MSNBC's Phill Griffin answers his own question (County Fair, Media Matters for America)
Addressing students at Vassar College, the cabler chief bemoaned "the parlous condition of traditional news media," according to a local newspaper account. Griffin also informed the students that, looking back on the historic 2008 campaign, Sarah Palin ""made this election." We're pretty sure there's a connection between those two points.

The Agony of the Women of 2008 (video, thanks to InsightAnalytical)
Men pontificate on the role of women in the 2008 presidential election.—Caro

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The Song of Our New ObamaNation: The Bitch Deserved It (by madamab at The Confluence)

Most people in this country do not know how explicitly misogynistic Barack Obama’s campaign was. They don’t have time to sit at the computer and read The Daily Kos, or Talking Points Memo, or The Huffington Post. They didn’t read the vile, endless hatred spewed at women by Obama’s supporters. They believe the lovely stories spun by the corporate media: that Obama was saintly and above all negativity and “unifying,” while his opponents rolled around in dirt. And even when Obama or his surrogates did or said something overtly misogynistic, the media either did not cover it, or excused it. After all, the bitch deserved it. Read more…

The Black Agenda Report

Emanuel Sets A Challenge (Wall Street Journal)
President-elect Barack Obama's incoming White House chief of staff challenged chief executives and other business leaders Tuesday night to join the new administration in a push for universal health care, saying incremental increases in coverage won't be acceptable. "When it gets rough out there, a lot of business leaders get out of the car and say, 'We're OK with minor reform.' I'm challenging you today, we're going to have to do big, serious things," Rahm Emanuel said, speaking to The Wall Street Journal's CEO Council, a conference convened to elicit corporate opinion on the challenges facing the new president.
So Obama’s refusal to endorse a universal plan during the primary was just a way to diss Hillary? I am SO surprised. Nevertheless, I do think it’s a good thing to be talking universal, and to be persuading business leaders instead of just bowing to the right wing.—Caro Read more…

Three weeks without a computer has provided a much needed respite from the soul-shattering experience that has been this year’s election. I spent a lifetime under the misapprehension that people wanted to know the unvarnished truth about current events, and thirsted for access to that information. I was wrong. Dead wrong. What I have found out is that, in reality,

Most of the people
WANT TO BE FOOLED
most of the time. Read more…

This is for those who say I’m too hard on Obama:
Lynnwood Blog

After Dedicating Crass Song to McCain/Palin, Jay-Z to Rally Obama Supporters in Ohio (by Jake Tapper at Political Punch, ABC News)
The Obama campaign announced today that Jay-Z and NBA star LeBron James will hold a "Last Chance for Change" concert in Cleveland next Wednesday. The announcement about Jay-Z comes a few days after he dedicated his 2003 song "99 Problems" to Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. The lyrics to "99 Problems" include the famous line: "If you're havin' girl problems I feel bad for you son / I got 99 problems but a bitch ain't one."
Yes, and that was the song Obama played at his Iowa victory rally—thereby calling Hillary Clinton a bitch.—Caro Read more…

Which of These Two Mama's Boys Are You Going to Vote For? (by Jake Tapper at Political Punch, ABC News)
Writing in the Wall Street Journal [Wednesday], Sue Shellenbarger quotes Doug Wead, author of two books on presidential families, noting that both Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Barack Obama, D-Ill., fit a certain presidential pattern of "Mama's boys with absent fathers who were perceived by the sons as high achievers." Obama's tale is more complicated, because in addition to being abandoned by his father, Barack Obama Sr., at the age of two, his mother also left Obama Jr. in the care of her parents while she went off gallivanting around the world… Do you need to have grown up in a dysfunctional home, without the love of two parents, in order to become a successful presidential candidate?
Come to think of it, the current President Bush is also a mama’s boy with an absent father.—Caro Read more…

Presenting: the 23/6 cheap-ass Halloween costume (23/6)
Stuck for a costume idea this Halloween? Worry no longer. All you need is a pair of scissors, a piece of string, and an overweening disregard for evolution and birth control. It's the official23/6 Scary Mask, and it's available for download, absolutely free! Click [here] to download a PDF, suitable for wearing, framing or setting on fire.
Provided as a public service, since the Halloween mask makers weren’t able to get Sarah masks out in time. But honestly, she’s less scary to me than Barack.—Caro

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Matt Davies

MEDIA ALERT: Prophet Yahweh Predicts Spaceships Will Appear Oct. 31st in Support of Senator Obama
Prophet Yahweh, Seer of Yahweh, Master UFO Caller says that on October 31, 2008, superhuman black men, from other planets, will appear in their spaceships and hover over his UFO Summoning School for three days as a sign that all Americans should vote for Obama as President.

