From the LAT blog: In a hasty and wise bit of damage control, President-elect Barack Obama quickly telephoned former First Lady Nancy Reagan this afternoon to apologize for “a careless and offhanded remark” he made about her this morning during his first post-election news conference. Obama was asked how he was preparing to take over the White House, what books he’s reading, if he’d talked to any ex-presidents. He replied:

Coming soon to a bank near you…?

I actually threw up a little bit in my mouth.

Malkin, writing at NRO: Hollywood savaged Palin. Journalists mocked her. Liberal blogs slimed her. Opponents cursed her; Photoshopped her; hacked her e-mail; hanged her in effigy,; called her bigot, Bible-thumper, and bimbo; and attacked her husband and children. But nothing Palin endured during the election season compares to the treatment she’s receiving from these backstabbing blabbermouths who worked on the same campaign she poured herself into over the last three

Sure, I know I’m supposed to break down cardboard boxes before I put them in the recycle bin. But fuck it, I took a chance. And if the truck decides it doesn’t want to pick ’em up as is, those boxes can sit there in the street until they become moldy or weather shredded — or home to a family of angry bobcats, for all I care. It ain’t like

From chapter 27, Still Life with Woodpecker: “[…] I love the trite mythos of the outlaw. I love the self-conscious romanticism of the outlaw. I love the black wardrobe of the outlaw. I love the fey smile of the outlaw. I love the tequila of the outlaw and the beans of the outlaw. I love the way respectable men sneer and say ‘outlaw.’ I love the way young women palpitate