BARACK FOR PRESIDENT

Okay, so we're still waiting for Angelina's endorsement, but we got the New York Times, so I think we can safely say that Peephole supports Barack Obama for President. Additionally, we support Sarah Palin's view in Peephole, I mean People Magazine, that she:

can always go home again and just be Mom and be perfectly happy and fulfilled with the blessings that God has given [them]. And with a great marriage and great parents and siblings and children, [she] could today go home and just be Mom.

Everybody wins!

We apologize to those in states like Ohio, Texas, and Florida that have early voting. If you voted before you saw our endorsement, and mistakenly voted for the wrong candidate, please go to your local Acorn registration center where you can sign up to vote again. You should probably sign up to vote twice, so as to cancel out your earlier vote for McCain.

We must admit there is one regret in casting our lot with Obama-- remember how dull the campaign became when Hillary dropped from the race? Just imagine the dreariness of 8 years of happiness, prosperity, and well-wishes from the other nations of the world; 8 years without Cindy McCain and her hair pulled back so tight her scalp is screaming; 8 years without Sarah and her brood of Trig and Trog and Brig and Willow, and Todd and his new sidekick Levi, riding shotgun (ha! get it?), as they embark on their cross-country Zamboni races.

We're left with the boring dullness of the non-flashy, non-trashy Obamas and Bidens. At least we still have a financial meltdown to look forward to-- and that of course means more Barney Frank! So cheers to Barney, hoping he maintains the freakish colour we've come to expect from our elected officials!

$150,000 FORCLOTHESURE

Dispossession, repossession, foreclosure---Neiman Marcus evicted the devil from Sarah Palin and it only cost $150,000.
Now, she is denying it:

"That whole thing is just, bad!" she said. "Oh, if people only knew how frugal we are. I think Hillary Clinton was held to a different standard in her primary race," Palin said. "Do you remember the conversations that took place about her, say superficial things that they don't talk about with men, her wardrobe and her hairstyles, all of that? That's a bit of that double standard."

How true. Women are treated so differently than men! I know where to go for my feminism. Sarah and Hillary have so much in common breaking through that Crystal Cathedral ceiling like Sisters, Sisters, Lord help the mister who comes between me and my sister, caring, sharing every little thing that we are wearing. When a certain gentleman arrived from Rome, she wore the dress and I stayed home...

PRAY AWAY THE GAY THEN RUN AWAY

Oh, dear, I guess this cements it. That's Palin above with her kill. She IS a monster and not a gay-lovin' one. From Newsminer:

"Gov. Sarah Palin’s church is promoting a conference that promises to convert gays into heterosexuals through the power of prayer.

“You’ll be encouraged by the power of God’s love and His desire to transform the lives of those impacted by homosexuality,” according to the insert in the bulletin of the Wasilla Bible Church, where Palin has worshipped for about six years.

Palin’s conservative Christian views have energized that part of the GOP electorate, which was lukewarm to John McCain’s candidacy before he named her as his vice presidential choice. She is staunchly anti-abortion, even in cases of rape and incest, and opposes gay marriage and spousal rights for gay couples."

I've been impacted by homosexuality and I found praying does nothing to help. HaHa.
This is NOT going to attract those gays that love Hillary. What a frightening mother this woman is. . .someone rape and impregnate her gay son fast!

As Andrew Sullivan points out, now Palin is in hiding:

"Ferraro was being interviewed within four days of being announced. Dan Quayle gave an interview one day after being selected. We are now on Day Nine for Palin and are told to expect another thirteen before she's ready. This is a pitbull with lipstick? More like a cowering chihuahua. . .

The sexism that implies that someone cannot stand up to reporters because she is a woman is appalling. This entire pick, of course, is incredibly sexist, and the handling of her in the last week the most sexist double standard I have ever seen in American politics. Can you imagine Hillary Clinton saying she wasn't going to answer questions for two weeks? Or Margaret Thatcher? Or Kay Bailey Hutchison? Or Elizabeth Dole? And none of these women were ever as close to global power as Sarah Palin now is. This is getting to Manchurian Candidate levels of creepiness. It's deeply sinister and slightly terrifying."

She follows in the right footsteps. Decide then hide. Typical.

TANGERINE DREAMS

Let the backlash begin. Everyone loved her last night. How's Maureen Dowd this morning, a little cranky?

