http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sZJnlyQ3CQ

hawt.

Also, read Natalia’s piece here. Really. You must.

rtwt @funrama “Palin more totally awesome then I expected” C’mon people.Don’t fall for that bo-honk. Put down your white flag of surrender!   about 12 hours ago  from web

I don’t know if you know this, Sarah Palin, but the rest of America doesn’t like hockey as much as you and I do. about 12 hours ago from web

Mike Murphy on MSNBC: good point. if you disliked Palin before, you dislike her more now. if you liked her before, you like her more. about 12 hours ago from web

Ooooh Obama commercial on taxing health benefits! Good one, Barack! #vpdebate about 12 hours ago from web

Pat Buchanan is a moron   about 12 hours ago  from web

Ifill to Biden: You did great. about 12 hours ago from web

Palin to Ifill: That was hard! about 12 hours ago from web

I kind of love Joe Biden right now. But I’m also a wee bit drunk. about 13 hours ago from web

thank god fight wasn’t on our drinking list. about 13 hours ago from web

way to blame Katie Couric for you sounding stupid, Palin #vpdebate about 13 hours ago from web

Biden gets the last closing statement. Good one. about 13 hours ago from web

Joe Biden’s biggest selling point for me is that you can tell he really cares about things. #vpdebate about 13 hours ago from web

Twitterverse: Gwen Ifill is better than Jim Lehrer. True/false? about 13 hours ago from web

“Maverick he is not.” Damn right, Joe. #vpdebate about 13 hours ago from web

yes, leave is exactly what we need to do with McCain #vpdebate about 13 hours ago from web

goddamnit maverick does NOT trump being a single dad. #vpdebate   about 13 hours ago  from web

ok that just warmed my feminist heart. about 13 hours ago from web

“The notion that because I’m a man that I don’t know what it’s like to raise two kids…” good for you, BIden! #vpdebate about 13 hours ago from web

special needs child again, #palinshot   about 13 hours ago  from web

she’s repeating herself about 13 hours ago from web

talk nerdy to me, Joe. Unitary executive. mmm. #vpdebate about 13 hours ago from web

his or her. good man, Joe #vpdebate about 13 hours ago from web

retweet @wendyisawesome the vice president waits for the president to die. fact. about 13 hours ago from web

executive experience #palinshot about 13 hours ago from web

oh shit she just said she agreed with Dick about 13 hours ago from web

her beauty pageant queen waves   about 13 hours ago  from web

special needs children! #palinshot about 13 hours ago from web

@artemna yes. drink. drink heavily. it’s the only way to stand this. about 13 hours ago from web in reply to artemna

how are you going to pay those teachers more with all those tax breaks? #vpdebate about 13 hours ago from web

doggone it #palinshot about 13 hours ago from web

maverick! #palinshot about 13 hours ago from web
Biden just sounds much more sincere than she does. #vpdebate   about 13 hours ago  from web

retweet @bfp john mccain was punched in the ass with a saber. I’ve seen the scars, damnit. vote for mccain! MCCAIN 08   about 13 hours ago  from web

and Joe BIden voted for the war.   about 13 hours ago  from web

Oh, Christ, “washington outsider”   about 13 hours ago  from web

Yes, Genocide about 13 hours ago from web

do you, twitterverse, think that the folks at home want to strangle Gov. Palin as badly as we do? about 13 hours ago from web
Petraeus, not McClellan #vpdebate about 13 hours ago from web

Joe is doing an excellent job of boiling shit down to 30 second talking points. #vpdebate about 13 hours ago from web

there is no safe stable way to use “nukeyeler” weapons about 13 hours ago from web

I don’t want the country to come first. I wanna come first. damnit. about 13 hours ago from web

maverick! #palinshot about 13 hours ago from web

OK. Forgive me for what I’m about to say. She’s such a BITCH! about 13 hours ago from web

Oh, let’s not talk the blame game please. #vpdebate about 13 hours ago from web

retwt @wendyisawesome you know what ws a cute idea? wilson’s league of nations the idea that through diplomacy we might never have war again about 13 hours ago from web

second Holocaust about 13 hours ago from web

He really cares about this stuff. You can tell. #vpdebate about 13 hours ago from web

@sylviasrevenge fuckin’ A right. about 13 hours ago from web in reply to sylviasrevenge

Women’s rights reference #Palinshot about 13 hours ago from web

they hate our freedom! about 13 hours ago from web

thank you, Gwen! about 13 hours ago from web

let’s talk naivete, eh, Sarah? about 13 hours ago from web

she can pronounce Ahmadinejad but not nuclear? about 13 hours ago from web

did she just say she’d believe the leader of Al-Qaeda? about 13 hours ago from web

retweet @bfp Icon_red_lock oh, joe got his six pack muscles out. Gawd love ‘em! 13 hours ago  from web

YES. Let’s talk Pakistan. about 13 hours ago from web

Biden is for real when he mentions his son. #vpdebate about 13 hours ago from web

that’s right, Biden. Hammer that shit home. #vpdebate about 13 hours ago from web

the Iraqi government wants us out, beeyatch. about 13 hours ago from web

“Fundamental difference. We will end this war” 20 points, Biden. #vpdebate about 13 hours ago from web

