If this is an open thread, then let me open by wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.

Except for those terrorists in India, who should die slow, painful deaths and then rot in Hell.

And except for Donald Rumsfeld, who is a first-class jerk.

I can't be the only person who did a doubletake at Obama's speechwriter's name. He must be a really busy guy, what with directing Iron Man this summer and all. ;-)

Jon Favreau is writing speeches for Obama? are you sure? I haven't heard Obama say "that's so money" once.

If anyone's interested, there are photos/video up at HuffPo on the Chicago food bank today.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/26/obama-familys-thanksgivin_n_146725.html

Doghouse Riley, at Bats Left, Throws Right, has posted a pretty devastating take down of Slate's piece on Rumsfeld.

Shorter Doghouse:
Slate could do a world of good by not misrepresenting Rumsfeld's failures in order to make itself feel better about the Iraq invasion.

Anyone see any good movies lately?

I enjoyed myself today. A loud-mouthed but fairly intelligent McCain supporter was where I was.
I got to use some great jokes and come-backs.

He said Obama was going to be tested in his first 6 months. I said, well--
McCain is going to be tested for his prostate.

Then I asked how the Republican Party was like a turkey. He had no clue.
All white meat and a right wing. ha ha ha

And as he left, I was able to say---have a great 8 years.

It was awesome.

Have a great 8 years. PRICELESS!!

Anything to add? -- Benen

You betcha! How on earth could you have missed the best/funniest piece of news of the day? Via Think Progress/Think Fast:

http://www.nypost.com/seven/11252008/gossip/pagesix/we_hear_______we_hear_140601.htm

Steve, I just hope you take tomorrow off, after posting an open-item thread, of course. :) You've worked so much the last few months, take a break and luxuriate in your accomplishments. I know that I'm thankful for your posts. They helped keep me sane when those around me tried to drive me insane (intentionally or not).

Happy Turkey Day to all!!

Exlibra, thanks for the link. I love it! Ann Coulter having her jaw wired shut. What a hoot!!

Here's a clickable link for the rest of you.

Serves frankin right - he dismissed all talk about election fraud, even when the evidence was starting to mount.

Hey, frank - looks at our dysfuntional elections. Do you think now can support a movement towards free, fair, and open elections?

If not, then this is exactly what you deserve - having an election stolen right from under your nose.

Say, buddy, how does it feel?

Have a great Thanksgiving, Steve, and all you commenters and readers.

Steve, try to take a couple hours off tomorrow, will ya? We'll forgive you. Then you can resume your 18 hour a day schedule on Friday, all rested up.

So who's right hook broke Ann Coulter's jaw?

She bit off more than she could chew?

She tripped roller blading?

We must have follow ups!

Given from the link:
U.S. Stock Markets Rise in Afternoon Trading

By Heather Landy
Special to The Washington Post
Wednesday, November 26, 2008; 4:24 PM

NEW YORK, Nov. 26 -- Stocks gained for the fourth straight day as optimism about the Obama administration's handling of the economy outweighed a flurry of discouraging economic data
...

OK, that is an interesting influence for PE Obama to have, considering the horrible characterizations of him put out by the rightwing media Wurlitzer (Rush, Hannity, Beck, Coulter, Faux/WSJ etc. and even the MSM water carriers) during the campaign and after. Those framings surely scared lots of investors (like the ones who got scary e-missives from Ann Coulter about having to take drastic action to save their investments, etc) and likely brought the market down greatly before the recent upturn.

So, ... therefore: we can blame that right wing media for much of the big declines in the markets in the bad stretch earlier, because they pumped up the idea of how horrible and leftist Obama would be, and spooked investors! Let's spread that meme around ...

delver in VA

This, from Sullivan, reveals an unfortunate credit problem with government bailout efforts:

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/11/the-catch.html

Ja! Ja! Jawohl mein Kapitan!

Reading over Sullivan's Von Hoffmann Award Nominees today has been pretty amusing.

And in the spirit of Sully's Von Hoffmanns...

Did anyone see the vid of various brutes scorning, sneering, and scoffing at Peter Schiff's economic predictions in 2006-7?

http://www.boingboing.net/2008/11/24/in-2007-pundits-scof.html

What is it about arrogant stupidity in hindsight that makes it so humorously appealing? Mayhap it the pure essence of schadenfreude?

