Photo Break: Tufted Titmouse

Birdbloggin’ ’til the birds come home.  Story behind the photo below the break.

Tufted titmouse

My idea! No fair! My idea!

OK, let me get this straight.  John McCain announces the temporary suspension of his campaign to return to Washington and focus on the financial crisis, and Barack Obama responds by…insisting it was his idea first??

The cynicism in Sen. McCain’s announcement is pretty obvious, but is Sen. Obama really trying to take credit for McCain’s cynicism?

After McCain’s suspension announcement, the Obama campaign scrambled to the press to claim indignantly that Obama called McCain this morning to suggest a “joint statement” of some kind (Obama said the same thing at his press conference following McCain’s; they’re not specific on the matter).  McCain says Obama did call, but didn’t reach him, as he was meeting with economic advisors and members of Congress all day.  Moreover, he just told Katie Couric (no link, I’m watching it right now) that “this is not the time for ’statements,’ this is the time to act.”

In any case, McCain has clearly taken it a step further and said that their jobs take precedence over their job aspirations, and as such they should both suspend campaigning until at least next week.  Obama disagrees, saying the debate Friday should go ahead as planned and if the Senate leadership needs him they are free to call him.

More twists and turns, and a little analysis about the short- and medium-term options open to each candidate, below the break.

UPDATE: The aftermath!  Lots of reaction, including from the Senate Democratic leadership (likewise, below the break).

This just in, from New York City…

David Blaine is a no-talent tool.

During my lunch break today, I decided to walk up to Wollman Rink in Manhattan’s Central Park to check out David Blaine’s latest stunt. I have better things to do with my time, to be sure, but I’ve always been curious about David Blaine: Not in that “Oh, he’s so amazing” way, but in that “What is this guy’s deal?” way. Apparently, I’m not the only cynic around. I overheard a few middle-aged ladies walking ahead of me, saying, “He’s just doing a stupid stunt; he’s not a magician.”

Oh, this just p***es me off.  The guy even gets down from the wire to take regular water breaks fercryinoutloud.  Leave him up there for the full (and advertised) sixty hours, and then I might say it rises to “stunt” level.  Reminds me of the Steven Wright joke about seeing a 7-11 clerk locking the doors to the store:  “I went up to him and said, ‘Hey, what are you doing?  The sign says Open 24 Hours.’ And he looked at me and said, ‘Not in a row…!’”

Tool.

“Um, I have a note from the Minority Leader?”

U.S. Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK), awaiting trial on corruption charges, has asked a federal judge if it’s OK if he skips out on the proceedings from time to time this week.

His reason?  He says that the trial, in which a jury will decide whether he lied about $250,000 in home construction and other gifts courtesy of an oil company, makes it difficult for him to be a good Senator.

The gobsmacking details, and how it might reflect on Sarah Palin, below the break.

Palin Minefield: No casualties…yet

Governor Palin officially entered the foreign policy gauntlet this morning, holding meetings at the United Nations with Afghan president Hamid Karzai and Colombian president Alvaro Uribe.  (Hot Air has video.)  Further leaders she’ll be meeting today include Presidents Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia, Viktor Yushchenko of Ukraine, Jalal Talabani of Iraq, Ali Asif Zardari of Pakistan, and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of India.

OK, Governor Palin has now trod upon the sector of the campaign minefield occupied by foreign leaders.  Karzai and Uribe reported having been impressed and pleased by Palin in their respective meetings, so no tripped mines yet.  So far, as far as the campaign minefield in general is concerned, there have been nearby explosions, but nobody’s been killed or maimed to date by any of the diciest aspects of the campaign so far.

Details and minefield highlights below the break.