I came across this photo and sent it to my Photoshopper buddies for magic or captioning. Driftglass calls it "Wasilla's Sense of Snowe," and the photoshops came in from Zaius, Tengrain, D-Cap, Darkblack, and Mark Hoback at Fried Green Al-Qaedas.

Open Thread and your captions below (keep it clean).

Hillary Clinton's speech transcript

Reuters:

Hillary Clinton won the Democratic nominating contest in Puerto Rico on Sunday, but still badly trails front-runner Barack Obama as he draws closer to clinching the party's presidential nomination.
Clinton's win in Puerto Rico, a territory where residents are not allowed to vote in the November election, gave her more fuel for her argument that she has won more popular votes and is the best Democrat to face Republican John McCain.

But the results pushed Obama closer to the magic number of 2,118 delegates needed to become the nominee, and the Illinois senator already has turned his attention to a general election fight with McCain.

Two contests on Tuesday in Montana and South Dakota, with 31 pledged delegates to the August nominating convention at stake, conclude the voting in the Democratic presidential race.

According to CNN, the delegate count is 38 for Clinton; 17 for Obama.

Long-time readers know that I take a certain amount of pleasure in mocking Florida, where I was born and raised. There’s just something … unique about it.

Take, for example, a Tampa-area school firing a substitute teacher for doing a magic trick for his students.

The telephone call that spelled the end of Jim Piculas’ career as a substitute teacher in Pasco County came on a January day about a week after he performed the disappearing-toothpick trick for a group of rapt middle school students.

Pat Sinclair, who oversees substitute teachers in the Pasco County School District, was on the phone. She told Piculas there had been a complaint about his performance at Rushe Middle School in Land O’ Lakes.

He asked what she meant. “She said, ‘You’ve been accused of wizardry,’” Piculas said.

He said the statement seemed bizarre to him, like something out of Harry Potter.

Piculas said he replied, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” He said he also told Sinclair, “It’s not black magic. It’s a toothpick.”

Oh sure, it’s a toothpick today. But what about tomorrow? What will we tell parents when a substitute teacher starts trying to do spells? Or shows kids pictures of Willow from “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”? Or accidentally turns someone into a newt? Hmm?

As Piculas — who, as far as I know, is not a warlock — explained it, he got a call after doing his trick from the head of supervisor of substitute teachers. “He says, ‘Jim, we have a huge issue, you can’t take any more assignments you need to come in right away,’” Piculas said.

The disappearing tooth pick was, apparently, the “huge issue,” and led to the disappearing job.

Blah3: Horror stories from Afghanistan

CQ Politics: God's James Bond

JURIST: Serbia prosecutors searching for rioters behind the US Embassy attack

washington independent: Walter Reed gets some Disney Magic

Shakesville: A strong, brave woman fighting leukemia - can you help?

OFF THE BEATEN PATH: al Qaeda in Albuquerque, MAL Contends, Only Sayin', Change Any1thing,

Enter Jeopardy Think Music:
Wikipedia: "on November 22, 1963, independent sources began reporting that three shots had been fired at the President’s motorcade. At 12:34 p.m., approximately four minutes after the shots were fired, the first wire story flashed around the world..."

Answer: Arlen Specter!

The Single Bullet Theory, called the magic bullet theory by critics, was introduced by the Warren Commission to explain how three shots made by Lee Harvey Oswald resulted in the assassination of United States President John F. Kennedy.

The theory, generally credited to Warren Commission staffer Arlen Specter (now a U.S. Senator.), posits that a single bullet, known as "Warren Commission Exhibit 399" (also known as "CE399"), caused all of the non-fatal wounds in both President Kennedy and Texas Governor John Connally.

44 years ago tomorrow...

FOX News/Opinion Dynamics "polling" often discovers a silent majority agreeing on issues that Republicans then exploit to sell their propaganda. Their latest poll (.pdf), however, reveals something that certainly won't find it's way into Bush's speeches anytime soon. I doubt you'll see Hannity citing it either. Can ya guess who the "one Senator" is?

