Eli

Don't pretend like you've never seen me before, "Maverick." I know you remember me but you're afraid to look me in the eye, you and all your lobbyist campaign buddies. Hell, even my own father disowned me. Fine, you still want to pretend you've never seen me before? Here, let me refresh your memo-ry (ha ha, that's just a little memo humor there... I used to be able to make you smile):

Now that civil rights icon John Lewis, the media, and even some Republicans are starting to notice the violent hate vomiting forth from McCain supporters, and suggesting that McCain and Palin's silence is tacit approval, the campaign is predictably deploying the few-bad-apples defense and the all-purpose POW card.

Hey, it's not McCain's fault if a few rogue audience members get carried away when he and Palin equate Obama with terrorists, right? Besides, John McCain was a POW when George Wallace was spreading hatred, so he can't possibly be accused of that now.

McCain and Palin have completely ignored the yawps from the Republican id, with McCain making pleas for decency only in response to direct questions... and getting booed by his own supporters when he does. The Republican base is getting bolder and meaner, and McCain and Palin are either deliberately inflaming the situation, or have lost control of it.

As The Straitjacket Express hurtles ever faster towards the ditch, belching toxic plumes of race hatred and flop sweat, I find myself wondering just what it would take for the Palin/McCain ticket to eke out a victory in November. After much brain-wracking, I have come up with several possible scenarios. They don't all have to come true; two or three would probably be sufficient.

Jon Stewart's not taking sides, but...

There’s a certain delicious irony here:The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) will focus its limited resources on just a handful of GOP-held seats, if its first ad buys are any indication.

McCain did not hit the home run he needed.

How much liveblogging could a liveblogger liveblog, if a liveblogger could... umm... uh-oh.

The liveblogging cannot be stopped!

And yet still more liveblogging