SNL Does Biden v. Palin (with Ifill)

This is for the one of you who still hasn't seen this.



Source (11:40)

While Dan Was Away...

Back in August, Dan "Anti-Caption" Radosh took a vacation and irresponsibly left his terrific blog in the custody of a bunch of others, including yours truly and BAT contributor Deborah. I had a lot of fun contributing to the blog and collaborating with Deborah on a couple of very special posts. I also got a big kick out of reading everybody else's posts.

I think I noted here what was going on, but on reflection I probably should've encouraged you to check things out as they unfolded. Oh well. Anyway, to relive the experience, I recommend you start in the August archives on August 15 and work your way forward into the first days of September.

You'll find good stuff from everyone, but, for the record, here are my posts:

Today in "The Family Circus" (with Deborah)
Art Historians of the Future: The Artwork is Complex Shit
Obama-Biden: A Lookalike Ticket?
Today in "The Family Circus" (with Deborah)
Spanq? Quirigram?? Interroflip??? Curioso????
Protest Babes Worship Sun...and UFOs!
Gawker is Right

I also got a big kick out of this comic book-related post by TG Gibbon and the links to comic book cover galleries.

Here's one of the "Family Circus" parodies that didn't make it to Radosh.net.






















Illustration: David Marc Fischer and Deborah Grumet

The BAT Challenge: Palin or No Palin?

I was going to wait a few days for this, but I think I'd better take it head on now.

Here's the situation: John McCain had months to scour the nation for the very best veep candidate to fill out his ticket. For strategic reasons, he waited until after Barack Obama picked Joe Biden; then, out of millions of possible picks, McCain chose Sarah Palin, a former beauty queen and Alaskan city council member and mayor who is currently in her second year as Governor of Alaska. Days later, much of the world remains aghast at McCain's choice (she is unusually unqualified to be vice president) while a small number of Republican leaders and conservative pundits stupidly or disingenuously try to paint her as the greatest vice presidential pick ever!

As Gothamist put it: "When asked by Good Morning America if 'she were the president on 9/11, you would have been confident?' [overrated creep Rudy] Giuliani said, 'I'd be confident that she'd be able to handle it. She's been a governor of a state, she's been mayor of a city.'" As you might recall, Rudy was similarly enthusiastic in in support of Bernard Kerik when the George Bush nominated the unusually unqualified Kerik to be Secretary of Homeland Security.

So what's it gonna be then, eh? Will Sarah Palin be a Kerik or a Harriet Miers, paraded as "the best possible choice for the job" before vanishing from consideration? Or will she be a Dan Quayle, another in a series of extreme right-wing nincompoops the Republicans pretend is actually qualified to be on a Presidential ticket?

This will be an open-ended BAT Challenge that could run through Election Day [though you should get your guesses in by 11:59pm EST on September 9, 2008]. The issues to be addressed:

1. Palin will/will not stay on the ticket.
2. Palin will be off the ticket as of [date]/She will remain on the ticket.
3. Palin will be replaced by [name]/Don't you get it? She's on the ticket to stay!

To count, your guesses must appear at least 24 hours before Palin leaves the ticket (if she leaves the ticket). Anyone who guesses today will get a free pass on the timing issue. A point goes to the highest scorer(s); another point goes to the player(s) who do better than I do. Leave your guesses in the comments, using a distinct moniker so we can tell you apart from the other players.

Enjoy—and God Bless America!

Photo: David Marc Fischer

Breaking: It's Biden, Says CNN

See the story here.

Read ABC News, Washington Post, New York Times....

UPDATE (4:35am) See the artwork!

UPDATE (4:52am) The Obama text message seems to have gone out by 3:14am ET, though it seems not everyone received it by then.