“Gwen, with all due respect, I didn’t hear a plan” good for you, Joe #vpdebate about 13 hours ago from web

How are we going to win in Iraq, Sarah? #vpdebate about 13 hours ago from web

oh, points for Sarah turning Biden’s comments against him. about 13 hours ago from web

damnit, Gwen. I was feeling good about Biden’s answer. about 13 hours ago from web

look at the change from 4 years ago. She has to make sure that she says she’s tolerant and supports benefits for same-sex couples. about 13 hours ago from web

“I am tolerant” fuck right off, Palin. about 13 hours ago from web

That was probably the clearest declaration of support for same-sex couples I’ve ever heard from a major party candidate. #vpdebate about 13 hours ago from web

YES about 13 hours ago from web

oooooho shit yeah let’s talk same-sex benefits! #vpdebate about 13 hours ago from web

nukyeler #vpdebate about 13 hours ago from web

he even corrected himself when he referred to her as Sarah Palin. good man. #vpdebate about 13 hours ago from web

retweet @wendyisawesome sarah sounds like she’s talking to children. that offends me as a voter. about 13 hours ago from web

@sylviasrevenge E.C.F.U. Sarah Palin about 13 hours ago from web in reply to sylviasrevenge

ooh, climate change #vpdebate   about 13 hours ago  from web

East coast politicians #palinshot about 13 hours ago from web

Gwen, stop letting her change the subject! #vpdebate about 13 hours ago from web

@luckywhitegirl I know. let’s get her drunk. about 13 hours ago from web in reply to luckywhitegirl

main street #palinshot about 13 hours ago from web

rear that head!!! #palinshot about 13 hours ago from web

good god, woman, will you answer any of the fucking questions they ask you? about 13 hours ago from web

Go, Joe, say nice things to her and rip on McCain. ten points. #vpdebate about 13 hours ago from web

she’s getting mad. #vpdebate about 13 hours ago from web

that’s why they all love you so much, Sarah about 13 hours ago from web

there we go right into the camera, Joe. about 13 hours ago from web

ok, that was GOOD, Joe. about 13 hours ago from web

oooooh here we go! that’s right, Joe, you talk about that tax plan #vpdebate about 14 hours ago from web

and Obama doesn’t have mandates, that was the Clinton plan, #vpdebate about 14 hours ago from web

yes, but he’s proposed taxing the benefits people get from their employers. about 14 hours ago from web

notice that if Joe Biden referred to her as “Sarah” he’d be sexist. about 14 hours ago from web

oh shit she said redistribution of wealth about 14 hours ago from web

is raising taxes class warfare just pops up on the screen. No, MSNBC, the corporate tax breaks and taxing health benefits are class warfare. about 14 hours ago from web

oooooooooh, Biden, I likes you tonight. #vpdebate about 14 hours ago from web

she’s just throwing out the key words and hoping they stick.   about 14 hours ago  from web

job creation….shit, I’ve won Palin Bingo already. about 14 hours ago from web

Darn right again #Palinshot about 14 hours ago from web

I am proud of Biden so far. #vpdebate about 14 hours ago from web

hockey mom! #palinshot about 14 hours ago from web

she looks like she’s reading off a teleprompter #vpdebate about 14 hours ago from web

something new and different is McCain? about 14 hours ago from web

maverick! #palinshot about 14 hours ago from web

Biden’s doing what he needs to be doing–hammering McCain. #vpdebate about 14 hours ago from web

#suspend the campaign, eh? about 14 hours ago from web

here comes the folksy shit. about 14 hours ago from web

main street! #bidenshot about 14 hours ago from web

so far, so good Joe #vpdebate about 14 hours ago from web

and Biden indeed has a spray tan about 14 hours ago from web

popcorn is popped, champagne is chillin’, STFU, Chris Matthews. about 14 hours ago from web

“Narrowing a complex situation down to two and only two sides…defines the politics and power that is likely to follow” about 21 hours ago from txt

Newman’s popcorn for debate night…it only seems appropriate. about 21 hours ago from txt

In any case, though I love Rachel (and to a lesser extent, Olbermann), I must admit that this ain’t journalism and it isn’t a step forward for the journalistic profession as such.

It’s punditry, of course, just like FOX News. The dangerous thing about it, just like the dangerous thing about the blogosphere, is that it leads you to think everyone is thinking like you.

I watch Rachel for the laughs, and because she is in fact quite bright and backs up her sources. Because she’s a young, smart, liberal woman who’s an out lesbian with her own prime-time news commentary show, and that makes me happy.

I don’t believe in “objective” journalism. I believe in transparency. I believe that it’s impossible to hide your opinion, to pretend that you don’t have a horse in the race. If you’re a human being, you’re going to have an opinion, you’re going to be swayed one way or another. It’s just not possible. And thus I think that it’s better to be out in the open about it.

