Money must grow on trees. Somewhere, in some tucked away valley in some remote corner of this world, there must be an entire orchard of Money Trees, where hundred dollar bills hang oh-so-delicately from dainty branches in the summer, and where cool winds cause gold coins to crisply jingle to the ground in the fall. That's the only way I can explain how The Hill and others can justify paying Dick Morris to opine on politics.

In case you missed it, convention week has shown us a new side of Dick Morris, Morris the Prophet.  This isn't your typical concern trolling, folks. No, with his columns this week, Morris transcends all levels of reality, peers past pesky things like facts and logic and stares straight into the future of our Democratic Party.  

First, Morris gave us a preview of Hillary's speech this week, writing in a Hill column entitled "The better Hillary does, the worse for Obama" that:

By not putting Hillary on his ticket and then giving her a primetime speech at the convention on Tuesday, Obama has the worst of both possible worlds. The better Hillary’s speech, the more people ask why she was passed over for vice president. This column is written before Mrs. Clinton spoke on Tuesday night, but she will not blow this opportunity to shine in front of a larger national audience than she has ever had. She will crisply articulate her programs and proposals and will come across as forceful, committed and energetic.

How very Ms. Cleo of Mr. Morris to divine that Hillary Clinton would focus on her agenda. Of course, Hillary's speech focused on the Democratic Party agenda as a whole, because, after all, this is the Democratic National Convention, not the Clinton National Convention (although Morris's mistake may be understandable, given the media's coverage of the event).

But wait! Morris isn't done flexing his mental abilities. Not only was he able to see into the future this week and tell us what Clinton would say, but he also turned his omnipotent mind's eye on the fairer sex and predicted this:

Women from coast to coast will watch her and wonder why she isn’t on the ticket [...] Obama has a huge problem with female voters [...] He didn’t help himself with these women by not choosing Hillary. Now, when Hillary spends all of Tuesday night showing what a grievous omission leaving her off the ticket really was, the electoral consequences for Obama are likely to be horrific.

Dick Morris: Taking the pulse of the female electorate by telepathically groping women, one voter at a time. By pulling a Mel Gibson and telling us What Women Want, Morris foresees "horrific" consequences for Obama, presumably because women "from coast to coast" will be so furious that Obama didn't pick a woman for VP that they will flock to a decidedly anti-woman candidate, or just stay at home altogether. And clearly, true prophecy springs forth from the mouth of Morris, as these numbers foretell:

Obama's lead among women is currently between 10 and 15 points, with McCain running 10 points behind George W. Bush in 2004 and 5 points behind Bush in 2000.

Horrific! Quick! Get me a flyswatter! I think I hear locusts coming!

It is not enough that Morris warns us of the coming cataclysms for our party, but today, in a column entitled "What's Up With Bill," he also pens a piece on Bill Clinton, disclosing exactly how the the former president will conduct himself in the months to come:

Bill Clinton’s strategy is to take refuge in his carefully cultivated reputation for being undisciplined and borderline-eccentric to drop bombs on Obama in such a way that Hillary can escape blame. [...]

Enter Bill. All through the primaries, he played the role of a negative Greek chorus, dropping attacks on Obama in opaque and eccentric language whose very vagueness permitted him to dance away from the blame for going negative when it suited him. [...]

Bill’s antics are the harbinger of how he will act throughout the whole campaign. In public he will support Obama while delivering remarks that, somehow, are always misunderstood!

A revelation so stunning, it merits an exclamation point!  

Perhaps Morris should adapt his prescient columns into a quatrain format, to be published in leather-bound volumes and preserved for posterity.  That way, one day, future generations can sit below a grove of Money Trees and read page after page of talent as real as the hundred-dollar bills providing shade above them.

Tropical Storm Gustav has regained near hurricane strength this morning and may poses a threat to the US and Mexico next week. There is a lot of uncertainty and always a chance the storm will fizzle out or move away from populated areas. But an educated guess based on current data suggests something like a 50/50 chance that Gustav could make landfall early next week as a hurricane somewhere on the US Gulf Coast.

The image right shows the Tropical Cyclone Heat Potential (TCHP) for the Gulf of Mexico on August 24, 2008. The TCHP is a measure of storm producing and storm intensifying heat potential contained in given volume of ocean (The units are Kilojoules per square centimeter, not degrees).

