I was trying to put my finger on what bothered me so much about John McCain's smugness last night and I figured out it had to do with him assuming, by virtue of his lifetime of being a politiican, he's entitled to be President. As if he's paid more dues and has seniority in things besides age.

Then, thinking about my birthday Sunday, I remembered that my good pal and occasional TalkLeft contributor Anita Thompson;'s birthday is today. After our great week at the DNC, Anita left for Manhattan to finish up her senior year at Columbia. So I checked in at her Owl Farm blog to see what's she's up to. She has a great section quoted from her husband's Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail, '72. It fits McCain to a T. I'm reprinting it below.

I will say this for the last time - McCain loving clueless PUMAs are NOT welcome in my threads. EVER. McCain supporting Republicans are welcome. J and Chris have more patience than I do so I suggest you try their threads instead.

Tonight I will be liveblogging the debate with Jeralyn and before that, I will write a preview of what I expect to come. I am also scheduled to discuss the debate by phone on C-Span either before or after the debate, not sure yet. Obviously, my point of view will be that of a Democrat supporting the Democratic candidate for President. But I will be honest in my appraisal of their performances, as I always have been in these things.

This is Open Thread.

For those following topics in addition to the economy, which BTD is doing a heroic job covering, here's some news of note:

• Guantanamo proseuctor quits. Lt. Col. Darrel Vandeveld believed he had evidence showing detainee did not commit charged crime, was precluded from sharing it.

• Military interrogator details new abuses in Iraq he believes were war crimes.

• Condoleeza Rice admits Bush officials held White House talks on CIA interrogations. Update: The Public Record has more.

More...

There is an issue bubbling, at least in my threads, with people claiming to be Democrats telling me how great McCain is on the economy.

No true Democrat believes that. If you are a Republican, well, of course McCain's crazy economic policies will appeal to you. But not if you are a Democrat and claim to have been a Clinton supporter.

Now I have no patience for stupidity, so I suggest those people who want to claim to be Democrats and Hillary Clinton supporters but also claim that McCain is better on the economy not comment in my threads. Such a claim is simply untenable. You can't be a Dem and Hillary Clinton supporter on the economy and claim McCain is better on the economy than Obama. It makes no sense. I have no patience period, but absolutely no patience for that type of nonsense. Maybe J and Chris will accept it in their threads, I will not. Do not bring it there.

This is an Open Thread.

I'll be out for several hours, TChris is in trial and I'm not sure about BTD, who wrote a lot of good posts this morning on the economy, just scroll down.

Here's an open thread for those of you with other topics to discuss.

While some of us are watching tv and commenting there, I don't want to leave anyone out.

Here's an open thread for all other topics.

Some things I'm reading:

• Yale Law Prof Jack Balkin on the $700 billion Bush bailout plan.

It is not enough, however, to revel in the irony or the hypocrisy of the Administration's current plans. Two things are central: one is solving the financial crisis, and the other is doing so in a way that preserves constitutional values of oversight, checks and balances, and accountability to the rule of law. The government must have the power to act, but only the powers it actually needs, and not those it would enjoy having for the foreseeable future. It must be able to make decisions, but not without any accountability or oversight. That is what the debate is and should be about, and even though it nominally concerns the passage of an emergency measure, it is ultimately a debate of constitutional proportions.

More...

Mark Knopfler and Eric Claption.

Saturday Night Live opens with a McCain skit. The character playing McCain is very unconvincing. He looks nothing like him, way too young, and doesn't sound like him either. (Added: the Alaska segment was very funny.)

This is an open thread.

Big Tent Democrat is working on a brief this weekend. I'm heading out for the afternoon, here's an open thread for you. Please be civil.

For those of you who are new readers, keep in mind TalkLeft is not a neutral site. It is an advocacy site. With less than 45 days to the election, we will do our part to promote the candidacy of Sen. Barack Obama and Joe Biden as well as Democrats running down-ticket.

I'm not interested in fostering debate on the candidates. We oppose McCain-Palin. That doesn't mean we won't have criticism or suggestions for Obama-Biden or the media. We will. We'll call the polls, news events and upcoming debates as we see them. [More...]

Big Tent Democrat has a brief due and will be off-line most (if not all) weekend.

Crooks and Liars has Jon Stewart's take on the Hannity-Palin interview, it's great.

Also: Markos' take on how Sarah Palin is going to drag down the Republican ticket and law prof Patricia Williams comparing the Palin effect to an Andy Warhol soup can project.

Here's an open thread to get you started on the weekend. Keep it civil please, and I'll check back in later.

Your turn.

This is an Open Thread.

This is good humor in my opinion:

"Sent from my BlackBerry Wireless Handheld, a miracle made possible by John McCain."

-- The signature appended to emails sent by Obama spokesman Bill Burton.

I haven't seen any news today, or even opened my e-mail, but I can tell from BTD's last post, it's still being dominated by Gov. Sarah Palin. I hope he noticed I did not write about the tanning bed even though I read about it last night -- I agree it's petty, silly and has zero to do with her governing, since her spokesman said she paid for it with her own money.

I'm still at work and the TL kid is coming over for dinner, so here's an open thread for those of you that were paying attention to the world at large today.