Obama to travel to see ill grandmother Read more…

Racist GOP mailing depicts Obama surrounded by KFC, watermelon, and food stamps. (Think Progress)
A local California GOP women’s organization’s most recent newsletter claims that if Obama is elected, his face will appear on food stamps, rather than dollar bills like other presidents. The group then included a picture of “Obama Bucks” — a phony $10 bill with Obama surrounded by racist imagery:

The president of the organization, Diane Fedele, didn’t understand the charges of racism: “I didn’t see it the way that it’s being taken. I never connected. It was just food to me.” One African-American member of the club said that upon seeing the newsletter, she “cried for 45 minutes.” “This is what keeps African-Americans from joining the Republican Party,” she added.
Remember when the Conventional Wisdom was that Obama was a better candidate for the Democrats than Hillary because they would attack her on a lot of nonexistent stuff and no one would dare attack Obama on race? And remember that the nonexistent stuff attacks on Hillary came from the so-called left, and not the right?—Caro Read more…

DISTURBING MUSIC RAP VIDEO (by Lynette Long)
I have thought long and hard about posting this video because it is so disturbing. The blatant disrespect it shows toward women, not just Republican women, is alarming. It saddens me that not only are women not outraged by this video but participate in this. Again I feel frustrated by the silence that envelopes the womens groups that are supposed to protect all women not just Democratic women. The task for equality seems impossible at times. Stand tall women. Stand with me.
Dr. Long’s video link is broken. See below.—Caro

Drill Baby Drill (video) Read more…

Third-party candidates to debate on Sunday (McClatchy)
WASHINGTON — Third-party presidential candidates finally will have their own debate: at 8 p.m. Sunday at Columbia University in New York.
For REAL change.—Caro

Gaming A New Platform For Political Ads; Obama Ad Shows Up On Xbox (Paid Content)

We're being bombarded with political ads on TV and radio, but now, video games? Ads for presidential hopeful Barack Obama have turned up in the Xbox Live racing game, Burnout Paradise, GamePolitics.com first reported and GigaOm confirmed. The in-game ad takes its form as a billboard—complete with Obama's photo and a plug for VoteForChange.com—featured in the backdrop of one of the levels, and GameSpot confirms it will appear in 10 states: Ohio, Florida, Iowa, Colorado, Indiana, Montana, North Carolina, New Mexico, Nevada, and Wisconsin. Read more…

“Let me make it clear at the outset that I have no intention of following instructions.”
– Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman, thanks to Economist’s View
Ditto. It’s the story of my life, and my ongoing commitment to myself and to you, my readers. I absolutely will not follow instructions.—Caro

U.S. Investing $250 Billion in Banks (New York Times)
The Treasury Department, in its boldest move yet, is expected to announce a plan on Tuesday to invest up to $250 billion in banks... The United States is also expected to guarantee new debt issued by banks for three years — a measure meant to encourage the banks to resume lending to one another and to customers... And the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation will offer an unlimited guarantee on bank deposits in accounts that do not bear interest — typically those of businesses.

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Wrapped in the Flag

Prime Minister Proposes $500 Billion European Bank Bailout (Wall Street Journal)
U.K. to Rescue RBS, HBOS, as Germany Plans Up to €400 Billion to Aid its Institutions; U.S. Is Considering Similar Moves Read more…

Matt Davies

THE FALL OF AMERICA, INC. (by Francis Fukuyama, writing in Newsweek)
The implosion of America's most storied investment banks. The vanishing of more than a trillion dollars in stock-market wealth in a day. A $700 billion tab for U.S. taxpayers. The scale of the Wall Street crackup could scarcely be more gargantuan. Yet even as Americans ask why they're having to pay such mind-bending sums to prevent the economy from imploding, few are discussing a more intangible, yet potentially much greater cost to the United States—the damage that the financial meltdown is doing to America's "brand." Read more…

From the debate: A 'look' at the candidates' words (On Politics, USA Today)
Courtesy of Janet Harris at Upstream Analysis, here are tag clouds that take the words used by the candidates at last night's debate in Nashville and "show" which ones they emphasized most:

Janet looks at the clouds and says McCain's "is full of nationalist/patriotic terms" while Obama's "seems mild by comparison, reflecting its mild-mannered speaker." Read more…

