Former “Dancing with the Stars” star Bristol Palin got so much attention on April 30 in Washington, D.C. at an after party for the White House Correspondents Association dinner because her face got a more angled jaw and sharpened chin.

She told US Weekly a while ago, “I had corrective jaw surgery.”

She added, “Yes. It improved the way I look, but this surgery was necessary for medical reasons…so my jaw and teeth could properly realign…I don’t obsess over my face. I am absolutely thrilled with the results. I look older, more mature, and don’t have as much of a chubby little baby face!”

However, her mother Sarah Palin recently told the source, “It’s not plastic surgery.”

Social media is praised for its role in bringing people from all walks of life, from all over the world, together in one forum to discuss and debate both public and private matters.

But when Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona was shot in the head today at a Safeway in Tucson, the ugly side of social media reared its head. Take a look at this comment left on Sarah Palin‘s Facebook page, where she posted condolences to Giffords’ family after the shooting. It’s from Facebook/Twitter user Mark Kerr:

“Go, Sarah! Gifford deserved to die. She was a liberal, a Jew, a health care reformer, an enemy of the NRA, pro abortion and pro gay. What happened to the map? One down and 16 to go.”

The map Kerr is referring to is a map Palin previously posted on her website, SarahPAC.com, that used crosshair-like symbols to pinpoint each House Democrat who voted for health care reform and was up for re-election in November’s midterms.

Gifford was on the list, which can be found here. The map has since been taken off Palin’s website.

On Twitter, many have made up their minds that Palin is to blame. The following is from Tom Colicchio:

“Sarah Palin had Rep Gifford in her crosshairs. She is now officially dangerous.”

The shooting has quickly become, at least on social media, a fight between the left and right, and an excuse for many anti-Palin citizens to speak their minds about her rhetoric.

Markos Moulitsas, founder of the progressive political website The Daily Kos, posted this tweet not long ago:

“Mission accomplished, Sarah Palin, http://is.gd/knNgl“

The link above leads to a blog post regarding Palin’s map of health care reform-supporting House Democrats.

His tweet quickly got a response from conservative Andrew Breitbart:

“For the love of God, @markos. Stop it. Don’t go there, trust me. Trust me. Trust me. You will not like the blow-back, I assure you.”

Many are criticizing the reaction, calling for everyone to be tactful during this time of crisis, especially since we now know a 9-year-old was tragically shot dead during the attack.

UPDATE 9:08 p.m. ET: The author of the infamous comment posted on Sarah Palin’s Facebook, Mark Kerr, has stated, repeatedly, on his Twitter account that he was being sarcastic. Click here to see.

Jennifer Grey won! Kyle Massey was the second, and third prize went to Bristol Palin.

The show did not end up turning into a popularity show, which some people were worried about since Palin, not really a talented dancer, was mainly backed up by her mother’s supporters, and if she won, it would not be a dancing contest.

Grey commented regarding the results: “I didn’t think I was going to compete tonight. And I’m really glad I did!” Grey cried after being
announced as the winner as she jumped into Hough’s arms.

According to TLC, “Sarah Palin’s Alaska” was considered as the most watched series premiere in the network’s history, which drew 5 million viewers.

However, the second episode fell a 40 percent, to 3 million total viewers Sunday night. The episode earned a 2.2 household rating. Of those viewers, the 18-49 demo dropped 44 percent from the premiere.

Although the first week got 1.6 million viewers, the second episode only attracted 885,000, who are in the age 18-49 range. The median age of the show is currently 57, which is 15 years older than TLC’s usual median age of 42.

Sarah Palin, former Alaska Governor and 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee, addresses the Tea Party Express rally on the Common. (Steve Klise/Berkeley Beacon)

The Big Apple Circus is set up in Government Center, but the elephants and tumblers were merely a sideshow to the political theatrics unfolding on Boston Common today. The Tea Party Express rolled into town today, bringing throngs of anti-tax, anti-big government Massachusetts residents out of the cracks and crevices of the bluest state in the Union.

At center stage Wednesday was one Sarah Palin, the half-term former governor of Alaska who has recently become the public face and mouthpiece of the Tea Party Movement, which began during the 2008 election largely perceived as a radical fringe movement just angry at government in general — party notwithstanding. Today, given the fact that Palin, a Republican, is its spokeswoman, it’s safe to say the Tea Partiers have moved more in the direction of mainstream conservatism.

Palin took the stage at around 10:30 a.m. in front of an energetic crowd of sign-waving spectators. One day before tax returns are due, Palin immediately spoke out against the tax system, of course singling out what she believes are unfair tax burdens on Americans and their children.

"Americans now spend 100 days out of the year working for government before we even start working for ourselves," she said. "Goldberg just wrote that we are now headed toward being a country where instead of the people deciding how much money our government has, now it’s our government deciding how much money the people can have. That’s backwards, and we’re going to turn that around."

