30: Jocks abuse women

40: GOTO 10

Anyone surprised that MIT does not have these problems?

Can these guys not lift their lips from the POTUS cock for just five minutes to report a real story?

All they got to do is publish the AP wire. They don't even have to write or edit.

For that, we have Joe (thankfully)

Public breastfeeding is tasteless to some, abortion tasteless to other. So what.

The fact is that information markets such as betting pools are excellent ways to gather real-world data. Witness the stock market. This was the idea behind gambling on future terror attacks. Which was shot down with equally worthless objections. As if our current military actions are in better taste.

Anyway, if we could have betting pools on crimes everyone would win -- even the folks betting on zero in this case.

See "The Wisdom of Crowds" by James Surowiecki for more info.

Gold is not at a 25 year high in real terms. And it makes no sense to think a dollar from 1980 is worth the same as a dollar today.

So, gold is at a 12 year high in real terms. Which is not half as big a deal.

Anyone, I'd call gold for $1000/ounce by year end.