Weekend Update - "Bunch of Malarkey" Edition

(Been busy taking care of a good friend who just had back surgery.  Seems to me that older people - my age - can and probably will get all sorts of ailments, like arthritis and fallen arches and unexplained shortness of breath, and we generally work through them or take ibuprofen and brandy until it goes away.  But when your back goes, it's pretty much all over, life-style wise.  My friend Jodi is a singer and is my age and we've known each other for 30+ years, and we've made music together and had many wonderful adventures together - we "did" the 80's together, if you know what I mean - and I hate to see what this back thing is doing to her.  It's making her look her age.  Before the surgery she was in constant pain, some days better, most days worse, bent over and not in the best of moods.  Immediately after the surgery it was more pain, sometimes absolutely excruciating, only helped by drool inducing pain medication.  She seems to be getting better each day now, after the operation.  And that's a good goddamn thing, because I wonder if she can take much more.  I hate getting old.  I hate that my friend has to go through this.  In spite of the fact that I'm not in any way a religious person, I pray that this operation helps her stand up straight again, without pain.  As the old saying goes, life is, indeed, a bitch.  But I digress ...)

• Associated Press photographer Evan Vucci snapped the photo of Mitt Romney you see on the right, and it's kinda funny I suppose, as the little girl was really excited that Mitt was about to sit next to her for some reason or other, but Bill O'Reilly got all kerfluffed and pissed off and demanded that AP apologize immediately.  Did I mention that Bill O'Reilly is a idiot?
• Remember when Joe Biden got to debate the little empty-headed cheerleader from Alaska named Sarah Palin?  I'm sure he had fun.  Well, he had fun once again in his latest debate.  Paul Ryan's smiling, doe-eyed, zombie-faced look did nothing to hide his desperation as he attempted to lie his way through the facts of life once again.  If you watched the debate, you know, regardless of your political leanings.  If you missed it, here's a great report from Charles Pierce that pretty much sums it up.  (Also, see Arthur's post, below)
• Ever heard of the "Gish Gallop?"  Neither had I, but apparently it's a debate tactic created by creationist Duane Gish, that involves spewing so much bullshit in such a short span that your opponent can’t address it all, let alone counter all of it. "To make matters worse a Gish Gallop will often have one or more 'talking points' that has a tiny core of truth to it, making the person rebutting it spend even more time debunking it in order to explain that, yes, it's not totally false but the Galloper is distorting/misusing/misstating the actual situation."  Does anything about all this remind you of the Obama/Romney Debate the other night?