Rather than doing yet another column on this, I will simply direct you to my latest column at Pajamas Media. While there may have been many lessons to learn from the attacks, the biggest and most painful lesson I took from it was about myself and my own personal shortcoming.

As a child, one of the more amusing and yet disturbingly frightening characters for me in the cartoon pantheon was Superman’s strange doppelganger from the Bizarro world. This image is what finally helped to identify something which has been tugging at the back of my mind for nearly two weeks; I finally remembered where it was that I’d seen Sarah Palin before. It was the 2004 Democratic presidential convention, only at that time she was a tall, lanky black man with a funny-sounding name. If you...

John McCain the anti-lobbyist guy? John McCain the change Washington guy? That’s like saying Mitt Romney the bald guy. That’s like Barack Obama the fat guy. That quote comes to us from MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow during her introduction to an interview with Bob Barr. The Congressman was invited on the show to discuss the response of the McCain – Palin campaign to the Fannie and Freddie bailout, as detailed in their joint op-ed in the Wall Street Journal. Observe the emphasized portions. Treasury...

Apparently some of the rumors running around are true. Ron Paul is going to make a “major announcement” tomorrow. His presidential campaign may be ended, (except in Montana where the Constitution Party has conscripted him as their candidate without so much as a by-your-leave) but he still seems to be mixing things up in the final weeks of the election. I just contacted Bob Barr’s campaign manager, Russ Verney, and he confirmed that something is in the wind, pointing me to this piece...

Everyone is out there searching for “the real Sarah Palin.” I say, why restrict ourselves to only one Palin? Check out the proposal in the video below. Hey… why not? If there’s anything in the political arena more attractive than Monty Python, I want it found and beaten with a wrench immediately. Or perhaps put in the comfy chair and poked with soft cushions.

If I may, I would like to take a moment to interrupt your normal rage of righteous indignation over this or that with a brand new entry in the “Why On Earth Would You Say That?” competition. Out on the campaign trail once again, Democratic Vice Presidential nominee Joe Biden took time out to say, I hear all this talk about how the Republicans are going to work in dealing with parents who have both the joy, because there’s joy to it as well, the joy and the difficulty of raising...

Today we’ll be doing a bit of an ad hoc show on Mid Stream Radio. (For one hour starting at 1:00 pm eastern, Noon central or 10:00 am pacific.) In the first half, we’ll find out if there is any possibility that people would be willing to pay more taxes and accept less services from the government if it would result in our generation leaving a better future for those who come after us. (Good luck with that, I know.) We’ll also do a roundup in the second half of all the latest Sarah...

Yes, I talk to my cats. I point this out because after reading the title of this piece and the modest proposal to follow, many of you will likely suspect that the author is some sort of deranged recluse hiding out in a third floor, cold water walk-up, subsisting on a diet of bread fried in fatback and three gallons of Thunderbird per week who talks to his cats all day. Actually, I live in a single family home in the suburbs. And while my diet is certainly enough give most doctors conniptions, it’s...

As the New York Times reports, MSNBC is showing Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews the door in terms of election news coverage. Reactions to the announcement were as swift and varied as the responses the pair elicited from their fans and detractors on a daily basis. John Aravosis expressed disgust, saying that the network “fell for the Republican’s crap about ‘bias’ [and] caved in to the Republicans.” Ed Morrissey wondered if they “finally just [got] tired of these two credibility killers?”...

One of my Friday predictions failed to come true this morning. I expected Joe Biden to show up on Meet the Press and open up with a zinger along the lines of, “since I’m apparently the only one running for Vice President who talks to the press…” But he didn’t. Joe Biden is facing the problem of the young lion. I still have a vivid memory of a nature show on cable where a yearling lion discovered a tortoise wandering near the shore. The lion leaps to the attack, but the...

Sunday is a day for God, church and spiritual reflection, so it is with some regret that I am forced to admit it: Campaign 2008 has turned me into a soulless monster. (Well, perhaps that should properly read, “more of a soulless monster…”) I watched with some dismay as the country spent months focusing on Barack Obama’s church in Chicago and, specifically, his highly controversial and inflammatory pastor, Jeremiah Wright. It didn’t so much annoy me that Wright was singled out for criticism...

SEE THE UPDATE BELOW: It is now claimed that the story below resulted from a some dirty tricks and the flags were destined for other events, but stolen. UPDATE AGAIN: Sources from Fox News (Yes… I know) are disputing the claims in the update and say that the flags were definitely found “stored” in Hefty Bags “near a dumpster.” Odd storage if true, but apparently the game is afoot on this one. Here is a picture from the Denver Post (with a hat tip to Hot Air) which I...

