It is becoming increasingly clear that congressional Republicans are becoming merely television performers. Like Shannon Doherty they make occasional guest appearances on the air, she on the CW, they on FOX, CNN and MSNBC. Both are irrelevant to governmental affairs.

Notice that the Senate "Gang of Moderates" hit a Stimulus target that was $20 billion less than $800 billion, while the House bill was about $20 billion more than $800 billion. Expect a conference report right at $800 billion. Further the Senate bill has excessive tax cuts. Expect those to be cut back some. Overall $40 billion of the nearly $80 billion in education funding cuts will return.

A Better-Than-Nothing Bill

With Clinton getting State and an Obama McCain meeting set for Monday is the Defense Secretary's portfolio in McCain's future?

It was not picked up by the national media (not even TPM), but yesterday Sarah Palin unintentionally conceded the election. In an unscripted remark about her wardrobe Palin asserted that after the campaign she will be shopping in Anchorage, Alaska, not Washington, D.C.

The headline of Time magazine's latest poll results reads: "Poll: Obama Gains in States That Went for Bush". The poll was taken immediately after the Vice-Presidential debate, and since Obama gained ground on McCain, the led in the story helpfully explains that this is "a sign that last week's vice-presidential debate had little effect on voter opinion."

Wha, wha, what?

When the polls increase in one tickets favor doesn't that mean the voters like them better? When one side scores more points than the other isn't that a sign they are winning?

I know these guys thought Palin did a bang-up job last week--gave them star bursts in their pants and all that--but don't these polls show that they were just wrong?

McCain is playing with fire by going negative on the Obama campaign. When Joe Biden accepted the VP nomination he promised to release his medical records, but he has yet to do so.

I believe this is a tactical decision by the Obama camp. At any time they can roll out Biden's records and call for McCain's full medical and military records as well as Palin's medical records. Every Republican candidate for decades has released his medical and military records.

Days before the election, it will set voters to wondering what McCain and Palin are hiding if they do not release them.

Today on Meet the Press Democratic "strategist" Paul Begala reminded viewers that John McCain had been on the board of the U.S. Council for World Freedom, a racist, anti-semitic political advocacy group according to Begala. Begala immediately explained away McCain's leadership of this group as nothing voters need be concerned about.

Gee, thanks Paul. With friends like you doing the Republicans work... You know the rest.

Why are spines such a rarity in among the Democratic leadership? Offending your opponents is not a crime; it is kind of the point.

A story in the LA Times contains a couple of quotes that perhaps explains McCain's bizarre recent behavior. Last night in talking to Nancy Pelosi he told her that he wanted to help because, "Nothing is happening." At the Clinton Global Initiative today McCain said, "I cannot carry on a campaign as though... a solution were at hand."

Hours after McCain's statement to the CGI, Congressional leaders announced a solution.

It has been widely reported that McCain has many friends, but few allies in the Senate. In any case, it appears that he has been grossly misinformed about the true progress regarding the bail out bill in the Congress.

Perhaps the bill's status was exaggerated to him in order to get him on board or perhaps its status was exaggerated to force wavering Republicans on board.

In either case it appears that the Republicans kept their Presidential candidate in the dark during this crisis.

After the nomination of Sarah Palin and the recent assertion by fellow POW Phillip Butler that POWs have a reduced life expectancy, it is time to revisit the issue of John McCain's medical records. Up until now a handful of McCain-friendly reporters have merely peeked at the more than one thousand of pages of McCain's recent medical records.

The issue of McCain's health is becoming too important. It is way past time for him to make a full disclosure of his medical history.

According to a post by tristero on digby's Hulabaloo website, James Dobson explains in his book Adolescent Rebellion that the cause of teen pregnancy is parental neglect. My question for Dr. Dobson is: does Sarah Palin's family situation let other parents off the hook or are there different standards for important Republicans than for the rest of us?

On second thought, never mind, eight years of Bush-Cheney already answered that.

Which is worse for a Republican:
1) John McCain rigorously vetted his VP and purposefully added a teen pregnancy to his ticket or ...
2) he carelessly vetted his VP and inadvertently added a teen pregnancy to his ticket?

Hard to tell.

The worst aspect (from a Republican viewpoint) of the Palin pick is not that every editorial and news story mentions her youth and inexperience; it is that they all invariably remind us that John McCain is 72 years old and has been victim of a potentially fatal form of cancer on more than one occasion. Even McCain's campaign's manager Charlie Black released a statement saying most doctors believe McCain will survive his first term (emphasis mine).

This has been a topic that has been scrupulously avoided by the press. Both MSM and bloggers alike have treated the topic more gingerly than they have Obama's race: until now. With the Palin's selection apparently all bets are off.

Constant reminders of McCain's fragility can not be good news for McCain.

This may be one reason why Obama, Biden and even Clinton have responded so cordially to his choice.

Reporters have pounced on the negligible résumé of John McCain's VP pick, Alaskan Sarah Palin. Unfortunately few picked up on the fact that it is even more meager than it initially appears.

The only elective office she has ever held, other than her 20 months as Governor, is the mayor of Wasilla, Alaska. While many have referenced Wasilla's tiny size--it would more properly be classified a village rather than a town in any of the 45 more populous state--few have noted that the Mayor's office is largely a ceremonial position, similar to that of the Queen of England. The City Council is the real authority in Wasilla and, reading the Wasilla Municipal Code, it is apparent that the mayor is there to do their bidding.

Here are the first three (and presumably most important) duties of the mayor as listed in the Code:

1. Preside at council meetings. The mayor may take part in the discussion of matters before the council, but may not vote, except that the mayor may vote in the case of a tie;
2. Act as ceremonial head of the city;
3. Sign documents on behalf of the city;

Among the other duties of the mayor, as listed in the Code, are to "carry out the directives of the city council " and to "perform other duties required by law or by the council". By this and other language the Code makes clear where the authority for running the city lies in Wasilla, and it is not in the mayor's office.

The mayor's office is an ideal job for a Wasilla resident whose main or even only qualifacation is that she is well known such as a former high school basketball star or a former beauty queen.

It ought to concern citizens that if John McCain pulls a William Henry Harrison, that by this time next year we could have a President whose only valid experience is 20 months governing fewer people than the mayor of Austin, Texas.

(And don't even get me started on the judgement of a woman who would name one of her children after Roy Roger's horse.)