Some in the press are moving toward “leadership,” having found out that Senator McCain was summoned by Paulson through Lindsay Graham. At any rate, CBS reports, you decide.

Symbolic — like, say, Obama’s “joint statement” on the economic crisis, designed to say without having to do or commit? Or does the suit have teeth? From KDKA-CBS: A local Marine cleared in the deaths of civilians in Iraq says Congressman John Murtha made public comments that were unproven, untrue and unfair. Now, Lance Corporal Justin Sharratt is planning to file suit in federal court against Murtha on Thursday morning.

Only this time, her serial avoidance was particularly nefarious inasmuch as she used a non-avoidance technique to give lie to the fact that she simply will not face the press — no matter how much she faces the press. Really, can we afford to have someone so uncommitted to her campaign’s avoidance strategy that she flouts her non-avoidance avoidance just a heartbeat away from the Presidency? From NJ’s Hotline: Sarah

I loved the bit last night where Senator Obama gave as his excuse for continuing to campaign (instead of doing his job as Senator) that a President has to be able to do several things at once. I don’t think the Senator recognized the irony. Or was aware that he isn’t yet President. — Though that last bit was just a bonus, really.

Britain continues its move toward soft totalitarianism — first by way of ludicrous mulitculturalist capitulation, then by way of the policing of its own benign vocabulary for hints of “hate” and any of a number of frowned-upon “-isms”: The use of terms like “Old Masters” and “seminal” by students and academics have been banned, because of claims that they are sexist. The British Sociological Association, whose members include dozens of

From the AP: Connecticut and 12 other states are protesting a proposed Bush administration rule that would give stronger job protections to doctors and other health care workers who refuse to participate in abortions because of religious or moral objections. The attorneys general of 13 states sent a letter Wednesday to the Department of Health and Human Services, protesting that the rule is too vague. The proposed rule would require

As I noted in an update last evening would almost certainly be the case, the media today is pushing the story that the firm owned by McCain’s campaign manager, Rick Davis, lobbied for Freddie and Fannie Mac — all while continuing to ignore exploring, at any length, Sen Barack Obama’s actual ties to those closely related to the current economic meltdown. Not only that, but the Davis-as-tied-to-crisis story is disputed

From the AP: Democrats have decided to allow a quarter-century ban on drilling for oil off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts to expire next week, conceding defeat in a months-long battle with the White House and Republicans set off by $4 a gallon gasoline prices this summer. […] Republicans have made lifting the ban a key campaign issue after gasoline prices spiked this summer and public opinion turned in favor

Zoinks! If only some mole could infiltrate Governor Palin’s inner circle and convince her to dress more in earth tones, the republic as we know it — nay, democracy itself, and everything this country has come to stand for! — could be saved. But alas. This dumb tundra hick, this, this… Hooter’s hand puppet, has never even been to Milan, much less tried on shoes for which any self respecting