One Senator recently claimed that setting a date for a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq is more accurately described as a date for surrender — do you think it is accurate to compare withdrawal with surrender?

Yes: 33 percent
No: 61 percent

Lest we forget FOX did this a few weeks ago with a poll about MoveOn "taking over" the Democratic Party. The misleading way FOX asks questions reminds me of this exchange from "Family Guy":

Lawyer: Mr Griffin, which of the following two phrases best describes Brian Griffin: Problem Drinker or African-American Haberdasher?
Peter: Uh, do I-I guess problem drinker, but that's uh-
Lawyer: Thank-you. Now: Sexual deviant or magic picture that if you stare at it long enough, you see something?
Peter: Well, sexual deviant, but that other one's not even, eh-
Lawyer: Thank-you.

Kerry Comeback Alert

Is he the comeback kid?

Is the race suddenly close?

Is Bush blowing the lead?Are Lockhart and McCurry working their magic already?

I have no idea, but check this out: "In the latest national survey of 1,972 registered voters by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, conducted in two waves over a seven-day period Sept. 8-14, finds that the president's 52%-40% advantage in the initial period dissipated in the polling conducted Sept. 11-14. The second wave of interviewing shows the race even among registered voters, at 46%-46%. When the sample is narrowed to likely voters, Bush holds a statistically insignificant lead of 47%-46% in the second wave, down from the huge 54%-39% advantage he held in the first wave of interviews." read on...

PITCH: Transforming Columbus Day

Qwerty's Qoncepts: Bush isn't dumb enough, for once.

Shakespeare's Sister : Reality Check

David Stephenson: The Mean Magic Mexico Wall is a Myth.

Beggars Can Be Choosers: Who Will Direct November Election: Frank Capra or David Lynch?

Weazl's Revenge: photos from The World Can't Wait protests

Off the beaten path, colors of the rainbow edition: Red State Diaries , Orange Tangerine, Yellow Doggerel Democrat, Green LA Girl, The Blue State, Indigo Girls, Violet's Blog.

--
Blue Gal

Harpers.org: There may be more problems for Jerry Lewis of California, the head of the House Appropriations Committee who is under federal investigation for his ties to lobbyists and for possibly steering money to well-connected companies. Updates at War and Piece

AGITPROP: A Fistful of Wingnuts

A Tiny Revolution: Nir Rosen, world's bravest person, on Zarqawi

Norbizness: Here's where you get to find out what The Left did to America, your herb garden, and your blood pressure over the last week through the magic of lo-traffic websites.

Bill Moyers' Baccalaureate Address at Hamilton College, Clinton, NY (hat tip Blue Gal)

OFF THE BEATEN PATH: The Blue State...Liberal Rapture... Everything Between...Beggars Can Be Choosers...Acme News and Thought...Red State Son

The Left Coaster: Will Democrats do another "ostrich" routine on Iran?

DIRELAND: U.N. agency confirms gay Iraqis targeted for kidnapping and murder(hat tip Petrelis Files )

King of Zembla: Toxic mendacity: The full cost in lives of the EPA's cynical "Ground Zero" deception may not be known for years to come, but people are starting to die.

Whatever It Is, I’m Against It: Gay marriage is not the magic bullet to get us out of our situation

Words of Power: Richard Power focuses on the inter-related issues of security, sustainability and spirit, and how to overcome the challenges of terrorism, cyber crime, global warming, health emergencies, natural disasters, etc.

Pigs Fly: George Will Opposes Attack On Iran! Are we coming to the end of the Bully Era? Despite theGeneral misunderstandings, Rumsfeld has inspired some changes at the Pentagon. Meanwhile, US News & World Report is taking a poll on whether or not Rummy should resign. Unbelievably, a slight majority says "No"! Scroll down and cast an informed vote. Mad Kane writes....

Some Gen'rals are filling our ears,
With Rummy critiques and Bronx cheers.
What a shame they're so late,
And didn't join the debate
Before Bush got another four years.