McCain camp criticism rife with errors  —  Sen. John McCain's top campaign aides convened a conference call today to complain of being called “liars.”  They pressed the media to scrutinize specific elements of Sen. Barack Obama's record.  —  But the call was so rife with simple …

Daddy doesn't know best  —  I've had more time to read the Dodd proposal — and it is a big improvement over the Paulson plan.  The key feature, I believe, is the equity participation: if Treasury buys assets, it gets warrants that can be converted into equity if the price of the purchased assets falls.

Ron Paul's Presidential Endorsement.  For Real, This Time.  —  Two weeks after his “third party alliance” press conference, three weeks after the Rally for the Republic, Ron Paul finally dives in and endorses a presidential candidate.  This guy.  —  Paul's reasoning had a lot to do with Bob Barr's snub of the third party presser.

Ethan Winner Responds: Claims He Produced Video  —  Ethan Winner responds.  Written like a VP in a public relations firm that specializes in crisis management and grassroots organization.  I'll post the whole thing below.  —  He produced the video?  He paid for the voice-over narration which he found through a talent agency?

CNN Poll: GOP takes brunt of blame for economy, Obama gains  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) - A new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation Poll suggests that by a 2-to-1 margin, Americans blame Republicans over Democrats for the financial crisis that has swept across the country the past few weeks …

Hypocrisy Bombshell: Antigay John McCain has a Gay Chief of Staff  —  What does John McCain's loyal chief of staff - a man who apparently is in a long-term relationship with another man, and appears to be open about it to John McCain — think about the fact that Sarah Palin devoutly worships …

Limbaugh repeats baseless Obama smear: “He's Arab. ...  [H]e's not African-American”  —  On the September 22 broadcast of his syndicated radio show, Rush Limbaugh baselessly claimed that Sen. Barack Obama is “not black,” and went on to ask: “Do you know he has not one shred of African-American blood?”

McCain Loses His Head  —  “The queen had only one way of settling all difficulties, great or small.  ‘Off with his head!’ she said without even looking around.”  —  Under the pressure of the financial crisis, one presidential candidate is behaving like a flustered rookie playing in a league too high.

Now is the Time to Resist Wall Street's Shock Doctrine  —  I wrote The Shock Doctrine in the hopes that it would make us all better prepared for the next big shock.  Well, that shock has certainly arrived, along with gloves-off attempts to use it to push through radical pro-corporate policies …

The Story Behind Biden's Emergency Helicopter Landing in Afghanistan  —  “Ladies and gentlemen, where are we now?  Where are we now?”  Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., said to the National Guard Association today, talking about the war in Afghanistan.  —  “If you want to know where Al Qaeda lives …

How close was the financial system to melting down?  —  I do not work for the Treasury, the Fed, or an investment house, so take this for what it's worth.  But my understanding is really, frighteningly close.  Remember the monster that lived under your bed when you were five?  Actually, mine lived in the closet.

Bailout Satire  —  Add your own toxic holdings to the big s**tpile here.  —  I almost missed this email because it was diverted to my spam folder.  But apparently Paulson is sending this around:

Were Rape Victims Billed in Wasilla, Or is This Just More Astroturfing?  —  Wasilla, Alaska got it's first full-time police force in 1993, when eight uniformed officers formed the city's “thin blue line.”  More than a decade later, the small-town police force has tripled in size, to 24 commissioned officers.

The Battle Plan II: Sarah “Evita” Palin, the Muse of the Coming Police State  —  Please understand what you are looking at when you look at Sarah “Evita” Palin.  You are looking at the designated muse of the coming American police state.  —  You have to understand how things work …

Dukakis: McCain using same race tactics as ‘Willie Horton’ ad  —  Former Gov. and 1988 Democratic Presidential nominee Michael Dukakis: Getty Image  —  Former Gov. Michael Dukakis said Monday that John McCain's presidential campaign is using the same race-based tactics that were used against him in his 1988 presidential run.

How Obama lost me  —  In September 2004, my mom (Ann Althouse) posted “How Kerry lost me.”  She never particularly supported Kerry, and she ended up voting for Bush.  She didn't mean “How Kerry lost me” as in “Why I stopped being a supporter” — she just meant how she went from open-minded about him to turned off from him.

Biden on Obama's e-mail ad: “I thought that was terrible”  —  Skip ahead to 4:05.  For the second time in three days, Greasy Joe proves himself one of America's most effective anti-Obama advocates.  —  I hope you appreciate his nuance, at least, in hinting that Obama didn't approve an ad that ended with …

Biden criticizes Obama ad hitting McCain as technologically inept  —  Joe Biden offered perhaps his most off-message statement yet since being tapped as Barack Obama's running mate, saying in an interview that he thought one of his campaign's own ads was “terrible” and hadn't know about it in advance.

WHY IS OBAMA SO VAPID, HESITANT, AND GUTLESS?  —  Last week really ought to have been the end of the McCain campaign.  With the whole country feeling (and its financial class acting) as if we lived in a sweltering, bankrupt banana republic, and with this misery added to the generally Belarusian atmosphere …

Spies Warn That Al Qaeda Aims for October Surprise  —  Intercepted Messages Asking Local Cells To Be Prepared for Imminent Instructions  —  WASHINGTON — In the aftermath of two major terrorist attacks on Western targets, America's counterterrorism community is warning that Al Qaeda may launch …

START: Dead Treaty Walking  —  Josh Meyer in the Los Angeles Times has an excellent article about the potential casualties of the Russia-Georgia conflict — including the START Treaty. … For those of you who don't follow this stuff, START — and its essential verification provisions — expire on December 5, 2009.

FOX News/Rasmussen Poll: Race in Swing States Mirrors 2004 Election  —  Results from four of the five battleground states in the FOX News/Rasmussen Reports polling are similar to the presidential election four years ago.  Virginia, however, is more competitive than it was in 2004.