I remember there was a conservative in the film "The Corporation" who expressed the desire to have every inch of the world privatized. It's not hard to deduce that the Bush administration does like increased greenhouse gas emissions. Clean air would be privatized and in the hands of Bush "base" etc.

I looked it up and "down low" means "in private" or "in secret" (which is the way I also understood it) as well as "secret sex between black men,"which I admit was a new meaning of the term for me, also. So, I'm not sure if this was a fair cop on the NRO.

Checked out the Von Hoffman awards but didn't get much -- your link points to a guy who predicted a "McGovern candidacy" for Obama. Must not have been paying attention. The name, however, does reference Nick Von Hoffman, likely the best columnist the WaPo ever had. Sullivan, OTOH, has two-and-a-half ideas: everyone should be gay and Republican but support Obama. Hope he didn't hurt himself. Based on the available facts at the time, VH's Afghantistan prediction was accurate. Sully was right once; VH has had a career of being right, going back to the hippies. Sullivan isn't fit to tie Von Hoffman's shoes.

TO ALL Intelligent services, CIA, SCOTLAND YARD, ETC, please WAKE UP, all the mess up around the world, india, thailand, etc, created by CHINA, they want to take over the business in the world, by attacking those countries, the western will move their business and economy activities to CHINA. They want to CONTROL THE WORLD. NOW CHINA ALREADY THE BIGGEST HOLDER OF US BONDS. WAKE UP ..... blaming to Islamic mujahideen etc, is easy way, but CIA, ETC with smart people there and deep analysist should know, the party behind these all is CHINA. Also, when all western countries busy with Islamic terorist, etc, CHINA WILL MOVE QUIETLY WITH THEIR AGENDA, NOBODY WATCHING THEM. WAKE UP....

Glorious artist has already illustrated Obama at food bank! In America, President serve food to you!

To continue my comments above about the war and terors around the world, everyday killing in Iraq must be created by China too, IRAQ people don't kill their own people,for what? Muslim don't kill their muslim brothers, same case in AFGANISHTAN and PALESTINE, to make The US, EU, the world busy and using their sources until they finish and get to economic problems like what happened already... The China hired these patriotic muslim people, who don't think deep, instruct them by phone or email, and send the money to their account, I am sure they never see the TOP LEADER, instructions given to the Puppet leader must be in ENGLISH. OSAMA BIN LADEN enjoys the publication because it makes his organization looks BIG. US World Trade Center attack,must be by them too. WAKE UP LEADER

Paul Bond, the right wing reporter for the Hollywood Reporter, is pushing the "Fairness Doctrine" innaccuracies:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27928193/

we better get on the tinatic because sinking is rising on saturday morning!,

Tabby: The Tinatic is where right wingers keep their semi-precious metals. And Jock itch medicine. Otherwise, your metaphor was just hard to follow due to its high-speed blending of subject matter. Probably a drinker, eh?

The elite shadowy party overlords thank you for choosing one of the only two appropriate and corporate media approved political parties.

If you poor suckers didn't willingly divide on party lines to be conquered, the elite oligarchy would have a much tougher time waging illegal wars, and killing the middle class with NAFTA.

" The FBI warned of a 'plausible but unsubstantiated' threat of a terrorist bomb attack against the New York train system."

Everyone be afraid. Be very afraid. This is obviously yet another Bush misadministration shiny object to distract us from noticing that they're trying to stick it to us once again. Keep your eyes open, and maybe one of us can discover what horrible thing they're covering up this time.

I miss the old Tom Ridge days. The color code was so entertaining.

To Jon Favreau: Your first assignment as Obama speechwriter should be to find an alternative term for "the American people." That phrase has been so run into the ground, by politicians of all parties and ideologies, that whenever I hear it -- no matter who says it -- my, pardon the phrase, bullshit detector automatically goes up. Find a term that will make us less cynical.

on the subject of the von hoffmann awards...i've got the winner...

it's a hardcover book ...an actual physical object...not a mere blogpost or comment on a cable show....but a book....

"A bound man : why we are excited about Obama and why he can't win." by Shelby Steele.
New York : Free Press, 2008.