Silly man Paul Krugman writes on the Times' Op-Ed page that the recent scattershot of claims from the McCain-Palin campaign have one thing in common -- that they're "out-and-out lies."

And he adds, the need for the Obama-Biden ticket to fend off the foolishness could actualy DISTRACT from a real debate about the issues! Poor earnest fellow! What's he trying to prosecute here? ...J....J....J... Journalism? Not Larry King's take on Pamela Anderson's reactiont to Sarah Palin's bikini? What does he think that the barrage of bull hockey is actually INTENDED to do? 

Does he think the John McCain and Sarah Palin actually want to take a closer look at "Drill, drilll, drill!" and get people to point out that it actually means "Kill, kill, kill!" (as in wildlife, indigenous plant species and everything else in its way?) Does Krugman honestly believe that there's a way to stop the bubble machine that keeps sending up cartoon statements that portray John McCain as an ordinary, compassionate fellow, a middle-of-the-road Everyman and Sarah Palin as Crusader Rabbit? Do you think they'd like to talk about the endgame of repealing Roe v. Wade -- as in who would me prosecuted, the 13-year-old harlot that got raped into the family way by her mom's boyfriend or the doctor who stopped the pregnancy? Or the rapist? Does anyone want to talk about the nightmare that a "culture of life" (doesn't it sound lovely?) would actually be in practice -- about the murders, suicides and accidental deaths it would ignite?

Does anyone want to talk about about American kids waste seven hours in school every day so their parents can work -- that when I counted how much time my eldest daughter actually spent on schoolwork in school (not folding book covers, arranging her desk, discussing the rules of kickball and preparing to gather materials for a science experiment) it was an hour and forty minutes?

Pshaw! Who wants to talk about that? Pay no attention to Sarah Palin's fistfuls of pork or that "fight for freedom" over yonder that's going to see how medical technology can keep soldiers alive with injuries that will make them unable to live productive lives -- or maybe to bear going on living at all?

Better to fire salvos about how Barack Obama's passing comment about putting "lipstick on a pig" (Sheesh! Barack! It's actually "earrings on a pig" and you could have said "gilding the lily" or "trying to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear") reveals him as the callous, deeply sexist father of two daughters he really is?

There are only a scant few weeks until we all hang our chads together or hang ourselves separately.

If the "media" (snort, giggle, howl, fall on the floor and roll) can remain as fascinated as a dog watching the clothes go around in the dryer by Sarah Palin's hair, Sarah Palin's skirts, Sarah Palin's designer glasses, Sarah Palin's daughter Bristol's 20-week ultrasound ... well shoot, nobody's going to have to talk about any of those pesky "issues" at all!

My husband says every day that it serves Obama right! He should have gotten himself over that reasonable conversation between reasonable folk long ago! Now he's going to go and lose the whole thing because he actually believed that Americans were people of basic decency and goodwill who truly wanted change, no matter what color, and not any reason on earth they could find to justify NOT voting for a thoughtful, brave and inteligent man who also happened to be a KNOWN NEGRO?

At the end of his column, Krug points out wistfully that the Bush administration's campaign gave all kinds of signals about how it would run the country and the war (distraction, exaggeration, distortion) and that -- gasp! -- John McCain might actually be up to the same hijinks.

To quote Krugman, "the Obama campaign is wrong to suggest that a McCain-Palin administration would just be a continuation of Bush-Cheney. If the way John McCain and Sarah Palin are campaigning is any indication, it would be much, much worse."

Now, mister, you know what kind of folks we Americans are! With a level 3 tropical storm headed right for us, we hunker down and watch the TV! Later, we're surprised that the storm ... actually ... came! 

Silly man, to try to point out the signals! What does he think he's going to do, change hearts and minds?