Many in the crowd waved small Gadsden Flags from 1775 which read, "Don’t Tread on Me," insinuating that the government treads on Americans with unfair taxes and expensive legislation. Palin singled out both the record-setting budget approved by the Obama administration earlier this year and, of course, health care reform.

"They’re obviously digging us into a deeper, darker hole, and that is insane," she said, "with their record-busting $3.8 trillion federal budget and their trillion-dollar-plus Obamacare scheme that they have rammed through, which is the mother of all unfunded mandates."

Palin’s speech left little doubt why she is one of the only energizing conservatives in America, and why whispers of presidential candidacy for the Alaskan grow louder every day. Wednesday, she gave those in the crowd what they came to hear — hard-nosed political rhetoric softened by her trademark small-town colloquial wit. She even worked a "drill, baby, drill!" into the speech, though strangely, she made no mention of President Obama’s move last month to expand off-shore drilling for oil.

The rally on the Common was an unlikely meeting place for politically engaged Massachusetts residents of all stripes. After a Socialist counter-protester and a Tea Party member exchanged heated remarks following Palin’s speech, two women nearby — one a young, left-leaning counter-protester and the other older and conservative — began a more civil dialogue about the role of government in providing jobs to all Americans.

"I don’t think socialism is the best solution," said Jean Michalozski, who drove into Boston from Holbrook.

The younger woman replied, "Well, we’re not there yet."

"Yeah, but we’re going there," Michalozski said. "That’s the next step. Government is taking over so many things."

"I think she’s very respectful, but she’s misled," Michalozski said. "I hope that at some point, she’ll see the light."

What is Michalozski’s ideal scenario for America?

"It would be the type of country we had when Reagan was in office," she said. "The less government, the better. I believe the government has major jobs defending us, but I don’t think they need to be in our homes."

"The more they tax us, the less strong the individual is. If they took care of only the essential things they are supposed to take care of, people would have more money to do charitable works."

Her conversation partner, of course, thinks that when social services are left primarily to individuals, the neediest Americans fall through the cracks. Therein lies the principle debate between the two most vocal political camps in a bitterly divided country: the size and role of the federal government. Michalozski said she would most likely vote for Sarah Palin in 2012.

"I think that she’s honest and down-to-earth, and likeable, but a key reason why I would vote for her is because she believes, as I do, in less government," Michalozski said.

Surprisingly, perhaps, similarly fierce but civil conversations could be heard all over the Common following the event. Though several shouting sessions broke out that quickly drew crowds and cameras, no violence was reported from Wednesday’s event.

Many in attendance simply appeared to be there for the show, walking over on their lunch break or snapping photos of the media-magnet Tea Party Express.

The Boston Common has long served as a neutral venue for protest and proselytizing from groups of all types. Regardless of one’s take on the political ideas of the Tea Party Movement, the right to dissent, as well as to free speech, was practiced en masse Wednesday. But as the Tea Party Express steams its way across America in 2010 in preparation for the fall mid-term elections, a central question remains: Will these rallies be enough to give conservatives a common voice that is loud enough to be heard at the polls in November?

Time will tell. For now, let’s all sit back, relax and enjoy the circus.

The Boston common was full of people this morning, carrying flags and signs as they made their way toward the rally of the grassroots organization known as the Tea Party. The Tea Party made Boston the last leg of their journey before they head to Washington D.C. Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin was the headline speaker, but several other speakers were there to rouse up the crowd of both supporters and protesters, speakers including Michael Graham from 96.9 radio station, Victoria Jackson from Saturday Night Live, and Jim Labriola from ABC’s hit show Home Improvement.

The Boston common was filled with people and some had a few messages for the former governor and her cause. People held up signs, some saying things like, "President Obama is a communist," to signs with deeper messages like, "It takes a Carter to make a Reagan." Many of the protesters were protesting the use of the group calling themselves the Tea Party in the first place. The first Boston Tea Party was a protest against taxation without representation. Similarly, this Tea Party is protesting against the raising of taxes to pay for the jobs and health care bills. Either way, the energy in the Common during this rally was palpable. But you can imagine the crowds will get bigger and rowdier as the Palin and her crew make it to D.C. tomorrow.

Massachusetts Republican Party Chairman Jennifer Nassour released the following statement this morning regarding the upcoming Tea Party rally on Boston Common:

“We welcome the Tea Party movement to Boston and it’s always exciting to witness democracy in action. Just like the American colonists in 1773 who protested against burdensome taxes, the Tea Party movement is a motivated group of voters who are disappointed with the party in power. Like Republicans, they’re tired of the way business is done — both on Beacon Hill and Capitol Hill. Our Republican candidates support controlling taxes and spending, and on the major fiscal issues that the Tea Party supports, they are going to find the most alignment with the GOP. It’s time to unite on the issues we can all agree upon and get Republican candidates elected in November 2010.”

Bristol Palin, daughter of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, will make her acting debut playing herself on ABC Family’s “The Secret Life of the American Teenager,” the network announced yesterday, in spite of her mother’s disapproval.

