October 2008 Archives

Michael Pollan:

It is no small thing for an American to be able to go into a fast-food restaurant and to buy a double cheeseburger, fries and a large Coke for a price equal to less than an hour of labor at the minimum wage -- indeed, in the long sweep of history, this represents a remarkable achievement.

Madonna gamely launched into "I Love New York" last night during her second MSG Sticky & Sweet show. She seemed pleased to have a more recent song nominated--although the audience didn't know the lyrics past the first few trade-offs! (That's okay, Madonna messed up her own lyrics three or four times last night, each time taking it in stride and laughing it off. She's really a changed artist--for the better!--when it comes to stage warmth and audience interaction.)

We have to hope the country makes the right choice. McCain's gone beyond the line. Palin has no clue what she's doing.

• BarbinMD on McCain and Palin: The Politics of Hate.
• TMV Columnist Tony Campbell, A red flag for the Secret Service?
• John Aravosis, appalled that Palin's mob of supporters turned on a black journalist and yelled "sit down, boy."
• Eric Martin on the Pretty Hate Machine.
• TMV columnist Shaun Mullen, Is this what it comes down to?
• Andrew Sullivan, McCain and Palin crossing the line.
• Pam Spaulding, The GOP ticket draws, and apparently embraces, the bigot eruption crowd
• Steve Benen:

Four years ago, the field of Democratic presidential hopefuls spent most of their time explaining how much different they would be from Bush/Cheney. Before long, Karl Rove sent out word to the Republican Machine: label the candidates and their supporters "angry." The goal, of course, was to characterize Bush/Cheney as optimistic and hopeful, while painting Democrats as wild-eyed, rage-driven nuts.

It's almost comical in retrospect.

I choose hope.

Via Jezebel. Full-length video of the panel. Juston Vogt comments.

Thanks Jessica!

John Chiara, photographer.

Loved it. Official site.