What does it mean when all the best comedy out there comes from Republicans trying to campaign but only proving themselves to be asshats?

This is a comedy gem - Jon Stewart nails asshat after asshat on blatant hypocrisy. (These people know they're being recorded, right?)



Oh, and the press is finally fact-checking the Repubs in REAL TIME rather than having Al Franken write a book about it after the election's over.

My here are two of my favorites from this article:

PALIN: "The Democratic nominee for president supports plans to raise income taxes, raise payroll taxes, raise investment income taxes, raise the death tax, raise business taxes, and increase the tax burden on the American people by hundreds of billions of dollars."

THE FACTS: The Tax Policy Center, a think tank run jointly by the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute, concluded that Obama's plan would increase after-tax income for middle-income taxpayers by about 5 percent by 2012, or nearly $2,200 annually. McCain's plan, which cuts taxes across all income levels, would raise after tax-income for middle-income taxpayers by 3 percent, the center concluded.

Obama would provide $80 billion in tax breaks, mainly for poor workers and the elderly, including tripling the Earned Income Tax Credit for minimum-wage workers and higher credits for larger families.

He also would raise income taxes, capital gains and dividend taxes on the wealthiest. He would raise payroll taxes on taxpayers with incomes above $250,000, and he would raise corporate taxes. Small businesses that make more than $250,000 a year would see taxes rise.

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FORMER MASSACHUSETTS GOV. MITT ROMNEY: "We need change, all right — change from a liberal Washington to a conservative Washington! We have a prescription for every American who wants change in Washington — throw out the big-government liberals, and elect John McCain and Sarah Palin."

THE FACTS: A Back-to-the-Future moment. George W. Bush, a conservative Republican, has been president for nearly eight years. And until last year, Republicans controlled Congress. Only since January 2007 have Democrats have been in charge of the House and Senate.

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I LOL'd at these:


(Thanks to Whisky for the second one.)

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Finally, reporters were babbling during a station break into open mics and said what they really thought about the choice of Palin for VP (though none of them mentioned the term "MILF", to my disappointment). [Source]

Mike Murphy: You know, because I come out of the blue swing state governor world: Engler, Whitman, Tommy Thompson, Mitt Romney, Jeb Bush. I mean, these guys -- this is how you win a Texas race, just run it up. And it's not gonna work. And --

Peggy Noonan: It's over.

Mike Murphy: Still McCain can give a version of the Lieberman speech to do himself some good.

Chuck Todd: I also think the Palin pick is insulting to Kay Bailey Hutchinson, too.

Peggy Noonan: Saw Kay this morning.

Chuck Todd: Yeah, she's never looked comfortable about this --

Mike Murphy: They're all bummed out.

Chuck Todd: Yeah, I mean is she really the most qualified woman they could have turned to?

Peggy Noonan: The most qualified? No! I think they went for this -- excuse me-- political bullshit about narratives --

Chuck Todd: Yeah they went to a narrative.

Mike Murphy: I totally agree.

Peggy Noonan: Every time the Republicans do that, because that's not where they live and it's not what they're good at, they blow it.

Mike Murphy: You know what's really the worst thing about it? The greatness of McCain is no cynicism, and this is cynical.

Chuck Todd: This is cynical, and as you called it, gimmicky.

Mike Murphy: Yeah.

Then came the steaming plate of crow that Peggy Noonan had to consume for the length of an article, apologizing for essentially doing what Rush, O'Reilly and Fox "News" do for a living. The part about our favorite VP of all time, Dan Quayle, and the idea of the Republican "narrative" is worth the read. (Btw, I think Palin has shown out of the gate she's not the slack-jawed moron that Quayle obviously was (is - he's not dead yet). I don't want her in office, but there's no need to insult her by implication.)