“We Palins don’t like reality,” Gov. Palin said, according to the Huffington Post. But it’s okay, she said, “just so long as it doesn’t become a regular thing.”

Bristol will play a friend to the show’s protagonist, Amy, at a music program for teen mothers. The show focuses heavily on how Amy’s family and friends deal with her own unexpected pregnancy.

“We’re thrilled to have (Bristol) join us,” said Secret Life executive producer Brenda Hampton in a statement. “And I think she will bring additional attention to the issues facing teen parents that we’ve been exploring for a couple seasons now.” The episode will air this summer.

Bristol Palin, who became pregnant in high school, was thrown in the spotlight with her young baby when Sarah Palin was named as John McCain’s running mate in the 2008 presidential election. She was briefly engaged to the father of the baby, Levi Johnston, an unemployed high school dropout who recently posed in "Playgirl." She has gone to court to get full custody of their 13-month-old son, Tripp, and to ask for increased child support.

Last month Bristol appeared on “The Oprah Show” to expound on her pledge to be abstinent until she gets married. Last spring, Bristol told “Good Morning America” she wanted to use her fame to spread her abstinence message. “I am thrilled to be on this show and to be part of a program that educates teens and young adults about the consequences of teen pregnancy,” she said in a statement.

Nothing is sacred. Nothing is pure.

We’re cleaning out the porn closet again. Blast has FOUR porn DVD gift sets that are sure to please. Three lucky readers will get them and get to watch their favorite pop culture fantasies on the small screen.

The even re-created The Max

The first, as you may have guessed, is “This Ain’t Saved by the Bell XXX.” We could probably give away 1,000 of these if we had them, because how many of you never imagined Zack and Kelly finally gettin’ it on? Right? Right?

Well Zack, Kelly, Slater, Jessie, and the gang are all here in this parody. And yes, Zack and Kelly screw. Jessie goes lesbian. Even Mr. Belding has his moment of glory.

They even re-created The Max.

You get the DVD and a few posters, all carefully packed in a white and pink Hustler folder.

Number two is billed under the subhead “They go there.” It’s “This Ain’t Star Trek XXX,” the Hustler porn parody of the science fiction series. We particularly like this one because it has Sasha Grey who sat down with Blast’s Erica Marcus for an interview when she started in the mainstream “Girlfriend Experience.”

The captain still always get the babes.

You get the movie and a full-size movie poster.

Third, “Not Married with Children XXX.” This one is pretty much as you’d expect it to be.

The fourth one is a bit of a twist. It’s called “You’re Nalin’ Palin Interactive.” It’s one of several Sarah Palin porn parodies. This one also brings in a parody of Carrie Prejean in a way that she would almost certainly not morally approve of.

You get the movie, some posters, and — get this — a Sarah Palin mask.

You must comment on this story with your favorite “Saved by the Bell,” “Star Trek,” “Married with Children” or Sarah Palin/Carrie Prejean moment to win the corresponding DVD. You have to be a registered Blast user — it’s free!

You also must be 18, a legal US resident, and this contest is void where prohibited by law.

Tonight is the premiere of “American Idol” at 8 p.m. on FOX. It will be the last season featuring Simon Cowell, the stern-judging Brit who brought this level of reality/talent television to America.

A lot of FOX news today — “Glee” gets picked up for a second season. At the same time, the network is launching a nationwide search to find talented cast members for the second season. Visit fox.com/glee for updates.

“Bones” hits the 100 mark on April 8, and “Family Guy” would be somewhere around 300 if it wasn’t canceled. The cartoon hits its 150th episode on May 2. “America’s Most Wanted” hits 1,000 episodes with a special 22nd anniversary episode March 6.

FOX is also working up a buddy cop action/comedy that’s so far called “Code 58,” set to preview on May 12 and 19 and premiere on June 7. Code 58 was created by Matt Nix, who also has “Burn Notice” under his belt, so he knows what he’s doing.

“Breaking Bad” premieres with a third season on March 21 at 10 p.n. Before that, the cable network will air a six-episode marathon March 19.

Finally, yes, it’s official, Sarah Palin signed a multi-year deal with FOX News. She won’t get her own show but rather will support other shows on the network.

There are a few hot bits of news to kick off this week.

First of all, Fox announced Monday that Simon Cowell will be leaving “American Idol.” Suprisingly, it’s not because he was sick to death of Ryan Seacrest or appalled by talentless contestants. He’ll be bringing his popular U.K. talent show, “The X Factor,” to American audiences on Fox.

“I want to leave ‘Idol’ this year bigger and better than it was in the past,” Cowell said on Monday.

Will America keep watching? Of course. Will anyone ever criticize a contestant again? Maybe, but it won’t be very funny.

In the sports world, it looks like female Yankees fans everywhere are going to have to give up hope. Veteran Yankees shortstop and team heart-throb Derek Jeter is engaged. According to the New York Post, he and his lovely girlfriend Minka Kelly are getting married Nov. 5 on Long Island.