The arrows between the Yucatan and west end of Cuba that turn and flow past the tip of Florida represent the Loop Current. The Loop is a massive current of warm, deep water that acts like a turbo-charger on any atmopsheric heat engine that might pass nearby. And, sometimes, pieces of the current break off ... Jeff Masters takes it from there:

When a Loop Current Eddy breaks off in the Gulf of Mexico at the height of hurricane season, it can lead to a dangerous situation where a vast reservoir of energy is available to any hurricane that might cross over. This occurred in 2005, when a Loop Current Eddy separated in July, just before Hurricane Katrina passed over and "bombed" into a Category 5 hurricane. ... This year, we had another Loop Current Eddy break off in July. This eddy is now positioned due south of New Orleans (Figure 2), and this eddy has similar levels of heat energy to the 2005 eddy that powered Katrina and Rita. Should Gustav pass over or just to the left of this eddy, we can expect the storm to significantly intensify.

The Aug 2008 Loop Current and breakaway hotspots are just one piece in a puzzle that's looking more and more similar to the 2004 and 2005 record setting storm seasons. If you live in or near a risk area, make plans, stock up now, know exactly where nearby shelters are. Pay attention to NHC updates, know what routes you are going to take and, if possible, your end destination in the event you have to evacuate. Better yet, for those in especially high risk areas, consider celebrating an extended Labor Day weekend well inland with friends or family.

Behold.

There are still bugs being worked, this is still very much beta. But it's almost ready. On election night, election results will stream in real-time through this widget, like those of big media sites like the NY Times and CNN.

I could try and explain all the features, but it's best that you just click around and discover them for yourself.

Most of you are familiar with Godwin's Law, the notion that if you rely on Hitler or Nazi comparisons in a debate, you automatically lose that debate.

The general election has brought us The POW. The POW is used frequently by the McCain camp and Republicans to deflect from valid criticism of John McCain's politics and policies:

When the Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell, a close Bush ally, publicly questioned McCain’s marital infidelities, the McCain campaign responded by highlighting McCain’s background as a prisoner of war.

When Dems attacked McCain’s healthcare plan in May, McCain responded by noting his background as a prisoner of war.

Asked by a local reporter about the first thing that comes to his mind when he thinks of Pittsburgh, McCain responded by talking about his background as a prisoner of war.

Accused of possibly having heard the questions in advance of Rick Warren’s recent candidate forum, the McCain campaign responded by highlighting McCain’s background as a prisoner of war.

As with Goodwin's Law, the utterance of "POW!" this campaign season is a surefire sign that it's game over for the Republican trying to defend John McCain. After all, if you can't respond with substance, but rather have to resort to raising an issue McCain himself has previously said shouldn't be exploited in a campaign, you're pretty much backed into a corner.  

So what should we dub this diversionary tactic?  McCain's Law? POW'd? Share your ideas below, and in the meantime, check out this brilliant video:

POW!  You lose.

John McCain owns more homes than he can remember. John McCain pays at least 3 times as much per year for the salaries of household servants as the average American household earns. And John McCain thinks Americans are too lazy to do strenuous work for $50 an hour.

In April 2006, John McCain taunted workers at an AFL-CIO meeting who were concerned that immigration tends to depress wages in the US. Here's a transcript of his comments from an audio tape of the meeting:

John McCain: "I don't think I need to tell you that there are jobs that Americans will not do. I don't think I have to tell you that there are ... the backbone of our economy...

Audience members: "Pay them the right wages."

John McCain: "You know I've heard that statement before. Now, my friends, I'll offer anybody here fifty dollars an hour if you'll go pick lettuce in Yuma this season and pick for the whole season. So, ok, sign up! Ok, when you sign up, you sign up, and you'll be there for the whole season, the whole season, ok, not just one day. Because you can't do it, my friend."

Two days ago a video became available (h/t to PaulVA).

John McCain, scion of a privileged family, has been surrounded by servants his whole life. That's all John McCain really knows.

Judging by the reaction of hundreds of bloggers watching Hillary's speech in The Big Tent Tuesday night, the verdict was unanimous...she absolutely nailed it. From her opening:

I'm here tonight as a proud mother, as a proud Democrat, as a proud Senator from the state of New York, as a proud American, and as a proud supporter of Barack Obama.

...to her line that needs to be made into an ad immediately:

It makes a lot of sense that next week John McCain and George Bush will be together in the Twin Cities, because these days they're awfully hard to tell apart.

...Hillary was on fire. She skewered John McCain, gave her unequivocal support to Barack Obama and she threw down the gauntlet to her supporters, declaring that nothing less than "the fate of our nation and the future of our children hang in the balance."

From start to finish, it was a powerful speech that left no question where her loyalty lies, what she expects from her supporters, and of course, what she thinks a John McCain presidency would mean. There was so much in her speech that is worth highlighting, but for me, this was the most powerful moment of the entire speech.

My mother was born before women could vote. But in this election my daughter got to vote for her mother for President.

This is the story of America. Of women and men who defy the odds and never give up.

How do we give this country back to them?

By following the example of a brave New Yorker , a woman who risked her life to shepherd slaves along the Underground Railroad.

