Metroland

That No-Good Socialist Commie Fellow Traveler

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

hat tip: Alicublog.

Somebody Tell Jerry

Here's the NY Times story on our new Senator. It includes this helpful info:

Ms. Gillibrand (pronounced JILL-uh-brand)

Somebody let Mayor Jennings in on this. On Paul Vandenburgh's show this AM, he kept saying her name with a hard "G"--you know, like Gilligan.

Rolling Out the Door

I am sorry to hear that the soon-to-be-ex-Vice President hurt himself, but why does the prospect of Dick Cheney in a wheelchair make me think of this guy?

UPDATE: Cheney on wheels makes Atrios think of this dude:

What's Up, Chuck?

Kevin Drum finds a nugget in the NYT about our own Sen. Schumer, and writes:

    "When it comes to workplace regulation, they're on the side of workers. When it comes to consumer regulation, they're on the side of consumers. But when it comes to financial regulation they're....um — well, they've been mostly on about the same side as Republicans. It's true that the fanatics are largely on the GOP side, but they've been aided and abetted the entire time by a Democratic Party that went along with their self-regulation agenda with almost nary a complaint. This has truly been a bipartisan train wreck."

"Do You Want to End Up Like Bush?"

The historically low approval rating is one thing. Being the punchline of a back-and-forth between the French and Russians is another:

"With Russian tanks only 30 miles from Tbilisi on August 12, Mr Sarkozy told Mr Putin that the world would not accept the overthrow of Georgia's Government. According to Mr Levitte, the Russian seemed unconcerned by international reaction. 'I am going to hang Saakashvili by the balls,' Mr Putin declared.

Mr Sarkozy thought he had misheard. 'Hang him?'-- he asked. 'Why not?' Mr Putin replied. 'The Americans hanged Saddam Hussein.'

Mr Sarkozy, using the familiar tu, tried to reason with him: 'Yes but do you want to end up like [President] Bush?' Mr Putin was briefly lost for words, then said: 'Ah--you have scored a point there.' "

Top Prediction for the Future Where We Will All Live

Fun prediction from the Corner: the great seer, Jonah Goldberg.

Field Guide

OK. We'll get through this.

At Huffington Post, Thomas Edsall has a pretty good "election night for dummies"-style guide. Money quotes:

"If Obama carries either Georgia or Indiana, look for a big Democratic night all around. If he carries both (along with Virginia), Republicans should consider turning on the gas and closing the windows."

and

"Conversely, if McCain carries Virginia, Indiana and Georgia, plan to stay up a little later."

Other stuff:

Polls.

CNN has this fun thingy that lets you track up to 35 of your favorite races.

Fun! The investigators Sarah Palin handpicked to investigate Sarah Palin have cleared Sarah Palin. Yay!

These guys are probably drunk already. Or will be by the time the tension starts getting really bad.

So, DID YOU VOTE YET? Isn't it sweet we still use these . . .

Hey New Yorkers

THE POLLS OPEN AT 6 AM.

Karnak Spoke

Atrios is having fun with douchy predictions from earlier in the year:

[NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg] look like the most viable third-party candidate since Teddy Roosevelt. But Bloomberg will come up short, as he comes in for withering attacks from both Democrats and Republicans. He and Clinton will split more than 50% of the votes, but Arizona's maverick senator, John McCain, will end up the country's next President.

There a bit of revisionism Atrios missed making fun of: Business Week erasing Ross Perot's 1992 run. According to a Time/CNN poll in May 1992, Perot led with 33 percent, followed by Bush with 28 percent, and Clinton with 24 percent. Before he flaked out and dropped out (before dropping back in), Perot had an excellent chance to win. Which Teddy Roosevelt did not.

UPDATE: Here's an interesting read from Jan. 2007.

Guess Who's Running For President

RALPH NADER.

He's speaking at the Egg tonight. You can read all about it in next week's dead-tree Metroland.

Trumpeter Chris Botti is also at the Egg tonight. I'll report on who's in the Hart and who's in the Swyer.

UPDATE: Nader was in the 450-seat Swyer, which was filled almost to capacity.