Continuing his fantastic coverage of issues the rest of the media dare not touch, Dan Abrams last night went through John McCain's lengthy list of television and film credits to argue that McCain -- not Barack Obama -- is the real political celebrity in the race. It seems the only one on the panel who rejects this is Republican shill Brad Blakeman. What a shocker.

"In reality, isn‘t John McCain actually a bigger celebrity than Barack Obama? The John McCain who‘s made cameo appearances in “Wedding Crashers” and “24.” We‘ve got the tape."

Full transcript here.

Rachel Maddow appeared on"Countdown" last night to talk about John McCain's joke(?) about entering his wife in a topless beauty contest, and hit on an important point: in order to compete with Barack Obama's rock star appeal, the McCain camp has decided to find places where large people gather for other reasons and bask in the unwarranted limelight.

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OLBERMANN: Also, maybe a somewhat serious point contained in all this malarkey; on stage at Sturgis, he referred to the—preferring the roar of the 50,000 Harleys to 200,000 Germans cheering in Berlin. But in doing that, did he not underscore the fact that those 200,000 Germans in Berlin actually showed up to hear Barack Obama speak, but the 50,000 bikers on the roar of their Harleys, they had shown up at Sturgis not to see John McCain, but to see Kid Rock, Kelly Pickler and a bunch of female wrestlers and other women not wearing tops?

MADDOW: This is a critical and basic difference between the John McCain campaign for president and the Barack Obama campaign. Barack Obama creates large crowds when he gives speeches. John McCain‘s campaign has just figured out to find out where there‘s going to be a large crowd for another reason and to hope to slip their candidate in between other acts.

I guess you can't really blame McCain. When your opponent draws tens of thousands of people who genuinely want to hear him speak, and you have trouble filling the dining room of a Sausage restaurant, you have to find ways to compensate. It's just ironic that they attack Obama's celebrity appeal yet try to emulate it any way they can.

Yeah, that would be just horrible, wouldn't it? {{shudder}} I mean, who would want to live in a cosmopolitan place full of art, culture, diversity and some of the best restaurants in the country if it means that your neighbors might be, you know, homosexual??? The bald faced bigotry that people feel comfortable expressing in this day and age never fails to horrify me. PageOneQ:

The town of Eureka Springs is turning into the "San Francisco of Arkansas," warns the American Family Association, and it can happen in your town too.

The presentation in the AFA trailer [available at PageOneQ], "They're Coming to Your Town," tells the tale of an uncharacteristically diverse resort town's government infiltrated by "a handful of homosexual activists" and bent to their will through the enactment of the town's domestic partner registry on June 22, 2007.

"Watch, and learn," says the trailer, "how to fight a well-organized gay agenda to take over the cities of America, one city at a time."

Eureka Springs, most recently, has gotten an honorable mention from unlikely celebrity and Oklahoma House Rep. Sally Kern, who propped it up as an example of the "gay agenda" that she has called a "death knell" and a larger threat than international terrorism, in addition to comparing such an "agenda" to cancer.

Do be sure to see the video that AFA created over at PageOneQ.

d r i f t g l a s s: "The Old Men"

Open Left: Ending the nomination campaign

Whiskey Fire: I keep forgetting that Chuck Norris has a column at Townhall. Let's head over there and see what this great big stick of fistic jerky has to say to us.

Calculated Risk: FDIC to hire more workers, braces for bank failures

INSTAPUTZ: Packer

one good move: Celebrity Endorsement

With Laura Bush calling John Kerry's stance on stem cell research ridiculous, and Teresa Kerry yelling four more years of hell, I see a great Celebrity Boxing match brewing between the two shortly before the October debates. Leave it to FOX to steal the idea and try to set up a bout between Hillary Rodham Clinton and Ann Coulter.

News8Austin:

Former Texas Gov. Ann Richards -- the witty and flamboyant Democrat who went from homemaker to national political celebrity died at her Austin home.

She was 73.

Richards died Wednesday night surrounded by her family after a battle with esophageal cancer, family spokeswoman Cathy Bonner said.

Here's a audio link of her 1998 Democratic National Convention Keynote Address

Howie was the first to post about this.

Apparently Dan Quayle is still doing exactly what he was doing when he was George H.W. Bush's vice president: playing golf and criticizing entertainment figures. Friday, Quayle took some time out from his busy golf schedule-- he was in Tahoe (which he loves because if only potato were spelled that way...) because he was participating in the American Century Celebrity Golf Championship in nearby Stateline-- to attend a concert at Harvey's Casino by fellow Hoosier, John Mellencamp....read on

Richard Johnson:

NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley backed Mellencamp, saying, "He's right." While that may sound odd coming from a former conservative, Barkley told a local reporter, "I was a Republican - until they lost their minds." Quayle, known for his great golf game, served as veep under President Bush's father from 1989-'93.

Mike's Blog Round Up

A Liberal Dose: U.S. asks Turkey to host Iran attack...

Harpers.org: A firm allegedly used by defense contractor Brent Wilkes to provide prostitutes to ex-Rep. Duke Cunningham, is headed by a man who has a long criminal rap sheet and is also a contractor for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Additionally, well-known government-watchdog group, Common Cause, has asked the Justice Department to investigate U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris' how fake, how inane is our modern celebrity press of corps?

Bob Somerby gags over WaPo scribe Peter Beinart's fawning review of Joe Klein’s peculiar new book.

Calling Rupert Murdoch.

"A New York Post Page Six staffer solicited $220,000 from a high-profile billionaire in return for a year's "protection" against inaccurate and unflattering items about him in the gossip page, the Daily News has learned. In two 90-minute meetings, characterized by a shocking breach of ethics, Jared Paul Stern, a fixture on the city's gossip scene who also edited Page Six The Magazine, asked for a series of payments from Ron Burkle, the managing partner of Yucaipa Cos., a conglomerate with interests in supermarkets, celebrity clothing lines, and media."

Someone email Deborah Orrin, one of Chris Matthews favorite pundits and ask her for her thoughts. Maybe the Podman too.

Kanye West: "George Bush doesn't care about black people"

(originally posted on 9/02/05) I don't have the actual totals yet, but an early count of only two servers has this video being downloaded almost 800,000 times in the last two months.

During the Concert for Hurricane Relief, Kanye West and Mike Meyers were celebrity narrators during the segment, West said: (rush transcript)

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(fuller Transcript by Tracy& Eric)

"I hate the way they portray us in the media. "If you see a black family it says they are looting if you see a white family it says they are looking for food.

"We already realize a lot of the people that could help are at war now fighting another way and they’ve given them permission to go down and shoot us."

"George Bush doesn't care about black people."

Mike Meyers was floored...

Update:- Kanye West and Mike Myers: Part II:

The two appeared on SNL this Saturday and reminisced about their slot together during a telethon for Hurricane Katrina
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