New heights of stupidity  —  We're fighting multiple wars; our oldest and most established financial institutions are on the verge of collapse; we've fundamentally transformed and then dismantled our constitutional framework over the last eight years, etc. etc.

McCain Camp Sees An Insult in a Saying  —  Obama Called Policies ‘Lipstick on a Pig’  —  Sen. Barack Obama said yesterday that Sen. John McCain's claim that he will shake up Washington after agreeing with President Bush for so long is like “putting lipstick on a pig” …

Apology Not Accepted  —  Back in 2000, after John McCain lost his mostly honorable campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, he went about apologizing to journalists—including me—for his most obvious mis-step: his support for keeping the confederate flag on the state house.

As Campaign Heats Up, Untruths Can Become Facts Before They're Undone  —  From the moment Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin declared that she had opposed the infamous “Bridge to Nowhere,” critics, the news media and nonpartisan fact checkers have called it a fabrication or, at best, a half-truth.

Russell Brand pulled Sarah Palin electric chair jokes at VMA  —  Russell Brand was forced to cut jokes about Sarah Palin sending her own daughter to the electric chair when he presented the MTV Video Music Awards, he has said.  —  The British comedian appeared to annoy celebrities and some fans …

Palin bounce has Democrats off balance  —  Some fear Obama's more aggressive tone could enhance her appeal among white, blue-collar voters.  —  The emergence of Sarah Palin as a political force in the presidential race has left many top Democrats fretting that, just two weeks …

Warned by the Court  —  A judge repeatedly told Palin and family not to badmouth her sister's ex  —  An Anchorage judge three years ago warned Sarah Palin and members of her family to stop “disparaging” the reputation of Alaska State Trooper Michael Wooten, who at the time was undergoing …

My Fair Veep  —  The rain in Spain stays mainly in the Arctic plain ...  I hope John McCain doesn't throw his slippers at Sarah Palin's head or get as acerbic as Henry Higgins did with Eliza Doolittle when she did not learn quickly enough.  McCain's Pygmalion has to be careful …

Fresh blood for the vampire  —  A beady-eyed McCain gets a boost from the charismatic Sarah Palin, a powerful new feminist — yes, feminist! — force.  Plus: Obama must embrace his dull side.  —  Rip tide!  Is the Obama campaign shooting out to sea like a paper boat?

DC Handwringing  —  If I had my way I would be in Utica, New York right now.  —  When we first discussed where to put the Clinton campaign's headquarters I half-seriously argued for Utica, on the theory that the further away from Washington, D.C. we were, the better off we would be.

From the Gut  —  If John McCain can win this election race with a 50-pound ball called “George W. Bush” wrapped around one ankle and a 50-pound ball called “The U.S. Economy” wrapped around the other, then he deserves to represent America in the next Olympics in any race he wants — swimming …