It has been noted by some that there have been a plethora of items here about Sarah Palin and not much else. I’m clearly guilty of the same sin of omission, but not for lack of searching. It’s just that not only does the entire country seem focused on the fresh, red meat of the Alaskan Governor, but the Democratic ticket doesn’t seem to be doing very much of note this week. (And I plan to examine why today.) Granted, Obama did talk to senior citizens about Social Security and scare...

As we march on through day nine of the Sarah Palin Cone of Silence Watch, my old friend Ed Morrissey has offered to share a recent Fox News piece, featuring Greta van Susteren, which purports to highlight a few of the various aspects of Palin’s background which speak to her experience and readiness to possibly lead our nation. I dislike nitpicking with Ed, but we do it enough over the body politic that I’ve learned to live with the occasional eye-twitching and skin rashes which sometimes...

And let’s face it, she has some experience in this area. In fact, Sarah Palin has apparently made some major changes in the way Sarah Palin does business, and has done so in only six months. Buried at the very end of this Washington Post article on Palin’s somewhat-dubious history as a champion in fighting the “old boys network” regarding pork-barrel spending comes this little-noted statistic. In February, Palin’s office sent Sen. [Ted] Stevens a 70-page memo outlining...

Just today, for one of the few brief minutes we got to see Sarah Palin in public, John McCain enthusiastically related the story of how she took the former Governor’s plane and sold it on e-bay “and she made a profit on it.” Apparently… not so fast. One of the compelling anecdotes about Sarah Palin is that she auctioned off the Alaska governor’s jet on eBay after taking office — a swift move made by a reformer hoping to clean up the excesses of her predecessor. But...

Sometimes I really hate it when I’m right. Particularly when it only takes a few hours to pan out. Earlier, I wrote the following: Sarah Palin will eventually show up for such questioning, but she’s going to look much more tired and haggard. It won’t be from the rigors of the campaign trail, though. Word will leak out from the McCain campaign that Palin is spending 14 hour sessions with a series of wonks drilling her on matters around the globe like a high school student cramming the week...

Rumors are slowly crystallizing into confirmed reports when it comes to the dating phase of America’s relationship with Sarah Palin. Following our brief introductions, this particular shiddach will apparently be overseen by Team McCain adhering to ancient traditions – there will be no future dates without strict chaperones in attendance and the conversations will be passed through the mothers. Should we wish to know anything further about the Alaska Governor, the campaign team will define what...

Earlier, Joe mentioned the massive television ratings for Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s speech last night. This is a similar situation to the also-huge ratings for Sen. Barack Obama’s speech in Denver last week. Today it crosses my mind that this can be a double-edged sword for both of these politicians. September is traditionally when a larger number of Americans finally begin paying attention to the election (as opposed the the politically-obsessed loons you find haunting the corridors...

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One of the often annoying aspects of MSNBC’s production team is their cutaways following news segments as they go to commercial. They will usually cut to some sort of external panning shot, bring up some music and stay on that for an uncomfortably long time before actually cutting away. This habit wound up reaping some unexpected rewards recently, as NBC Political News Director Chuck Todd was interviewing a panel which included conservative columnist Peggy Noonan. During the panel discussion...

Sorry for the short notice, but we’ll be rushing on the air with Mid Stream Radio at 11:00 am eastern this morning with some live floor reports from the GOP convention and analysis of the Sarah Palin speech from myself, Cindy, and our very own Shaun Mullen. We might even get Ron Beasley on the air if we’re lucky.

John McCain has swung away from the current media circus and hit some of the key notes which should be the focus of voters this year, particularly in Michigan where this ad is running. Energy independence and relating it to security. This is the bread and butter of the McCain campaign and he needs to be doing more of this.

Via Hot Air (believe it or not) how Sarah Palin may have wound up as the running mate. NOTE: Parental warning: Some adult language SECOND NOTE: Just in case it was needed, apparently, this is a comedy clip. Satire incoming.

It’s a different time nearly every day, since we have to keep up with the shifting schedule on the floor there, but Cindy and I will take to the airwaves at 2 pm eastern today with yet another edition of Mid Stream Radio as Cindy reports to us live from St. Paul. She’s been catching the speeches, roping in some interview candidates and is currently attending a blogger luncheon with Joe Scarborough. (I asked her to throw some Cheetos at him for me.) We’ll be covering all that, as...