Still, I get my news from NPR, which of any American news outlet seems to come the closest to the “objective” ideal. That doesn’t mean they don’t call out bullshit when they see it–listen to the hilarity when actual lipstick was applied to an actual pig. Even objectivity doesn’t mean some sort of mythic balance between two sides.

It should mean finding the truth.

Anyway, I appreciate Rachel Maddow because she usually has backup for her sources, and her opinions are clearly that–opinions.

My dream media landscape would include much more public funding for NPR and PBS, enough to make them truly competitive news sources. Because not-for-profit news is the only way we’re going to get truly disinterested (at least financially–the reporters and producers will always be human and thus never truly disinterested) news. Then MSNBC and FOX and whoever else wants to get into the game can put out whatever kind of news and commentary they want, because there would be something to check it against.

Of course, the calls of liberal bias on NPR wouldn’t stop, not when Republicans have found it such an effective campaign strategy. But a recent study (Kull, Ramsay and Lewis, “Misperceptions, The Media, and the Iraq War”) found that NPR and PBS consumers had the fewest misperceptions about the Iraq war–and that having those misperceptions contributed to the likelihood of supporting the war, and of voting for Bush.

Anyway, that’s my dream.

Most of you regular readers know that I’m working on my master’s in journalism. Yet very little of what I do currently is actually journalism. I blog. I write op-eds for Global Comment. I write about comic books, movies, and pop music. Very little of that is real journalism. I suppose that when I do an actual interview with a comics writer (like this one) that might count, but I don’t really flatter myself that it has a huge effect on the world.

Not to denigrate the impact of art–I think art and music, literature and film can have a huge impact on the world, and it’s one of the reasons that I return over and over again to writing fiction. Willow Wilson’s AIR and Brian Wood’s DMZ, Warren Ellis’s BLACK SUMMER and Alan Moore’s V FOR VENDETTA and WATCHMEN all could conceivably change people’s minds about political issues, and for that comics are as valid as any other format. But when I’m writing about them? At best I’m a critic, at worst a glorified fangirl.

I’d love to do real journalism when I get out of school. Love to go write for one of the heavy magazines and do long, in-depth investigative pieces that require months of work at a time.

But it ain’t what I do now.

And it ain’t what Rachel Maddow is doing, either. Or Keith Olbermann or Chris Matthews or Bill O’Reilly or Sean Hannity or Brit Hume. At least not most of the time.

It’s a busy, busy week this week. My sister’s birthday is today, so I’m taking her out for dinner tonight, and then getting a good night’s sleep because it’ll be my last until Sunday.

Most importantly, tomorrow night is DEBATE NIGHT. I will be purchasing more cheap champagne and live-twittering. Going to see if I can change my Twitter widget to update in the main blog area instead of in my sidebar, so those of you who don’t stay up to watch the hilarity can read it all the next day.

Apparently, the format of the debate is going to favor Palin–no follow-up questions. I’ve elaborated several times as to why I think that this will also help Biden–he’s got to answer the damn question, and won’t have much time to snark at Palin. She, on the other hand, will be able to make her own self look, well, clueless.

I stood up for the woman in the beginning–certainly not for her policies, but at least for her not being as dumb as people wanted to think. But as time has gone on, while I still don’t think she’s dumb, she certainly has proven herself to be willfully uninformed. I still won’t compare her to the much-maligned Dan Quayle. We’ve got another one much closer: George W. Bush.

Remember Bush sneering at a journalist translating languages for him? Or his many mispronunciations or confusions of foreign officials (I seem to remember a story about Prime Minister Poutine? Oh, ye gods.) Remember Bush defining the word “Sovereignty” as “it’s sovereign”?

This kind of arrogant, oppressive ignorance seems to be fading from popularity, as Obama’s poll numbers seem to indicate. One of the things I do like about Obama is his tendency, from all reports, to sit back and listen when other people are talking, and to be willing to learn. Now, since by all accounts Palin is cramming for her debate like a high schooler for the SATs, one would assume that she’ll have learned something by then. After all, I spent 3 hours Monday morning boning up on my economic policy and all I had was Google and a friendly debate through IM. (I don’t have a solution to the problem, but I like the one Bernie Sanders proposed–surprise, surprise.)

Point being, if she wanted to learn this stuff,  it’s out there. She’s clearly not a stupid woman–she managed to get elected governor of Alaska without a dynasty behind her to shoehorn her into the seat. But she certainly didn’t count on being quizzed on federal-level policy this soon into her career, and it is pretty sad that even as a governor of a state she didn’t find it necessary to learn it.

Anyway, I’m honing my snark for tomorrow night. Until then, if you miss me, you can check out my Paul Newman piece, my first debate piece, my bailout piece, etc. at GlobalComment (plus read Renee’s stuff there, she’s excellent) and a bit of lighter fare: Janes in Love review at BUST and Black Summer review at Newsarama. And a bunch of junk on Tumblr.

He is hammering on Obama over the Pakistan comment because you don’t ADMIT that you are going to invade a sovereign nation.

God, they really think we’re all idiots, don’t they?

It’s the one with Sarah Silverman on the cover, and my friend and fabulous artist Molly Crabapple is also in there.