I'm sure many of us caught news of the solar eclipse that was visible in many parts of the world today, from northern Canada across Greenland and into Russia, Mongolia, and China.

In keeping with their recent string of topical, rapid-fire, no-holds-barred attack ads, John McCain's campaign this afternoon released a brand new ad accusing Senator Barack Obama of causing the eclipse, thereby bringing darkness upon much of the globe.

The ad's full transcript, and a few screen captures, below the fold.

Seriously?  Obama picked [him/her]?!

In every year of my adult life when there has been a [presidential/congressional/senatorial/school board] election, I have tried not to [be a single-issue voter/threaten to vote for the Republican out of spite/jump off a bridge over one soundbite/get stuck in the voting booth].

But this time around, I'm [putting my foot down/drawing the line/saying "enough's enough"/having a sandwich].

My reasons are beyond the [jump/pale], if you'd care to [follow/ignore/hide-rate] me.  

Hey Republicans, what was that about "frivolous lawsuits"?

Yes, these are the times that try wealthy Republican offspring.

Andrew Giuliani- son of Rudolph "Rudy" 9iu11ani- is suing Duke University after he was kicked off the golf team.

The young Giuliani filed a 198-page (!) lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Durham, N.C., claiming that coach O. D. Vincent III has disrupted Giuliani's progress toward becoming a professional golfer.

That's right.  The Pork Invaders are coming, and only you can help John McCain fend them off!

Yes, it's the latest craze for all you McCainiacs out there, and it's available by going here and scrolling down.

This is people-powered politics.  People.

Using only your thumb and forefinger, you can protect the... space immediately below the "McCain 2008" cursor/shooter thingy by zapping all that menacing pork with a McCain VETO laser.

(Seriously.  And incidentally, the Comments are worth a click, too.)

But if you think Pork Invaders will be the first and last McCainovision video game, I have great news, or- as the case may be- just awful news.

Hi there.  I've been visiting this fine site regularly for quite a while now, and I have never been more disappointed with the level and direction of the discourse on these pages than I am right now, at this moment.

I think you all know what I mean.  (If not, examples are here, here, and of course, here.)

And while I apologize for adding to the growing list of posts bemoaning the aforementioned "other" diaries and their off-putting invectives, I do thank you for allowing me the opportunity to get this off my chest.

That said, without further ado, with it being way too tense around here- particularly for a Friday- I'd like to offer some mindless distraction by getting, at last, to my point.  Follow me to the flip, if ye wouldst.

When I'm not meandering through the posts and diaries and comments of this site, I'm usually visiting only a handful of other sites.  One of them is ESPN.com.

I go there for sports stories (duh), so it's always a little surprising when news and commentary from outside the sports continuum make it onto their pages.

If this has been diaried already, I will happily delete this, but it struck me as interesting that Steve Capus, the freaking president of NBC News, would publicly state the following about Bill O'Reilly:

"I think it’s really kind of sad and pathetic, some of the things that he’s been lobbing at us these days."

Join me on the other side, won't you?

Updated to add question at the end.-- JRH


My fellow Americans, Kossacks, trolls, gnomes, pie lovers, and hangers-on:

I, J R Hand, regret to inform you that after much soul searching, hand shaking, baby kissing, image repackaging, and baby slobber removal, I have decided not to seek the Democratic nomination for President of the United States, be it in 2008 or in any subsequent multiple of 4.  

Please follow me beyond the flip, and into the darkness of What Could Have Been...

"I listen to my Democratic friends and I wonder if they're more interested in protecting the terrorists than protecting the American people."
-- House Majority Leader John Boehner, Tuesday, 9/12/06

"...Suggestions, for example, that we should withdraw U.S. forces from Iraq, simply feed into that whole notion, validates the strategy of the terrorists."  
-- Vice President Dick Cheney on Meet the Press, Sunday, 9/10/06

"With the growing lethality and the increasing availability of weapons, can we truly afford to believe that somehow, some way, vicious extremists can be appeased?"  
-- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Tuesday, 8/29/06

I have a confession to make.  I give up.  They nailed me.

I support the terrorists.

Holy shit, so that "Mission Accomplished" banner was exclusively intended for just those on that aircraft carrier?

The flight suit, the G.I. Joe entrance, the television cameras, none of this was intended to speak to the rest of us in any way?

Wow.  Well, with this new perspective in mind, join me on the flip for a revised edition of selected excerpts from the President's "Mission Accomplished" address.