There are a few rules for tonight's "Town Hall" debate, of course.

Lynn Sweet of the Chicago Sun-Times writes: "Tuesday's match-up at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn., will be moderated by NBC's Tom Brokaw, with the questions to be culled from a group of 100 to 150 uncommitted likely voters in the audience and another one-third to come via the Internet. The Gallup Organization -- as in past debates like this -- has the job of making sure the questioners reflect the demographic makeup of the nation."

I hope one of the rules is: You must look at your opponent at least once during the debate.

IMF urges international response to financial crisis.

Bernanke gives speech following yesterday's stock plunge.

From the Wall Street Journal, some advice on what to do with your money. If you have it. Still. Or at all.

Sarah Vowell talks to David Letterman about "Biden Fever" via The Daily Beast. I deeply love Sarah Vowell.


Where did the Repuplicans come from? And where are they going? Over at RealClearPolitics, Jay Cost writes about the Republicans, the Democrats, and how the Financial Crisis is changing each campaign's strategy

The Pull Out Method. On The View this morning, Joy said she doesn't understand how McCain can say to stay in Iraq but pull out of Michigan. I can't help but think that The View is the single best source of political information going these days.

Speaking of grammar, Maureen Dowd writes about Palin's. I know that Maureen and I are on the same team, but I really wish I liked her more.

The Palin Effect getting out of control. The Economist reports that she whipped up the crowd into such a frenzy that they started shouting racial epithets.

The New Republic has an amazing piece on Sarah Palin. In it, Noam Scheiber offers the most comprehensive interpretation of the Palin persona and phenomenon that I have seen or heard yet. Her folksiness is a weapon, but not necessarily in the "I'm a good ol' boy" way of Bush. Bush knows who he is and has been -- he is the embodiment of American royalty.

In her version, Palin's unrelenting folksiness exists in response to a genuine fear she has of others. Not "The Other." Not the black man or the gay woman or the brown Muslim. No. A fear of others who might be better, stronger, faster. When we watch her speak or listen to her debate, we get to cheer her heartfelt attempts to move beyond her birthright and into a bigger world of more and better. For those of us born far outside of royalty, we, even when we disagree with her absolutely, we can't help but root for her.

Contrast this to Obama's coolness, which exists, I think, partially to mask his own belief that he is just slightly better than everyone else. Thankfully, he is.

The NYT has a review of her NJ show. The review isn't all that great. But, for God's sake, she's Madonna. You just gotta sit back and listen.

If anyone has a review of her first NYC show last night, I would love to hear and post about it.

David Duchovny leaves sex rehab.

Transgender politician wins legal battle

Rachel Maddow and Pat Buchanan. I love it when these guys go at it.

Sarah Silverman's show is back for a third season. Whenever I've watched her show, I always feel like I've taken a Vicodin. Even when I haven't.

The iPod to die out? According to Kathy Griffin's ex, it sure looks like it.

Rev. Al Sharpton on trial for NYC protests

I'm not sure if I care that Jennifer Lopez had a breakdown.

Lesbian contestant talks about her wife on the "Who wants to be a Millionaire?" I'll see if I can find a clip.

The NYT on the mangling of the languageSomething for me to keep in mind as the blog gets going.


Via Towleroad, out Australian gold medal-winner Matthew Mitcham talks about being the only out gay Olympic athlete at Beijing.

With all the negativity and mudslinging (is anyone else sick of those words?) going on, and then all of the discussions of the negativity and mudslinging, there are a few important issues that have not been discussed as much as they should be. The economy, of course. But we've been hearing about the from every corner of the media for the past week. But where are the discussions about how the results of this presidential election will affect the Supreme Court?

If McCain wins, he will certainly appoint strict Constitutionalists to the Court. If that happens, women and gays and all other minorities will be in a world of trouble. In the Opinion section of the LA Times is a quick run-down of what's at stake.

Type rest of the post here

The Media Bar is fully updated. After the jump, it's ready to go. Even better, it's ready to go just to the left of this post.

Tuesday




Politico Best of Late Night(1:32)



The View - Elisabeth Plays Dirtier (8:02)



The Trailer for The Secret Life of Bees(2:30)


Podcasts can be found here.

Over at The Huffington Post, Dave Hill talks about his seriously gay socks. My friend Harold told me that life in Chelsea must be a total mind-fuck for this guy. I think it sounds kind of hot. "Mr. Straight Man? You can touch me 'down there' if you want. Plus, I'm into feet and socks. Really. Seriously, it's not gay."

That reminds me -- I need to update The Backroom link in The Media Bar.

Pork says, "The new Oasis album comes out today, and it's kind of stellar. So they get the spotlight today." And not the Jennifer Hudson kind. That was last week.

Listen to two new songs after the jump.

In this week NYT Magazine, Queen Latifah talks about her new movie, The Secret Life of Bees, among other things.

In discussing her childhood, she says, "“I know people who are twice as creative as I am, twice as smart, but they didn’t do anything because they feared going into a room and opening their mouths. My parents told me to truly accomplish things in my life, there would be times I would have to stand alone. It may be scary, but that’s what it requires. So the times I had to stand alone, I got it. I understood where I was coming from, so hopefully, everybody else would get it eventually.”

As inspiring as this might be, this desire to stand up for oneself loses some of its momentum when she refuses to discuss her sexuality. “I don’t have a problem discussing the topic of somebody being gay, but I do have a problem discussing my personal life. You don’t get that part of me. Sorry . . . I don’t feel like I need to share my personal life, and I don’t care if people think I’m gay or not. Assume whatever you want. You do it anyway.”

Because she won't.

The San Diego Gay Pride Firefighter Harassmant Case ends in mistrial. The AP reports that "the jury deliberated nearly four days before announcing a deadlock on the first of several criteria needed to find the city liable."

This lawsuit appears, and probably is, silly, but I think it's important to keep in mind that the lawsuit was not just about manly firefighters crying because some gay men hooted and hollered at them. The firefighters filed the lawsuit, at least in part, because they felt they had been retaliated against by their employer -- ultimately the City of San Diego. The AP says that the "lawsuit sought unspecified compensation from the city, and alleged that the fire department retaliated after they publicly criticized their employer."

This is an entirely different and more serious animal than the harrassment charges that have been more often talked about. Laws prohibiting retaliation keep us all a little bit safer.

Tell Me More Stories
Several member of the House talk about why they changed their vote and if they feel they sacrificed too much in the process.

The Supreme Court is back in session today. Kathryn Kolbert, of People For The American Way, is joined by Allyson Ho, a former Supreme Court clerk, to offer a preview of the upcoming court docket.

To national audience, Michelle Obama is well-known because of her husband's presidential candidacy. But the attorney and businesswoman has an impressive and distinguished career of her own. Liza Mundy, author of Michelle, a new biography of Michelle Obama, writes about the Chicago native's professional aspirations and how they coincided with her Sen. Barack Obama's political journey.

A new film, Allah Made Me Funny, follows three Muslim men as they perform at comedy clubs around the U.S. Comedians Azhar Usman, Mo Amer and Preacher Moss discuss what informs their humor.
(47:17)

Fresh Air Stories
Katharine Jefferts Schori, the first female bishop to preside over the Episcopal Church, has faced a number of crises since she accepted the post in 2006.

Books We Like: Radical bombers battle strikebreaking capitalists while Clarence Darrow squares off against the "American Sherlock Holmes" in this very popular history of a trial that mixed murder, politics and celebrity in 1910 Los Angeles.
(45:40)

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