Well, maybe. A reporter, acting on a tip, pretended she was getting married so she could look at the calendar for the Oheka Castle in Huntington, N.Y. She spotted the words "JETER wedding" on the calendar. The reporter mentioned it to the sales manager, Rick Bellando, but he insisted celebrities aren’t listed by their real names.

The final, most troubling tidbit. Former vice presidential candidate, Alaska governor and, in case you didn’t know, former sportscaster Sarah Palin will be joining Fox News as a political commentator. She’ll also be the occassional host of “Real American Stories,” a new series Fox said will tell inspirational true stories about Americans who overcoming adversity.

Honestly, the latter seems more like Palin’s cup of tea. Political commentary? How can anyone take her seriously when she completely destroyed the McCain campaign, resigned as governor and has repeatedly and publically embarrassed herself?

Whether or not we’re excited — I’m sure many people actually are — Sarah certainly seems pumped.

“I am thrilled to be joining the great talent and management team at Fox News,” Palin said in a statement posted on Fox’s Web site. “It’s wonderful to be part of a place that so values fair and balanced news.”

Hilarious? You betcha.

Sarah Palin popped onto “The Tonight Show” tonight and bantered it up with William Shatner.

While it had the air of surprise, Palin clearly read from cue cards.

Shatner came on stage to “read” a few excerpts from Palin’s new book as a joke set to some jazz music. When he was done, Palin walked on stage behind him and began to “read” some cue carded excerpts of her own from Shatner’s own autobiography.

And we all had a nice laugh.

And Palin got more publicity.

Tina Fey won an Emmy Award on Saturday as the best guest actress in a comedy for her hilarious impersonations of Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live.”

Is Tina Fey an Emmy winner? You betcha. Fey received an Emmy Award on Saturday for her impersonation of Republican vice presidential contender Sarah Palin on “Saturday Night Live.”

Accepting the award, Fey thanked producer Lorne Michaels and her parents, “lifelong Republicans, for their patience.”

Fey’s award was the “Creative Arts” for technical and other achievements portion of the Primetime Emmys. Fey is also up for best actress in a comedy for “30 Rock” during next Sunday’s Emmy Awards Ceremony.

According to the Associated Press, Justin Timberlake won best guest actor in a comedy series, also for “SNL.” Michael J. Fox won the guest actor award in a drama for his appearance on “Rescue Me,” and Ellen Burstyn won the drama guest award for “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.”

The two-hour “pre Emmy” ceremony was hosted by Kathy Griffin. The AP reported a shorter version of the ceremony airs Friday on E! at 1 p.m.

Beer has long been a part of American politics, and today is no different, from “who would you rather have a beer with”, to brewers crafting recipes named after candidates.

From the early days of George Washington’s home-brewed ales and James Madison’s attempts at creating a national brewery, patriots and early American leaders relied on beer for nutrition and inspiration.

In more recent history, Jimmy Carter’s brother, Billy, promoted his own brand of brew, Billy Beer, shortly after the Georgian peanut farmer was elected. During the last presidential election in 2004, polls found that Americans would rather have had a beer with George W. Bush than John Kerry.

Throughout the country’s existence, the humble hopped beverage has lubricated the wheels of democracy by sparking debate or resolving conflicts. And the beverage has come up in some pretty interesting ways this year on the campaign trail.

Senator John McCain faced criticism after the Associated Press highlighted the candidate’s extensive fundraising connections to Anheuser-Busch through his wife’s fortune and high-powered position in Hensley and Co., the nation’s third-largest A-B distributor. Although McCain’s financial connections to the brewing giant may be close, don’t expect the White House to replace the stemware with Pilsner glasses. McCain’s campaign manager Jill Hazelbaker told the Associated Press that he “very rarely, if ever, drinks alcohol.”

But who could forget Governor Sarah Palin’s now infamous appeals to “Joe Six-Pack”?

In August, Democratic candidate Barack Obama’s taste for beer was challenged during an interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes. During a discussion of his campaign’s attempts to court blue-collar voters, Steve Kroft, the interviewer, remarked to Obama, “You tried really hard to reach these people. You went and sipped beer, which I know you don’t particularly like.” Obama promptly told the reporter that he had a beer the previous night and then said, “Where does the story come from that…I don’t like beer? …C’mon, man.”

Though politicians may use beer as an image to appeal to the common person, some breweries and drinking establishments have long abided by the folk ethos of not combining politics and alcohol, while others embrace the mix. With the heightened energy of the upcoming election, many brewers and barkeeps around the country are getting into the spirit of the election season.

“What better way is there to celebrate the diversity of ideas and thoughts that come out every four years during our election process with something that goes way back to our founding fathers, that’s beer and ale,” said Wayne Mayer, director of marketing for the Half Moon Bay Brewing Company.