Here's Andrew Sullivan:

"She started out a little dull and a little self-obsessed. But then she rallied - a little. "No Way. No How. No McCain" was a good line. And the Twin Cities analogy was a great little riff on Bush and McCain. But I have to say her speaking style, although much improved over even a year ago, is still a little flat. When she's passionate, she has little inflection. When she's quieter, she's a little drony. The "keep going" theme, moreover, was a little unnerving. A thinly veiled threat?"

Well if that was a threat it wasn't very 'thinly veiled'. And what sort of threat is that exactly? That she has a rifle in her pants? Well she does but not a real one.

Sullivan has nothing more to say though, "But actually, I don't have much more to say."

Except this: "The response on television from the crowd seems to have been everything Obama would have wanted. To my mind, however, it was an average performance, not a slashing attack on the Bush-Cheney record, nor a rousing rallying cry for Obama, nor a very insightful analysis of the country's problems. There was virtually nothing about foreign policy. She did what she had to do, tell her voters to back Obama. But she gave nothing more."

What a little bitch he is, what is she supposed to bleed all over the convention floor?

"So far, only Michelle Obama has rescued this convention from being dreary and distracted."

I agree it's been dreary, but isn't everything before the Messiah comes?

LINGERING

Obama's set to announce his Veep pick this Wednesday, and Patrick Healy revives (even as a longshot) the long-dead hopes Hillary might be the choice.

Okay, so it's probably going to be one of two B's-- Joe Biden (he of the impeccable credentials and pecked-at hair plugs), or Evan Bayh (he of-- what? Indiana. He can deliver Indiana!). But even the idea of Hillary once again part of the race, bringing some depth and fire to the tediousness of Obama-McCain-- and not that I want it, girl is all set for '12 or even '16-- I'm so hungry for someone real and compelling, I would get down on my knees and suck Obama's purple lipstick, and even the pulsating, vascular sausage of Michelle, should they deign to recognize the rest of us not blinded (and now aghast) at the empty rhetoric and limp-wristed responses of Camp Obama.

NOTHING NEW

Oh, that sexy little Maureen Dowd. Ever the femme fatale, she loves intrigue and dark-alley dealings so much, then lambastes her hated enemies for employing the same techniques. Is it because Hillary hasn't done as Maureen has done, embraced her inner vamp? If Hillary wore a fedora pulled down over one eye, a cigarette dangling from her ruby-red lips spotlit by a nearby lampost, would she instead be celebrated? Sorry, Hills, rolling up your sleeves and getting your hands dirty just isn't sexy.

Maureen's latest column (a constant source of pun-ditry if I ever saw it-- oh, a pun!) is about that ever-present rumour of the Clintons hijacking the Democratic convention, persuading the delegates to cast a protest vote for Clinton instead of Obama. It's doubtful Hillary could become the nominee, but it would so hamstring and demoralize the Democrats that McCain would win, setting Hillary up to compete against Mitt Romney in 2012. Veep Romney will have become president after McCain's living rigor mortis has reached an advanced stage, his lips peeled back to reveal his tiny little yellow teeth set in an eternal smile. See? It's already happening.

There's nothing else to write about, so why not the Clintons? Obama and McCain are so lacking in vim and vigour, we need to evoke the spectre of Clintonism to get the pundit's hearts pounding. There's also the backward glance, the "what went wrong?" eviscerations, like this one in the Atlantic. Emails and notes from the Clinton campaign have been released, revealing-- what we already knew. The bickering, the overspending, the inability of Clinton to make hard, fast decisions-- it's already been done. Still, it's fun to look through the timeline and realize, shit, the Clinton camp knew this a long time ago, and still they let it happen.

Of course, if Clinton had won, disarray and overspending would have been seen as a winning strategy. It's the particular curse of the favourite to be labeled self-defeating when she doesn't win. What I don't understand-- how do decision about commercials and states to caucus show one's preparation for being president? It's a winning strategy for a popularity contest, but preparation for commander-in-chief? As far as I know, the President doesn't sit around producing commercials about his merits. And sure, she overspent-- but what president doesn't leave office with a deficit? Clinton's husband, for one-- and although there's evidence she'd be less thrifty than Bill, anything would be better than the current overseer of the congressional money pit.

I can't remember-- did Bush ever veto a single spending bill? Did he ever veto anything? Talk about inability to make hard decisions.

