Pablo Picasso was never called an asshole

* Krugman:

"Let's face it: whatever happens in Thursday's debate, cable news will proclaim President Bush the winner. This will reflect the political bias so evident during the party conventions. It will also reflect the undoubted fact that Mr. Bush does a pretty good Clint Eastwood imitation.

"But what will the print media do? Let's hope they don't do what they did four years ago.

"Interviews with focus groups just after the first 2000 debate showed Al Gore with a slight edge. Post-debate analysis should have widened that edge. After all, during the debate, Mr. Bush told one whopper after another - about his budget plans, about his prescription drug proposal and more. The fact-checking in the next day's papers should have been devastating.
...
"During the debate, Mr. Bush will try to cover for this dismal record with swagger, and with attacks on his opponent. Will the press play Karl Rove's game by, as Mr. Clymer puts it, confusing political coverage with drama criticism, or will it do its job and check the candidates' facts?

"There have been some encouraging signs lately. There was a disturbing interlude in which many news organizations seemed to accept false claims that Iraq had calmed down after the transfer of sovereignty. But now, as the violence escalates, they seem willing to ask hard questions about Mr. Bush's fantasy version of the situation in Iraq. For example, a recent Reuters analysis pointed out that independent sources contradict his assertions about everything 'from police training and reconstruction to preparations for January elections.'

"Mr. Bush is also getting less of a free ride than he used to when he smears his opponent. Last week, after Mr. Bush declared that Mr. Kerry 'would prefer the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein to the situation in Iraq today,' The Associated Press pointed out that this "twisted his rival's words" - and then quoted what John Kerry actually said.

"Nonetheless, on Thursday night there will be a temptation to revert to drama criticism - to emphasize how the candidates looked and acted, and push analysis of what they said, and whether it was true, to the inside pages. With so much at stake, the public deserves better."

* Bad News Hughes edits and factchecks Pitchfork. excerpt:

"from a review of U2's single Vertigo, written by some fucknut named David Moore:

"'The band sporadically adds a few grandiose flourishes: The Edge manages to drench the song's bridge in his trademark anthemic guitar stabs, and Bono momentarily stops preening and resumes brooding, belting out the song's climactic line ('I can feeeeel!') in heartfelt, self-glorifying agony.'"

"David, I have a question. How do you drench something in stabs? I think you have that shit backwards. See, it works like this: first, I stab you in the face with my penis, and second, your blood drenches your issue of McSweeney's. In the future, try and keep this straight. Otherwise, I'm sealing off Conor Oberst's asshole, denying you your primary source of food."

* Bare Your Breasts and support Your Candidate. [NNSFW] [via slipkid]