The northern California based brewery’s ALECTION lets customers “vote” for a candidate by buying either the “Obama Ale,” or the “McCain 2008,” re-labeled versions of their English-style light ale. Each week the results are tallied on the brewery’s website.

While encouraging their drinkers to show their preference for the candidates, the style of the beers themselves is the same.

“We did that for political reasons so no one could say that we were trying to favor one over the other,” explained Mayer.

Currently the Democratic candidate is in the lead “by quite a bit,” according to the brewery. When Blast contacted Half Moon Bay in mid-October, Obama had 4,991 bottles over McCain’s 1,274.

“We’ve seen a huge jump in our incremental beer sales” said Meyer.

Unlike the real upcoming vote this November, Mayer jested, “This is the only election where you can vote early, often, and legally.”

Magic Hat Brewing Company, based in South Burlington, Vt., released a politically themed Participation variety 12 pack, containing a few of their normal offerings and a special pre-prohibition style “Participation Lager.”

“Beyond the political packaging and beyond the beer itself, which is also politically themed, we actually as a sales team go into our bar promotions and register voters,” said Krissy Leonard, spokeswoman for Magic Hat.

Magic Hat partnered with HeadCount, a non-partisan, not-for-profit organization to register people to vote. On the night before the election, the brewery is sponsoring a concert at the Highline Ballroom in New York City to benefit HeadCount featuring Robert Randolph, Joss Stone, and other artists.

Winter variety packs are now being shipped but there should be more of the politically-themed 12-packs in stores until Election Day, Leonard said.

Below the Mason Dixon line, the Flying Saucer Draught Emporium, a chain of beer bars, is conducting another presidential poll. Patrons at the bars can buy a pint glass for $5 bearing either Obama or McCain’s face drawn as a cartoon, which is counted as one vote.

With 13 locations in Texas, Arkansas, North Carolina, and other traditionally red states, some might find the current standings a bit surprising. Obama’s 11,420 bottles leads McCain’s 9,220 as of Oct. 28, according to the company’s website.

Fort Worth, Texas and Cordova, Tenn. are the Flying Saucer’s only locations where McCain is holding a lead.

In New York, one of the strongest Democratic support bases, Sixpoint Craft Ales located in Brooklyn created the “Hop Obama” in honor of the democratic candidate’s grassroots campaigning style.

“We were tossing it around as far back as late September last fall,” said Jeff Gorlechen, one of founding members of Sixpoint. “Then his campaign started steam rolling. At the time it was all word of mouth, and we identified with that.”

After Obama won the first few primaries, Gorlechen and the other four workers at the brewery decided to brew the ale.

While the brewers may admire the candidate, Sixpoint stopped short of fully endorsing him, as their label points out: “Although we do not intend this beer to be a direct Sixpoint endorsement of Obama, we do believe the delicious and refreshing quality it represents reminds us of the Senator’s successful grassroots campaign.”

There are “many parallels” between the rise of craft and micro brews and Obama’s style of campaigning, he said.

“There was no marketing, no advertising dollars behind it. It’s hard not to admire him,” explained Gorlechen. “In the last five years the craft market segments exploded. It kind of caught the major breweries off guard. I think [Obama] did the same thing when he won Iowa.”

Available on draft in N.Y. and Mass., Gorlechen described the Hop Obama as a hybrid ale “sort of like a British session ale, sort of like an amber, sort of an ESB [Extra Special Bitter]” that uses Scottish, English, and German malts and three different hops from the Pacific Northwest. Also, a part of the profits go to Get Out The Vote, an organization that registers voters.

Of the seven ales produced by Sixpoint, it is currently their second best seller and the brewery sold its stock of the beer faster than any other single batch released for the first time.

Although one of Sixpoint’s best selling products, some bar managers have refused to serve their beer because it is mixing beer and politics, he said.

The “Ale to the Chief” by Colorado’s Avery Brewing Co. has hit shelves in the 32 states. “Instead of an Imperial Pale Ale we’re calling it a “ËœPresidential Pale Ale’ because it’s a democracy here, it’s not an imperialistic nation,” mused Matt Throll, beer manager for Avery.

This past spring, Adam Avery, the owner of the brewery, returned from a road trip with the idea of creating a politically themed beer.

Overall, the reaction to the “Ale to the Chief” has been positive, the Brewery said.

“We’ve only had one person call up and complain to say “Ëœleave politics out of beer,’” Throll said. “We had to tell them that beer has been a part of politics a long time, that’s just the way it is. We weren’t setting out to offend anybody, but of course that’s going to happen.”

“It was not necessarily pro any of the candidates but pro change,” said Throll

Avery’s brewmasters have another batch of “Ale to the Chief” underway for Inauguration Day.

In the Midwest, the St. Louis Brewery Inc., producer of the microbrew Schlafly, is selling posters and T-shirts with altered versions of their labels featuring the candidate’s images.