And on that path to freedom, Harriett Tubman had one piece of advice.

If you hear the dogs, keep going.

If you see the torches in the woods, keep going.

If they're shouting after you, keep going.

Don't ever stop. Keep going.

My mother was born before women could vote. But in this election my
daughter got to vote for her mother for President.

This is the story of America. Of women and men who defy the odds and
never give up.

How do we give this country back to them?

By following the example of a brave New Yorker , a woman who risked
her life to shepherd slaves along the Underground Railroad.

And on that path to freedom, Harriett Tubman had one piece of advice.

If you hear the dogs, keep going.

If you see the torches in the woods, keep going.

If they're shouting after you, keep going.

Don't ever stop. Keep going.

If you want a taste of freedom, keep going.

Kudos to Hillary on a job well done.

Despite the pundits, we will not lose sight of the 45th anniversary of MLK's "I have a dream" speech:

Alec MacGillis (straight news): Black Lawmakers Celebrate the History Obama Is Making

And now for the pundits:

Gail Collins:

"No one has been more gracious and more forthcoming and more helpful to me," Michelle said at a joint appearance with Hillary on Tuesday.

Do we believe this? People, it doesn’t matter a whit. The Clintons did everything they were supposed to do here and in politics, like so much of life, feelings are irrelevant to everyone except the persons doing the feeling.

We’re ready to move on.

Roger Cohen:

The difference from 2004 is that the country is deep into economic plight, deeper into two wars, and weary of Republican fear-mongering. It may even be ready for what Mark Greenwood, a lawyer from Dickinson, N.D., called "someone who knows how to speak the English language."

Ain’t no question Obama can do that.

Ruth Marcus: "I didn't know FDR but he knew me."

George Will: Stop being an elitist, Barack. And don't be so eloquent. I understand you, of course, but the unwashed masses don't.

Charles Krauthammer: Have I lost my mind? Is the Pope Catholic?

Robert Novak:

At the heart of the desire for Lieberman as running mate is a basic strategic disagreement between the Bush and McCain high commands.

McCain's top strategists argue that the Bush coalition that won the last two presidential elections is dead and must be replaced by a new one that extends to the left, as Lieberman would. Bush strategists disagree, asserting that McCain is getting around 90 percent of the old Bush vote and can win the election with a few moderates added in.

Jay Cost: I do not think Tuesday night accomplished much for Barack Obama. How does this help Obama? I don't get it. Check tomorrow... maybe I figure it out and maybe I don't. (To be fair, most of the Republican talking heads agree with me.)

Peter Brown:

Obama’s nomination over Clinton represents more than a personal rejection of her and her husband by the party they brought out of the presidential wilderness in 1992.

It is a repudiation of how Bill Clinton remade the Democratic Party.

Clinton's a two time winner. And Obama's William Jennings Bryan, a three time loser. I figure the implications are pretty clear, about as clear as my own impartiality.

David Kusnet:

So, as Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey declared, McCain isn't a maverick--he's Bush's sidekick. And, as Ohio Governor Ted Strickland explained: "You know, it was once said of the first George Bush that he was born on third base and thought he'd hit a triple. Well, with the 22 million new jobs and the budget surplus Bill Clinton left behind, George W. Bush came into office on third base, and then he stole second. And John McCain cheered him every step of the way." Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer--the surprise star of the evening--said that the nation couldn't meet its energy needs just by drilling for oil, even if we drilled in every one of John McCain's back yards.

From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE...

A Word Here, A Word There

The proud legacy of Fox News is one of doctored photos, Democrats quoted out of context, hard-right spin, bully reporting, misleading graphics, smear campaigns coordinated with the White House, and "facts" pulled out of their butts.

Now they've apparently adopted a new tactic. If someone uses words that don’t fit their pre-conceived narrative, just change the words:

Fox News' Megyn Kelly noted that during her DNC speech Michelle Obama said, "The world as it is just won't do," and then Kelly continued: "If you replace 'world' with 'country', you are back to the same debate, arguably, that you have been having about Michelle Obama's feelings about the country."

Think of it---you can replace words with other words to change the meaning of a sentence. Sounds like fun! Let me try:

"Democracy is worth dying for, because it's the most deeply honorable form of government ever devised by man Satan."
–-Ronald Reagan
-
"Do not yield. Do not flinch. Stand up. Stand up with our President in stilettos and fight."
--John McCain
-
"Our economy is on the move and we are creating thousands of new jobs, but we need to keep our foot on the gas pedal poor people!"
--Mitt Romney
-
"America needs to be defended. We need missile defense to better police the skies Martians over the United States."
--Rudy Giuliani
-
"Tonight on Hannity Babykiller and Colmes..."
--Alan Colmes
-
"And that's tonight's Talking Points You Would Basically Be in the Shower and Then I Would come in and I'd Join You and You Would Have Your Back to Me and I Would Take That Little Loofah Thing and Kinda Soap Up Your Back, Rub It All Over You, Get You to Relax, Hot Water, and Um, Get Your Nipples Really Hard 'Cuz I Like That and You Have Really Spectacular Boobs, and Then I Would Take the Other Hand with the Falafel Thing Memo..."
--Bill O'Reilly

What fun! Thanks, Fox, for teaching us a new way to report the news: Mad Lib journalism.

