the mental health break edition

So, the polls are looking good (*understatement*) and so let's take a breath before McCain/Palin start getting really, really ugly, and have a laugh and a smile.

Feel-good Video:

• The great Tina Fey skewers Sarah Palin a sketch about the VP debate. (Previous sketch with "Katie Couric" here.)

• Sarah Silverman urges all good Jewish grandchildren to make "the great schlep" to Florida to convince their nanas and their bubbies to vote for Obama. It's sweet and funny and a little bit crass, guaranteed for a laugh.

• Homer Simpson tries to vote for Obama--Diebold sounds evil, right?

• David Letterman goes after McCain again, in a new segment: "John McCain, Presidential Material" Hee hee!

• Sarah Palin's "debate flow chart." She her decision making process for yourself.

• A promo for a sure-to-be-a-hit movie: Sarah Palin, a la Disney Studios.

• The pundits are losing their patience: here, on CNN Jeffrey Toobin actually starts correcting his peers about the fact that McCain did not actually do anything to "suspend his campaign."

• Alright, it's not a video, but it's a pretty funny picture.

• And since we're posting picture, check out this one. The campaign's really gone to the dogs.

Stories to make you smile:

• A voter registration story from Carol, my mother-in-law--who rocks!!

As you may know, I have been registering folks to vote. Yesterday, I was at Walmart in Vero Beach, FL. I ask everyone going into the store if they are registered or need to change their address, etc. One man wearing a Marines cap and I assumed a Vietnam vet came out after grocery shopping and stopped by the table. He said "I am 58 years old and I have NEVER voted! Can you believe THAT? I want to vote." He filled out the registration form and checked the Democratic box. He turned around to get his cart with his groceries and it was gone! We looked all around for it and it was nowhere to be found. He talked to the baggers and they had not put it anywhere. Walmart gave him a couple of pizzas, but what a pathetic sign of the times. My heart broke for him. Every day I spend time registering folks, my heart is touched by someone:college students, parents, vets, senior citizens, immigrants, etc. It has really been an education for me and "all" I thought I was doing was volunteering to register folks to vote! There's a BIG difference between hearing the pundits on television talk about the economy and being in the midst of the reality on the street. My resolve has been made even stronger to work harder for Barack Obama!

Carol

P.S. There is no discussion of candidates when registering people.

I encourage you to get into the campaign too!

• Yes, Obama actually is a good person. He doesn't just play one on TV. Here's a heartwarming story about how he helped out a stranded traveler 20 years ago.

• Here's a story about one blogger's grandfather, who lived through the Great Depression and sees Obama for the leader he really is... Readers of the blog sent the old man hundreds of letters and postcards to express their appreciation, and here's the update.

Tools for you to use:

• Make sure you're registered to vote, or request an absentee ballot.
  
• Know your facts. Fight the smears corrects Obama's record against the McCain campaign, and others. And here's thirty refutations of the lies about Obama and William Ayers. There's a lot more crap getting ready to be flung, and we need to be prepared.
• Here's Obama's senate record, again.
• Know the myths. Here's the top five myths about McCain's maverickyness.
• Know the lies. Factcheck looks at the Palin-Biden debate. She lied, a lot. Big surprise. She even lied about calling for Alaska to "divest from Sudan" because of Darfur. In fact, her administration worked to block such divestment.
  
• And know that some Rethugs will do anything to suppress the vote--their leaders, like George Will, don't prefer "quality" over "quantity" when it comes to democracy--so get yourself and your friends prepared to vote, and don't be deterred!
  

Finally: please make a donation, if you can! We will win this by playing a better ground game--which is why McCain is playing defense in Indiana, North Carolina, and Virginia...and the ground game means lots of paid organizers to coordinate the hundreds of thousands of volunteers that we've got working all across the country...So far I've raised $115 for the campaign by writing this news digest--thank you to everyone who's given so far!!