“I changed our Hefeweisen to‚  “ËœHefe-Biden,’ our Oktoberfest became “ËœBaracktoberfest,’ and our actual flagship pale ale became “ËœPalin Ale,’” explained Troika Brodsky. graphic designer for Schlafly Beer.

Two days before the Vice Presidential debate at Washington University in St. Louis, Brodsky learned that a church group would be screening the debate at Schlafly’s downtown brewery and restaurant.‚  To celebrate the debate, Brodsky made four custom tap handles and posters featuring altered “Ëœpolitical versions’ of the brewery’s labels.

Although the other candidates’ names were easy to juxtapose with the labels, Brodsky said creating one for McCain was difficult. He settled on “ËœMcCain’s Maverick’ American Pale Ale.

“Its basically just parody,” he said. “They were a big hit, actually.”

Even though the church group holding the screening was “more conservative-leaning,” Brodsky said, “Still, the Baracktoberfest and the Hefe-Biden taps sold far more.”

Schlafly is now selling a limited number of Baracktoberfest and Palin Ale T-shirts on its website.

Beyond the tension and mudslinging of the election, it’s all in good fun, he said.

“The point of this is that everyone’s really exited about the election around here. We want to encourage that energy, encourage people to vote,” said Brodsky.

Funnyman Will Ferrell returned to Saturday Night Live during the intro of one of SNL’s special Thursday updates.

We stood beside Tina Fey’s Gov. Sarah Palin, making it the only time the two most highly-rated SNL parodies of all time appeared together. SNL regular Darrell Hammond’s reluctant John McCain later appeared in skit, where Farrell’s GW endorses McCain/Palin.

SNL has generated some of its highest ratings of all time during the 2008 presidential election.

There was also a hilarious Fred Armisen impersonation of CNN’s John King and his super-touchscreen-computerized-election-map

Obama doesn’t think anyone would notice that he supported both teams?

What’s even worse is Palin’s attempt to pander to the local teams. Here are here word-for-word comments on the Rays and Red Sox. She said the SAME EXACT THING to Phillies fans. At least Obama didn’t repeat himself verbatim. Notice in this clip that she checks her notes before telling Rays fans about how they “know how to turn an underdog into a victor.” She is so stupid.

One word: accurate.

Two words: comedic timing.

Tina Fey did another spot-on impression of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin on Saturday Night Live. We watched it, live, and loved it, live.

SNL also parodied Friday night’s presidential debate, but it didn’t get very good reviews.

But for putting this together (they even got the flag lapel pins or lack their of correct) in less than a day, I give props.

From Dow Jones

NEW YORK — Results from the Dow Jones Insight-2008 Presidential Election Media Pulse show that Sarah Palin continues to hold the lead in overall media coverage of the four nominees for president and vice president — clearly giving a boost to Republican running mate John McCain, whose recent coverage has matched or exceeded that of rival Barack Obama after trailing the Democratic candidate for most of the year.

While Palin had virtually zero coverage in the days prior to her August 29th unveiling as the Republican vice presidential nominee, in the period from August 30 through September 13 her coverage surpassed that of presidential nominee Obama, and left vice presidential rival Joe Biden far behind, according to analysis of mainstream and social media sources tracked by Dow Jones Insight.

When considering coverage of the two presidential candidates only, McCain had 179,004 total mentions in all tracked media sources during the same time period, or a 55 percent share, to Obama’s 148,000 mentions, or 45 percent share. McCain also led in terms of headline mentions in the mainstream press, with 21,995 mentions, or 54 percent, to Obama’s 18,769, or 46 percent, while in social media sources (blogs and boards) Obama had 33,120 headline mentions to McCain’s 32,900, for a 50-50 split.

Palin May Have Stolen the Show in Minnesota, but Obama Still Pulled in Higher Convention Coverage

The timing of the Palin announcement could be viewed as a clear effort to steal Obama’s thunder, but it couldn’t quite offset his coverage during the Democratic convention itself. While the spotlight has shifted toward the Republicans over the past few weeks, when comparing mainstream and social media coverage of both candidates around the time of their respective conventions, Obama still came out ahead.

Dow Jones Insight tracked coverage of the candidates on the four scheduled days of each convention, plus the preview day before and the wrap-up day afterward — or August 24-29 for the Democrats and August 31-September 5 for the Republicans — and found that the Democratic convention time period saw 91,395 total mentions of both candidates, 14% more coverage than the 80,250 total mentions in the days surrounding the Republican convention. Since the Republican convention was shortened by a day due to Hurricane Gustav, the higher overall total for the Democratic convention is understandable. However when comparing each candidate’s percentage of total mentions, Obama had a more dominant share of the conversation during his convention than McCain had during his.

• Obama had 54,624 mentions, or a 60 percent share, during the Democratic convention time period tracked, compared to McCain’s 36,771 mentions, or 40 percent, in the same timeframe.
• In the days tracked surrounding the Republican convention, McCain received 45,448 mentions, for a 57 percent share, compared to Obama’s 34,802 mentions, or 43 percent
• When combining mentions from both time periods, Obama received 52 percent of the total to McCain’s 48 percent

If Money Talks, Which Candidate Speaks Loudest?