Why does MSNBC call Bill Ayers “Willie”? (County Fair, Media Matters for America)
Earlier today, MSNBC ran this chyron:

“Race gets personal: Willie Ayers & Keating 5 are latest topics on trail.” But Ayers’ name isn’t “Willie” Ayers, it’s “William” Ayers. Or “Bill” Ayers. Nobody calls him “Willie.” So what’s with MSNBC’s chyron? Maybe they were just trying to save space? No, that can’t be it - “Willie Ayers” takes up more screen real estate than “Bill Ayers.” Strange. Strange enough that we can’t help recall another “William” who became “Willie” during an election year: William J. Horton. Read more…

Amazon.com

Halloween masks, a barometer of election? (AP)
NEW YORK - The method is far from scientific, but Halloween stores are predicting the winner in the presidential election, and there's no exit polling needed -- only political mask sales. Halloween suppliers say sales of masks of presidential candidates have predicted the winner in the last several campaigns. So far, that's good news for Barack Obama, whose mask was outselling John McCain's in Spirit Halloween and iParty stores and online at Amazon and BuyCostumes.com. But this year's Halloween campaign has a dark horse: Sarah Palin. Because of her relatively late announcement as a vice presidential candidate, costume suppliers were unprepared. Read more…

McCain's Anger (Political Wire)
David Nather reports on Sen. Barack Obama's attempt [Wednesday] night to greet Sen. John McCain on the Senate floor by offering his hand. "McCain shook it, but with a 'go away' look that no one could miss. He tried his best not to even look at Obama. Finally, with a tight smile, McCain managed a greeting: 'Good to see you.'"
Yes, we should really be outraged about that! Obama has NEVER been rude to anybody on the Senate floor.—Caro

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Open Thread (by bluegal at Crooks and Liars)

This is your liberal blogosphere at work, my friends. Any woman who dares to run for high office is SCARY, SCARY, SCARY. The so-called progressives are PROUD of the fact that they’ve made Sarah Palin such an object of scorn that her approval rating has plummeted and her disapproval rating has skyrocketed. How many times have we fought George Bush for pushing the fear buttons of our citizens with his lies? So why, in goddess’ name, would we want to BECOME George Bush? And don’t try to tell me Obama isn’t responsible for some of the trashing of Sarah Palin.—Caro Read more…

Now THAT’s bipartisanship:
New York Times (click through to see the map and the roll call list)

House members who voted ‘yes’ on bailout received 54 percent more from banks/securities firms. (Think Progress)
According to research produced by MAPLight.org, House members who voted yes on the proposed bailout package received 54 percent more money from banks and securities than members who voted no… Democrats who voted yes received “an average of $212,700 each, about twice as much as those voting No, $107,993.” Republicans who voted yes “received an average of $273,181 each, 50% more than those voting No, $181,688.” Read more…

Conflict Of Interest? Report Says Goldman Sachs ‘Among Biggest Beneficiaries’ Of Paulson’s Bailout (Think Progress)

In making his push to administer the largest federal bailout of Wall Street in history, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is seeking unfettered authority. McClatchy poses the question today, “can you trust a Wall Street veteran with a Wall Street bailout?,” referring to Paulson, the former CEO of Goldman Sachs: “But the conflicts are also visible. Paulson has surrounded himself with former Goldman executives as he tries to navigate the domino-like collapse of several parts of the global financial market. And others have gone off to lead companies that could be among those that receive a bailout.” Read more…

Wrapped in the Flag

Paulson Bailout Plan a Historic Swindle (by William Greider, The Nation) Read more…

All Hat No Cattle

Up To $1 Trillion Needed to Prevent Meltdown (Political Wire)
"Congressional leaders said after meeting Thursday evening with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke that as much as $1 trillion could be needed to avoid an imminent meltdown of the U.S. financial system," according to Politico. According to Sen. Christopher Dodd, lawmakers were told last night "that we're literally maybe days away from a complete meltdown of our Read more…

Picking Winners by the Popularity of Paraphernalia (New York Times)
Longtime pollsters will tell you that predicting elections is a complex science built on years of population analysis and heady math. But according to CafePress.com, it is simply a matter of throw pillows.

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Matt Davies

Fed Gives AIG an $85 Billion Loan in Exchange for 80% Stake (by Mark Thoma at Economist’s View)
[T]he Fed is going to give AIG an $85 billion loan in exchange for an 80% stake in the company… So you as a taxpayer now have a large stake in AIG.
Now that we own it, can we turn it into a health insurance company and cover everybody?—Caro Read more…