OK, so we have just spent over two months watching video after video of John McCain, Sarah Palin, Baghdad Bounds, InsHannity, O'Really? and a slew of other allegedly God-fearing Christians look straight into the camera and tell one lie after another. Sometimes twice in one bloody sentence.

Am I hallucinating, or aren't these the same people who fought to have the Ten Commandments installed in public buildings just a few years back? It makes me yearn for those heady times of my youth, when Christian Conservatives actually strove to "poison our minds with the truth".

I'm sorry, but here is no asterisk next to the Ninth Commandment* that says
*unless you're a Republican.

In a rare admission of the truth, the CIA Factbook admits that the hard-working "real" Americans in the lower 80% of the economy have been utterly ferkakdeh since the late 70's:

... in which those at the bottom lack the education and the professional/technical skills of those at the top and, more and more, fail to get comparable pay raises, health insurance coverage, and other benefits. Since 1975, practically all the gains in household income have gone to the top 20% of households.

So how's that trickle down workin' for ya Joe?

Too funny. When are these people going to be on Letterman? Monday night would be good.

If this is how they run a campaign, imagine how they'd run the government:

She said McCain staffers wouldn't tell her why she was being asked to leave and when she got outside, she saw "a group of about 20 people" who had all been asked to leave. Elborno said even McCain supporters were among those being asked to leave. "I saw a couple that had been escorted out and they were confused as well, and the girl was crying, so I said 'Why are you crying? and she said 'I already voted for McCain, I'm a Republican, and they said we had to leave because we didn't look right,'"

I bet she is wishing she could have that vote back right about now.

It's a bad day in McCainsville.

McCain Adviser Holtz-Eakin Pulls Out of Tech Debate - Due to 'Scheduling Conflict,'
Only To Appear On MSNBC Instead

Joe-the No-Show in Ohio:

John McCain Would Like to Place an Order for 4,000 Supporters... For Delivery, Yes

The Economist endorses Barack Obama "wholeheartedly"

WARNING: Choking Hazard - do not eat or drink while viewing.

 Palin commits a political sin in an interview with ABC when she began answering a question that started "If you lose on Tuesday ..."

She went on to discuss a run in 2012 and trashed any idea that she wants Alaska to be her home again - setting her sights directly on living with the east coast elite anti-Americans in Washington DC.

Sorry John, you're next on the trophy wall.

Are you better off than you were 8 years ago?

the American meltdown is affecting politics well beyond it's borders:

Largely unnoticed, there was an attempted coup d'état of sorts in Europe last week. Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, let it be known that he wants to remain in his role of "president of Europe" for another year.

More in the FT...

Does McCain have a gambling buddy in China?

Seems that over $265,000 in recent campaign contributions may be linked to a Chinese company with gambling interests in Vegas and Macau.

The circumstances surrounding Hao's sudden and prolific political activism are curious and his whereabouts unclear. His name isn't listed on property records or the mailbox at the unassuming tract home listed on his donations. Hao lives "overseas," insisted a man who answered the door at the Roselle home recently.

Ignorance and its reliable follower Fear are the only legs the McCain campaign has left to stand on. So if Obama can break down the ignorance tonight, the fear will subside while people discuss what they learned with family & friends before they vote on Tuesday. And this Rovian McCain campaign will fall flat on its face.

But since this will effectively be his only shot at the large portion of the American public who haven't shown up at one of his mega-rallies, or watched the debates, Obama better take more than a little guidance from Ronald Reagan's stunningly effective speech on the economy in 1981.

Succinct points, made graphically and with direct, unembellished prose, which were easy to understand. Realworld comparisons to things that viewers could relate to instantly.  And charts, don't forget the charts.

Leave the soaring rhetoric for the very end. Because when these people who, after months of campaigning, are still undecided vote, they only want to be shown what you are going to do for them and their wallets - not the country.

What no duct tape?

"If you just have a plastic bag and a packet of tissues, that will make a big difference"

A Japanese government report, issued Oct. 28, stating the biggest challenge facing Tokyo residents after its next catastrophic earthquake will be the city's acute lack of public toilets
.

what is the world coming to?

"Elitism may be annoying, but the mob is dangerous."
In Defense of Elitism
By Tucker Carlson

Reality bites McPalin's sacred cow right on the teat.
What now?
ANWR 2070?!?

Slumping natural gas prices cut drilling plans in Texas
By Jim Fuquay |  Fort Worth Star-Telegram
The number of drilling rigs working in the Barnett Shale is holding steady for now, but most observers expect a drop of 10 to 20 percent in the next six months as producers trim their spending in response to plummeting natural gas prices.

Pray for Democratic landslide or the Rep. lawyers will have a field day starting Nov 5th...

30 Florida counties won't follow state's voter ID suggestion
Florida's Broward and Miami-Dade counties have announced that they will buck the state's recommendations for handling voters flagged by the controversial Florida Voter Verification Law on election day, streamlining the process to require less paperwork from challenged voters.

U.S. threatens to halt services to Iraq without troop accord.

When Dubya said he'd do everything he could to help elect John McCain, I guess he wasn't kidding around. They are most definitely looking to create some event that will surge votes for McCain.

First going bin-Laden hunting over in Pakistan's mountainous Whazzuppastan.
And now (finally) strong-arming the Iraqis after 5 long years of coddling to have an agreement by hmmmmm... I don't know,
Nov 3rd??

Reading about the latest round of McPalin attempts to label Barack Obama a socialist in order to claw back a few polling points, I can only sit here in Paris and chuckle at the inanity of it all.

Sadly, most people in the United States don't even understand what Socialism is or how diverse the different elements have become. Thinking only of Reagan's "Evil Empire' the now-defunct USSR, they do not know that some form of liberal social democracy is actually the type of government chosen by approaching a billion people all over Europe and in other strong democracies.

So, generally speaking, it is not a smear to be called a Socialist anywhere but in the USA.

Second, for all the fear of economic decline the term engenders in ignorant Americans, the EU's liberal social democracies are projected to generate a nominal GDP of over US$17 trillion this year, more than the United States. It is less per capita certainly, but if you've been say, to France, Sweden, Germany, or Norway with their 5 weeks vacation time, better K-12 schools, fine pre-natal-to-grave health care, excellent public transport systems and high-functioning infrastructure; you learn quickly that fewer Europeans than most Americans think would switch with them to live in the US.

Don't believe me.
Speaking of the depredations of unbridled capitalism, a very intelligent man once said:
"I am convinced there is only one way to eliminate these grave evils, namely through the establishment of a socialist economy, accompanied by an educational system which would be oriented toward social goals."
-- Albert Einstein, "Why Socialism?", Monthly Review: May, New York 1949

So, like calling Obama a Muslim, this too is no insult unless the listener isn't educated enough to understand what they are hearing is not a bad thing at all.

If artist Jorge Rodriquez-Gerada finishes his portrait of Obama on a beach in Barcelona, about 2.5 acres or so by Election Day.

To find it on Google Earth and watch the progress during the coming week, search for "Obama Portrait"  on GE or by entering the below coordinates:

Latitude:  41°24'19.84"N
Longitude: 2°13'15.41"E

Enjoy!