The ludicrous clothing bill these people ran up gives the lie to any pretense of being part of the "real America" they may want to display.

Then again, isn't this what real Republicans are all about? Looting the treasury (any convenient treasury will do, apparently) while claiming to "look out for the little guy"?

I know, I know, it's long past the "wake up, America" time - still, it bears repeating: These people will say and do anything to appease the gullible while enriching themselves at others' expense.

And now that I think about it, it does make perfect sense that a looter like Palin would be the running mate of a guy who has to ask his staff how many houses he owns.

So? Unions were formed to protect workers - the plumbers and such that Palin fraudulently claims to speak for.

People like "ideefixed" (how utterly revelatory) seem to think that everyone other then them ought to work for free, for the privilege of being allowed in the same room as the object of his one-handed typing. They are wrong, of course.

Oh, and "ideefixed" - next time you browbeat a waiter, as I'm sure you often do, remember that it's rarely a good idea to be unpleasant to the person who's bringing you your food...

Aren't they the people who always said that if you have nothing to hide, there's no need to worry?

So Sam Wuerzelbacher has a few things to hide - his unlicensed (and therefore illegal) operation, his tax evasion, the fact that he was contacted in advance and is thus a plant - we're all supposed to overlook those things, because he's a "real American".

Well, I'm a real American too. And people like him, McCain, and Palin disgust me. They represent the basest aspect of humanity, distilled to its essence. And the stench of that essence is overpowering.

Rove is a swine - on his good days. Still, this was pointless, doomed to fail, and there is no chance that it would even evoke sympathetic responses from most liberals.

Leave the hollow theater to the TSA. Code Pink, knock it off. You want to do something useful, get yourselves down to your local Obama field office for GOTV calls.

The guy is so transparently phony (robotic, even) that he would not have helped as a running mate, even if he could have gotten along with McCain for the duration of the campaign, let alone a four-year term. They hate each other. And from the voters' responses to Willard during the primary season, they're none too fond of him either.

Willard is done. McCain is close to done. Palin will be lucky to be a footnote in four years.

It's the Republican way. Oddly enough, in truly trying economic times, it seems to play less well.

Who knew?

In fact, for a while I lived in a neighborhood in St. Paul where I saw him out & about regularly.

An amazing bundle of energy, with class and integrity for days, and he always took the time to say "hello" to just about anyone.

In fact, I got a call to work coverage of his plane crash - I could not do it. I was far too stunned, and could not have carried through.

I will also never forgive Norman Coleman for popping up every day to "remind" us that he was not campaigning during the sad days between the crash and the funeral, nor for saying he felt himself to be "99% more effective" shortly after taking office.

That a man of Wellstone's caliber was replaced by someone like Norman Coleman is the most galling part of the tragedy. That can be rectified in a few days.

Vote. Vote as though your nation depends on it. It does.

Anyone who would buy into her hysterical rant is already disinclined to vote for Obama.

And anyone who is "on the fence" and a thinking person would never be persuaded by the "you'll go to hell" argument.

We really have gone through the looking glass if that's the case. And if so, let's begin with the hedge funds.

Someone named "eastside93" (real name Boyd Reed) tells a good story about his voting booth experience:

http://tinyurl.com/5k8yfz

Norman was the guy who wanted the appointed Dean Barkley to step aside early in 2002 so he could take his seat early and pick up some seniority. The arrogance of Quimby is unparalleled in the state of MN.

Here's hoping Norman loses - by under 100 votes, just to make it really, really sting - after the recount is official. Then we'll be rid of the slimeball and that's what rally matters.