The Nightowl Newswrap

It doesn't look like she did herself any favors Five of seven undecided voters had a less favorable opinion of Palin after last nights debate. bless her heart, but people noticed that she didn't answer questions, and they don't much care for that.

She sure seems to be letting her limited success go to that fuffy little airhead of hers The unctuous little twit told Carl Cameron on Faux Noise today that Barack Obama's statements "about the war" should "disqualify someone from consideration as the next commander in chief," because "some of his comments about Afghanistan and what we're doing there -- supposedly just air-raiding villages and killing civilians -- that's reckless." Silly Obama -- citing Pentagon reports! Guess what Sarah-geddon? Those wars you are so slavishly devoted to? Civilians die in them. That is the nature or war, and refusing to acknowledge that bit of unpleasantness does not make it any less true.

Sure she does! And I have a bridge in Alaska to sell you, too! On friendly territory today, with a properly deferential "journalist" she answered the "what I read question. It only took her three days to come up with "The New York Times" and "The Economist" to substitute for "Capper's Weekly" and "People Magazine."

It's the ground game, stupid! Ground games win elections. Obama has one. McCain doesn't.


Rich Lowry proves Warren's point bout tits,ass and money He has quite a little crush on Sarah-geddon. He actually published this, with not a trace of shame I'm sure I'm not the only male in America who, when Palin dropped her first wink, sat up a little straighter on the couch and said, "Hey, I think she just winked at me." And her smile. By the end, when she clearly knew she was doing well, it was so sparkling it was almost mesmerizing. It sent little starbursts through the screen and ricocheting around the living rooms of America.

Feel like you're being watched? After more than a year of delay, Congress has quietly authorized the Department of Homeland Security to turn spy satellites inward and commence spying on Americans in our neighborhoods and homes. The program casts a wide net, and will begin sharing data gathered by military satellites with civilian and law enforcement agencies. The program was part of a $634 billion spending bill signed into law earlier this week, providing funds for DHS to establish the satellite surveillance program, known as the National Applications Office, in spite of the fact that myriad concerns about NAO privacy and civil liberties protections that had been delaying its implementation have still not been addressed.

McCain campaign cedes that they got nuthin' on the issues The republican candidate is now running his campaign is now running only attack ads.

Krauthammer cedes it to Obama You just know that McCain threw today's copy of the Washington Post down on the floor and went all Yosemite Sam on it when he read Krauthammer's column.

Yeah...about that Reagan quote she closed with...It was Ronald Reagan who said that freedom is always just one generation away from extinction. We don’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream; we have to fight for it and protect it, and then hand it to them so that they shall do the same, or we’re going to find ourselves spending our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children about a time in America, back in the day, when men and women were free. When did Reagan say that? Krugman answers that question for us. "It was on a recording he made for Operation Coffeecup — a campaign organized by the American Medical Association to block the passage of Medicare. Doctors’ wives were supposed to organize coffee klatches for patients, where they would play the Reagan recording, which declared that Medicare would lead us to totalitarianism."

No good deed goes unpunishedProud Liberal John Yarmuth D-KY3 (Louisville) changed his no vote to yes on the bailout, and the KY liberal blogosphere will NEVER forgive him. Infamous DINO Ben Chandler, D-KY6 (Lexington) voted no both times and everyone is oohhing and aahhing over his brand-new enormous balls. Someone hand me an airsick bag.

The Marching band is out of control? The University of Wisconsin marching band has been suspended indefinitely while allegations of hazing, alcohol abuse and sexual misconduct are investigated. The band won't play Saturday during a nationally televised football game between the No. 18 Badgers and No. 14 Ohio State at Camp Randall Stadium. The university made the announcement at a hastily called news conference Friday night, saying the behavior is consistent with conduct that put the band on probation in 2006. It must be nice to be able to still stay in school, at least for now. I hope they make the best of it and can graduate before the economy squeezes them out.

A little known artifact: Pages from an Israeli astronaut's diary that survived the explosion of the space shuttle Columbia and a 37-mile fall to earth are going on display this weekend for the first time in Jerusalem. The diary belonged to Ilan Ramon, Israel's first astronaut and one of seven crew members killed when Columbia disintegrated upon re-entering the atmosphere on Feb. 1, 2003. Part of the restored diary will be displayed at the Israel Museum beginning Sunday. A little over two months after the shuttle explosion, NASA searchers found 37 pages from Ramon's diary, wet and crumpled, in a field just outside the U.S. town of Palestine, Texas. The diary survived extreme heat in the explosion, extreme atmospheric cold, and then "was attacked by microorganisms and insects" in the field where it fell, said museum curator Yigal Zalmona.

More of this please: Officials want to see more green roofs on building tops in Cincinnati. The City Council on Wednesday became the first in Ohio with a plan to channel grants and loans to residents and businesses to replace tar and shingles with vegetation. Supporters of the idea want to see Cincinnati become a leader in green roofs, a European-born movement that has spread to only a few U.S. cities, including Chicago, Milwaukee and Seattle.

Up yours, China: The Bush administration announced plans Friday to sell $6 billion in arms to Taiwan, a decision sure to anger Taiwan's rival China and one that could complicate stalled North Korean disarmament efforts. The announcement of the package, which includes Apache helicopters and Patriot III anti-missile missiles, came in a notification to Congress posted on the Defense Security Cooperation Agency Web site. The State Department said lawmakers, who were expected to leave Friday to campaign for November elections, have 30 days to comment on the proposed sale. Without objections, the deal is completed.