With Barack Obama’s announcement this week that he had raised a record $66 million in August and lined up more than 500,000 first-time donors, he is by far the leader in donations from the public, and also leads the way in terms of media coverage on the topic. According to analysis of mainstream and social media sources tracked by Dow Jones Insight, there were 1,740 mentions of Obama’s name in close proximity to fundraising-related terms in the previous seven days, or 36 percent of the total 4,826 fundraising mentions of the four candidates over that period. His running mate, Joe Biden, who has not played a very public fundraising role, netted just 279 mentions, or 6 percent.

While Obama declined to take public funds to finance his campaign, McCain, who has accepted public financing and is therefore limited in how much he can raise and how he can spend it, is expected to spend far less time drumming up donations. In the previous week McCain drew 1,665 mentions in reference to fundraising, or 35 percent of all fundraising mentions of the four candidates. Meanwhile, Palin received 1,142 mentions on the issue, or 24 percent, as she took on a major fundraising role for the McCain campaign.

Higher Overall Coverage for McCain Translates to Ownership of Additional Issues

In the period August 15 – September 15, media coverage of the campaign issues being tracked by Dow Jones Insight surged again, with a trend in issues ownership toward McCain reflecting the overall increase in McCain- related coverage. McCain had the lead in 17 of the 25 issues being tracked, up from six in a previous analysis. Among the issues he led were the economy, taxes, terrorism, health care and abortion (each with a split of 54 percent for McCain to 46 percent for Obama), as well as energy (59 percent to 41 percent) and the environment (56 percent to 44 percent). Obama owned just five issues, down from seven in a previous analysis, including faith, race, Israel, gun control and NAFTA. Total issues- based coverage was up 22 percent during this period, reaching 1,137,582 mentions of all 25 issues compared with 934,408 from the previous analysis.

The Dow Jones Insight-2008 Presidential Election Media Pulse (http://dowjonesinsight.blogspot.com/) provides a high-level view of a competitive media landscape and demonstrates how candidates and issues are covered in the media and how that coverage changes over time. Dow Jones Insight combines proven research methodologies, trusted content and advanced text-mining and visualization tools to deliver strategic qualitative and quantitative media measurement metrics. Organizations use the analysis to nurture their reputation, demonstrate the effectiveness of their communications strategies and achieve business objectives. The platform processes nearly a million articles, Web pages, blogs and message board posts per day.

As a woman, I take offense to the tactics being used by the media to accuse Alaska Governor Sarah Palin of being incapable of balancing motherhood and the vice-presidency should she be elected to the White House alongside Arizona Senator John McCain this November.

While I may disagree with her politics, I have to admit that her nomination to the VP slot is a big deal. Hillary Clinton herself proclaimed during her speech last week at the Democratic National Convention that she and her campaign had made eighteen million cracks in the glass ceiling. This is one more.

Sarah Palin’s capability to fulfill the duties of Vice President shouldn’t be questioned simply because she’s a mother with young children.‚  No one has asked Senator Barack Obama, who has two young children himself, if he will have the time to balance being fatherhood and the presidency.

I commend Sarah Palin for continuing to push up against that glass ceiling, though I may not be a Republican, I admire her for holding strong to her beliefs, supporting her family, and ignoring the naysayers. I’d like to think America has come a long way since the 1964 film “Kisses for my President” which featured a female President who resigned when she become pregnant while in office ‘for the good of the country.’‚  I guess we’ll just have to see.

I usually keep this stuff in the OTR blog, but considering the heightened political climate, and the fact that Sarah Palin has made big news over the weekend, I’m going to put it in the main magazine.

Deadspin got a hold of an old sports news video with Sarah Heath (as she was known then) doing the sports highlights for a local news station in Alaska. Despite her wonderful hair, she isn’t very good at this job and the transition to politics seems to have been a good idea.

Decide for yourself:

Our heralded PSA Blog makes the case against Sarah Palin. Check it out.

Here’s a snippet:

Late last week, John McCain picked his running mate, the relatively unknown Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska. Aesthetically, for McCain, it was a great pick. The grumpy, ugly, old man picked a smiling, attractive, young woman as his potential Vice President. The excitement over the first woman Republican VP nominee in history also probably blunted Obama’s poll bounce after his rousing convention speech on Thursday.

But while McCain’s pick got relatively good press over the weekend (and made him some money: The campaign has raised over $10 mil since Friday), it’s about to explode in his face, and I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if she is off the ticket for good by the end of September. I had to make this a bulleted list because it is extremely long and probably will need to be updated almost hourly because right now, there is an army of progressive bloggers vetting her much more thoroughly than the McCain campaign ever did.

Seventeen-year-old Bristol Palin, daughter of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, is pregnant, media learned today in a statement issued by the presidential campaign of Senator John McCain.