EXTREME(LY) SEXY

On her recent, and much commented-on, email acquaintance with Obama:

"It seemed to me to be like a product of extreme sexism, and I kept thinking to myself, 'God, if this was just, like, Kal Penn or George Clooney or any of the other (Obama) surrogates or supporters … there wouldn't be (any) question about it. Nobody would even talk about it…I was merely trying to express my delight at Obama's commitment to his campaign in every aspect and his interest and his support (in) his surrogates and his staff and his fellows, and how wonderful and refreshing that is. And it was manipulated into such an unfortunate media frenzy of kind of a nonstory."

Our correspondent notes: "Extreme sexism? Thank god Hillary never experienced any of that."

BOY'S CLUB

They said having a black man as a presidential candidate would be a historical shift, monumental, a stunning sea change, blah blah blah-- but Jesus Christ, it's still two guys up there trying to out-dull the other. It's been so boring since Hillary left the race. Maybe we'd still be interested if she were still there on tv, smiling and nodding in her bright red jackets, or that yellow one with the black piping, ooo, remember that? What colour! Barack looks like a practical joker shaved a grey crayon into his concealer, and John's trying to give himself a healthy glow by using Cindy's blush. All over his face.

Okay, it's not just their dull blue suits and monotone voices and dull pasty faces. They're a couple of guys. Barack may be black, but he's still just a guy. Despite what's been said about Hillary, she's not a guy, and maybe that would have been the biggest, most monumental, most historical sea change of all.

Photo: Reuters

GIMME BAMA

Well, it happened. Last night I dreamt that Obama loved me. After months of feeling slighted, maligned, angry, dejected and embarrassed for Hillary, while rejecting the good looks of Obama, trying to resist the onslaught of charm and white shirts I knew was sweeping not only the U.S., but the world-- my psyche has finally given in. Take me Obama... Gimme Shelter, my Othello, in your long, slender, yet somehow working-class arms.

"Bob Dylan. Yo-Yo Ma. Sheryl Crow. Jay-Z. These aren't musical acts in a summer concert series: They're artists featured on Barack Obama's iPod. "I have pretty eclectic tastes," the Democratic presidential contender said in an interview to be published in Friday's issue of Rolling Stone.

That's from Huffingtonpost.com. How is that eclectic? If anything, it's very white, isn't it? I guess Jay-Z counts as black, but I'm not really sure. Obama goes on to say Gimme Shelter is his favourite Rolling Stones song [that's my fave too!!!], and says about Bruce Springsteen:

"Not only do I love Bruce's music, but I just love him as a person... He is a guy who has never lost track of his roots, who knows who he is, who has never put on a front."

Wow, he keeps hammering that point home, doesn't he? The authentic politician, never putting up a front. I think thou doth protest too much, my sexy Moor. But I forgive you-- just please no Sheryl Crow on the turntable while we're making love.

(AP Photo/Rolling Stone)

BALL BREAKER

What a surprise. New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd has been reviewed by Media Matters for America who found that throughout the 2007-2008 campaign season, Dowd did what she did best, "played with gender roles," consistently referring to Hillary Clinton in masculine terms, while feminizing Clinton's opponents, Senator Edwards, and especially Senator Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee. In contrast, Dowd left the Republican field untouched, although she did refer to presumptive Republican nominee John McCain as "a tough guy."

But if Clinton had won the nomination, perhaps McCain, too, would have been reduced to a girly-man. Dowd only called Edwards and Obama "sister" and "girl" in contrast to Hillary, because, unlike Dowd herself, Hillary doesn't purse her lips and shake her hair in front of her eyes like a sexy pussycat; therefore, Hillary must be a man, so much so that any man is reduced to a girl in comparison.

Dowd suggests she's "twisting gender stereotypes," but really, it's the same old stereotype to call a ambitious woman a "man," and an anti-war Democrat a "girl." Dowd seems to have lost steam since Clinton dropped out of the race; maybe she'll have to start playing with racial stereotypes to maintain her "transgressive" edge.

Photo courtesy Gawker

HILLARY DONE IT?

Tim Russert dead today at 58. Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann better watch their backs.

Photo courtesy Getty Images

IT'S HILLARY, STUPID

Great article in yesterday's NY Times by economist Paul Krugman. The economy will hopefully be the big topic at tonight's debate in South Carolina, and hopefully Obama will be called to task for a policy more in line with Bush's than any other Democrat.

TOO CLOSE TO CALL--

--and too far from home to call for their blankies. Obama supporters need a hug Tuesday night in New Hampshire.