The Political Whore

The President-Elect put a modern-day spin on the old radio address to the nation by becoming the first President (or soon-to-be President) to post their radio address straight to YouTube.

• First order of business for President Obama: dumping the Crackberry.
• Japan officially in a recession.
• Almost two weeks after election day, Missouri is still a toss up.
• Free tuition!
• Former Buc safety John Lynch retires today.
• The packaging of the President.
• McCartney angles to release 14-minute Beatles track.
• Don’t look now, but the Bucs are 7-3.
• The LA Times fondly remembers the Star Wars Holiday Special.
• Bond knocks them dead at the box office.
• Helen Mirren said what?!!?

Barack Obama aired his half-hour “Obama Infomercial” as the candidate called it on last night’s Daily Show. (Time called it a “mini-convention six days before the election.”) The production leaned heavily on tug-at-the-heartstrings profiles of “real Americans” and some very specific policy proposals. In case you missed it:

• Florida gets much love as the candidates crisscross the state.
• Millions vote early, immediately smash televisions…
• …but not necessarily the Youth Vote.
• Bill stumps with Obama in Kissimmee. Three words we enjoy in any sentence: Bill, stumps and Kissimmee.
• McCain to LAT: Screw your journalistic principles, gimme that damned Obama video.
• Larry King was in town yesterday? I knew there was a reason I felt really icky all day.
• One of the 2,466 keyboardists who ever played with Jerry Garcia is dead.
• The worst part is that I had a ticket for game 6.
• There you go again, Sarah Palin.
• Can someone explain how the U.S. faces deflation after the Fed has created all this money?
• Trouble ahead for Facebook?
• 15 technologies that are about to change everything.
• God help us all: The Beatles go digital with their own edition of Rock Band.

Here’s your first look at the new, unfortunately-titled Bond movie, Quantum of Solace:

• Starbucks to ax 600 stores in the U.S.
• A blogger outs the Supreme Court for basing their no-death-penalty-for-child-rapists decision on an error.
• Obama to defeat McCain — it’s written in the stars.
• Forget music, today’s college kids are file-sharing their textbooks. You want to guess who’s unhappy about that?
• J.P. Morgan Chase broke into and emptied a house that the bank though was in foreclosure. It wasn’t.
• 10 reasons to not be so glum about surging gas prices.
• A lost 1964 Lennon/McCartney interview turns up in a damp London garage.
• Rays win again.