It might violate the constraints of etiquette
To say the Republicans are full of it,
But when they offer their plans
And their pledges and programs,
It’s clear they’re running a reality deficit.

And then there are probably some aspects of the Tea Party that are a little darker, that have to do with anti-immigrant sentiment or are troubled by what I represent as the president.

— President Obama, in an interview with Rolling Stone.

They say it is easier to get people to dislike a politician than to like him or her, but I wonder if automobile makers spent all their time accusing each other of making lousy and dangerous cars, whether anybody would buy one at all. Which maybe is one reason more people don’t vote.

–St. Petersburg Times columnist Howard Troxler, commenting on advertising for the midterm election.

Here’s some news breaking in the California governor’s race that is doubly intriguing because it is not coming from the political press — it’s from the Sunset Strip-based gossip-on-steroids outfit, TMZ:
The former housekeeper for Meg Whitman — the Republican candidate for Governor of California — is about to make “controversial and explosive allegations about her [...]

57 percent

Share of Americans who say they have little or no trust in the mass media to report the news fully, accurately, and fairly.

Good news gay people! Former Pres. Bill Clinton is finally feelin’ your pain. And while we love the former president, and totally respect the longevity of his marriage, and fully realize that the only ones who know what’s really going on in a relationship are the two people in it…Well, still, as far as him [...]

Despite tea baggers’ misuse of the term, “socialism” applies to any system in which citizens pool resources to provide a service for the community — in other words, any service that is not private and provided on a fee basis. Public education, as well as public police, fire and emergency services, public hospitals and, of [...]

Like some TV Frankenstein, Ken Jautz gave us Nancy Grace, Glenn Beck and created the Joy Behar Show. Now he holds the reins of CNN, and it doesn’t look good for the beleaguered news network. Ken Stein was ousted after six years at CNN where he fought to maintain the network’s news integrity, according to [...]

In case you’re in a great mood — bluebirds chirping on your shoulder, etc. — and were looking for something to completely bum you out, this chart from Nate Silver’s
FiveThirtyEight.com showing the sheer volume of seats that the GOP appears set to pick up on Nov. 2 ought to do the trick.
All those blue squares [...]