Bristol plans to marry the father of her child. She is reportedly five months along.

In a public statement, Palin and her husband said, “Our beautiful daughter Bristol came to us with news that as parents we knew would make her grow up faster than we had ever planned. We are proud of if Bristol’s decision to have her baby, and even prouder to become grandparents.”

Gov. Palin, during her campaign for Alaska governor, supported abstinence-only education in schools. In 2006, she wrote in a conservative group questionnaire, “explicit sex-ed programs will not find my support.”

The information was released in efforts to control rumors that claim Palin’s four month-old daughter, who has Down Syndrome, is actually Bristol Palin’s child.

Senator John McCain said he knew Palin’s daughter was pregnant before he tapped Palin as his VP.

Senator Barack Obama recently told media he thinks that this will have no effect on Palin’s political career and “people’s children are especially off-limits,” when it comes to politics and the media’s coverage.

Obama’s mother was 18-years-old when he was born.

If you are anything like me, or the millions of utterly confused Americans (yes I live in Canada but I am an American citizen) following the blisteringly long 2008 presidential election, you were baffled by Senator John McCain’s running mate choice.

Sarah Palin?‚  Apparently the most popular governor in the United States.‚  I guess we all missed that memo.

Palin is an ultra-conservative who is pro-life, pro-guns, pro-offshore drilling, against gay marriage and a staunch supporter of McCain’s stance on the war in Iraq.‚  She has been described, by republicans mind you, as a ‘gun-toting’ mother.

From 1996-2002, Palin was mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, a small town of under 7,000 residents. In 1984, she wore the crown of Miss Wasilla, and competed in the Miss Alaska competition, placing second.

She was elected Alaska’s 11th governor in 2006, defeating republican incumbent Frank Murkowski.

By choosing Palin as his running mate, McCain has effectively shattered the argument he so often uses to belittle his adversary, that Obama is too inexperienced to govern the country.

I know Palin is the VP choice and isn’t running for president, but when you are faced with the prospect of electing a 72 year-old man into office, the VP plays an important role.‚  It isn’t absurd for the public to be concerned about this, and the fact that McCain has had serious health problems in the past only heightens the public’s anxiety.‚  His recently released medical records show a pretty clean slate, but still concerns are concerns and the public is entitled to them, and will continue to have them for as long as he is in the running.

With Palin as the VP choice, if McCain is elected to office she will be next in line for the presidency.‚  If in, let’s say, two years McCain (if he is elected) is unable to continue his presidency, Palin will be sworn in as the President of the United States.

That’s something, even taking into regard her wonderful work uncovering corruption, managing the budget and improving energy and environment situations in Alaska, that will be a constant fear for all Americans since she, among many other things, has no foreign policy experience.

Clearly I disagree with Fox New’s Steve Doocy, who said Palin does have foreign poilcy experience because Alaska is next to Russia.

What Palin lacks in foreign policy experience, McCain claims he has.‚  What Obama lacks in foreign policy experience, Senator Joe Biden certainly has.

The fact remains, even though Obama is not a very experienced leader, his ideals, goals and ambition for his country are genuine.‚  With Biden by his side, experience is there.

People can argue that McCain has the experience Palin lacks, but it seems that McCain’s choice might do more harm than good.‚  She is a dark horse pick, she has uncovered corruption in her state and propelled Alaska to a better balanced budget.‚  But she lacks what Biden has, and it will be very interesting to see how she fairs in a debate against him.

She has been described as aggressive, and was known on her high-school basketball team as ‘Sarah Barracuda.’‚  But how far can aggressiveness get you in a debate against one of the most seasoned politicians in Washington?

McCain has come under much criticism for the pick, which many thought, and think, was made as to attract disenchanted Senator Hillary Clinton supporters.‚  That probably won’t work because of their different views on many important issues.

McCain obviously sees something in Palin the public currently doesn’t.‚  We’ll see how many republicans warm up to the selection in the coming weeks.

Senator John McCain chose Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate for the 2008 presidential election, media learned this morning.

Many analysts believe McCain’s choosing of a woman is directed at disaffected Hillary Clinton supporters, who feel that the glass ceiling was so close to being lifted, only come barreling down once more. One of the reasons for Palin’s inclusion in the GOP ticket was, according to these analysts, made in hopes to sway these women voters.

Palin is just 44 years-old and in her first term as Alaska’s Governor. Palin is currently under investigation for the firing of Alaska’s public safety commissioner, whom she allegedly relieved because he refused to fire Palin’s former brother-in-law, an Alaskan state trooper.

Palin’s inclusion is also a stark contrast to McCain’s accusation that Obama is inexperienced; Palin has only two years of experience as governor.

Palin has made many advances in her short time in Alaska. She started Alaska’s Petroleum Systems Integrity Office, an agency created to oversee the state’s oil and gas equipment, facilities and infrastructure. She also started the Climate Change Subcabinet, in hopes to create a climate change prevention effort