Let's get ready to rumble!

Who needs The Office when we have a decent chance of real, live, unintentionally-awkward humor from Biden and Palin? Gotta love Oliphant. 

McCain raises white flag in Michigan

Didn't see this coming a month before Election Day: the McCain campaign is pulling TV ads here, and McCain has canceled a planned stop in Plymouth next week. 

Reaction, Reporting the GR Rally

From the Associated Press:

The race's changing dynamics also appear to be giving Obama's supporters confidence. He drew a large crowd in downtown Grand Rapids that extended beyond the Secret Service checkpoints, despite temperatures in the 40s and the fact that the city is located in the heart of GOP territory.

From MLive:

Grand Rapids police estimated that 15,900 people attended the downtown rally, said Lt. Patrick Dean.

From the NY Times:

The turmoil in the markets seems to have buoyed the Obama campaign. Thousands turned out despite a gray chill, and when he began saying, “If I’m president,” they chanted, “When.”

He demurred. “I’m superstitious, folks.”

In case you missed the GR Rally

A link to the speech, both prepared and extemporaneous remarks, is here. 

GR Rally for Obama - Know Hope

Quite a turnout for Barack Obama this morning, and your humble blogger's son managed to get some great pics from 20 feet away. . . more to post later tonight.

100 years of lovable losers

This is NOT related to the Detroit Lions. I said "lovable" losers, not pathetic. The Chicago Cubs begin yet another quest to win their first World Series since 1908 tonight. The NY Times, home paper of two teams that didn't make the post-season, has a nifty feature on a century of baseball misery in Chicago.

Obama's GR Rally

So, who's going? If you get there, I'd love to hear about your experience. Pictures are welcome, too. This goes for former Lit Loungers in East Lansing, where the senator makes an appearance after his rally in GR.

And if you have pics from the McCain/Palin town hall meeting from two weeks ago, I'd love to see them as well!

Speaking of Salman - Your Banned Book of the Day

Twenty years ago, Salman Rushdie wrote The Satanic Verses, and he's glad he did, even though the resulting fatwa forced him into hiding for ten years.

Why you shouldn't flirt with a VP candidate

If you're the president of Pakistan, it could lead to a fatwa from one of your country's hard line mosques:

What did President Zardari do to draw such scorn? It might have been the "gorgeous" compliment he gave Ms. Palin when the two met at the UN last week during her meet-and-greet with foreign leaders ahead of Thursday's vice presidential debate with opponent Sen. Joe Biden, the Democratic vice presidential nominee.

But, as this article from the Christian Science Monitor explains, this fatwa isn't as threatening as the one that called for Salman Rushdie's death for The Satanic Verses:

Though fatwas, or religious edicts, can range from advice on daily life to death sentences, this one does not call for any action or violence.

Something for everyone

Is there anyone he doesn't appeal to?