Cheers and Jeers starts in There's Moreville... [Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!]

Tonight's Rescue Team is Louisiana1976, taylormattd, ItsJessMe, YatPundit, drbcladd, and pico:

• Marcion tears apart the belief of many Americans that the war in Afghanistan is a good one in Ungrateful Afghan civilians resent dying for freedom. (Louisiana 1976)
• Pris from LA reminds us of the distressing fact that New Orleans' Charity Hospital has not re-opened 3 years after Katrina as a new hurricane threatens in Waiting for Gustavo. (Louisiana 1976)
• In this fourth installment in a series on potential McCain VP Rob Portman, Ohiobama focuses on the Piketon plant as an "elephant in the playpen" at the heart of Ohio political machinations, in Nuclear Politics, Rob Portman, and McCain's VP Pick. (ItsJessMe)
• fractal details the need for an electricity superhighway in our country, in It's time to democratize energy with an Electranet. (ItsJessMe)
• davidwalters explains how the energy industry in South Korea is thriving due to its extremely well-run nuclear industry and its investments in wind and solar, in Korea: a Country that Understands How to Address the Energy Crisis. (ItsJessMe)
• fake consultant offers an interesting perspective on the economy's downturn in On Economic Forecasting, Or, Notes From The Golf Tournament. (YatPundit)
• Frank Cocozzelli explains how Catholic neoconservatives have hijacked that church's theology for their own purposes in Saving Monsignor Ryan. (YatPundit)
• professorfate synopsizes How to Convince Reluctant Clinton Voters to Vote for Obama. It is a great, focused comparison of actual votes made by three different US Senators. (drbcladd)
• My Philosophy offers Lincoln-channeling as How Barack Can Bring Down the Republican Party Tomorrow Night; it sounds like an interesting idea. (drbcladd)
• Liberal Youth discusses the effect of election reform measures on voter participation in Voting Reforms and Turnout. (taylormattd)

jotter has High Impact Diaries: August 26, 2008

Carnacki has tonight's Top comments - Obama to battle for West Virginia

Please feel free to suggest your own rescues, and otherwise use as an open thread.

Second-to-last night is over and done...your closing thoughts?

As day three of the convention winds down, the crowd was treated to an unexpected visitor and we all got a preview of tomorrow night.

In other news, rumor has it that John McCain will name his running mate tomorrow ahead of Barack Obama's speech. It's hard to decide whether to laugh at the thought of a green screen running mate, or roll our collective eyes at what kind of a petty, petty person would do that. And if it turns out to be only a rumor, I'll apologize for calling him petty. I will, however, still call him an asshole.

Biden's speech began with lovely tributes to his family, including his mother, of whom he said:

My mother's creed is the American creed: no one is better than you. You are everyone's equal, and everyone is equal to you.

Biden ends by using his authority on foreign policy to detail how Obama's foreign policy judgment has time and again been correct while McCain has been wrong. Biden's foreign policy judgment will not be substituted for Obama's; instead, his credibility will be used to affirm Obama's judgment.

John McCain was wrong, and Barack Obama was right -- again, and again, and again, on the most important national security issues of our time, John McCain was wrong and Barack Obama has been proven right.

And here comes Obama, introduced by Biden's wife Jill.

MSNBC just flashed that the Obama car is driving to the Pepsi Center.

Joe Biden has been nominated and Nancy Pelosi informs us he's accepted.

The video and son Beau's introduction have really focused on Biden's remarkable story of commitment as a father; earlier, Quincy Lucas, an advocate on domestic violence issues, delivered a nominating speech focusing on Biden's longstanding work on the Violence Against Women Act.

Finishing, Beau Biden alludes to the fact that he will be deployed to Iraq this fall, asking the crowd to "be there for my father; be there for Barack Obama."

And now Biden is on...

Who has been your favorite speaker so far tonight? And how do the speakers compare to last night?

Yesterday Bob Casey had one of the best lines of the night:

John McCain calls himself a maverick, but he votes with George Bush more than 90% of the time...that's not a maverick, that's a sidekick.

Tonight he is relaxing and enjoying the show.

Take the poll and use the comments to tell us how you made your choice.