Was the Palin pic too realistic? Newsweek is catching flak for not retouching a cover photo of the Alaska governor and Republican V.P. candidate because they have supposedly gone out of their way to make Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama look good. Apparently (and you have to see the magazine in person to notice) Palin’s showing too many wrinkles, pores and facial hairs.

McCain got mixed reviews from right-wing bloggers after last night’s debate. Conservative blogger John Hawkins surveyed the responses and came up with three general categories: those who thought McCain barely won, those who thought the debate was dull and did nothing to help McCain, and those who were mortified by McCain’s housing bailout.

Community organizers with ties to Obama may sound more like racketeers to some. Following the raid upon the Las Vegas headquarters of the Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now (ACORN) on suspicion of voter fraud (allegedly registering the Dallas Cowboys’ starting lineup), Modern Conservative blogger Brad O’Leary wrote a piece digging into the organization’s shady history and its ties to presidential candidate Barack Obama. Here’s an organization, he writes, “that was beyond knee-deep in the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac failures which have riveted our economy.” Socialism is still the great evil.

But don’t overreact! A guy in England claims he was shot simply for wearing an Obama T-shirt. I had to include this. It’s a reminder that politics are just the rules we create to ensure our disputes get settled peacefully (if loudly). Ignore the law and violence becomes legislator.

Perhaps there is one silver lining on the Wall Street financial crisis. According to a recent Associated Press story, books about America’s big money troubles are making the big bucks.

Nancy Sheppard, the vice president of marketing at Viking publishing told AP: ”When the world seems to be ending, people still turn to books for help.”

Viking published the Amazon best selling Bad Money: Reckless Finance, Failed Politics, and the Global Crisis of American Capitalism by Kevin Phillips. Like the title implies, the book discusses a new phenomenon called “bad money” in which the U.S. is dependent on the global economy and makes a series of risk miscalculations with financial products. Does this sound familiar?

Another Amazon best-seller is Naomi Klein’s The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism. Her book talks about the economic policy decisions that politicians were able to pull off because of natural disasters, wars or other catastrophic events. Hmmm….

I also took a quick glance at BusinessWeek.com’s recent book review list. At the moment, there were several titles that directly relate to our financial fiasco.

Would you like to know more on the international financial problems, check out:
The Subprime Solution: How Today’s Global Financial Crisis Happened, and What to Do about It by Robert J. Shiller

Or are you seeking more information on Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the U.S. mortgage problems? Take a look at:
Chain of Blame: How Wall Street Caused the Mortgage and Credit Crisis by Paul Muolo and Mathew Padilla

Or perhaps, you are interested in how the macroeconomic picture is affecting the little guy? Or how Wall Street has affected Main Street? You might want to read either of these next two books:
High Wire: The Precarious Financial Lives of American Families By Peter Gosselin
The Big Squeeze: Tough Times for the American Worker By Steven Greenhouse

Although I am not endorsing any of these books, I must say that hindsight is always 20/20. Meaning, where were all of these books before the financial crisis occurred (maybe being written)? So, even when you think people aren’t making money or the economy is shot, there’s always someone that’s figured out how to make a buck. And in this case, you can read all about it.

When you’re a dictator, you’d better show up for public events … North Korean leader Kim Jong-il did not attend a celebration of the country’s 60th birthday, and a western intelligence official said the Dear Leader may have suffered a stroke weeks ago. Kim’s last public appearance was on Aug. 14. The United States and South Korea have been unable to independently verify Kim’s current health status. The New York Times is reporting North Korea doesn’t appear to have any succession plan in place.

And speaking of world domination and tight-lipped dictatorships … Apple released a new version of iTunes and showed off the look of its new Nano at its annual September music preview event today. ITunes 8 gives recommendations for similar songs when users click a new “genius” button, and the Nano has a more vertical design and built-in accelerometer that displays pictures and video horizontally when tilted.

The polls are in … And Sarah Palin is looking like a better and better choice for vice president. In a new ABC News/Washington Post poll white women have swung dramatically for the McCain ticket, going from 50-42 percent in favor of Obama before the conventions to 53-41 percent in favor of McCain after both VP picks.

When the numbers are this big, they all blur together … The Congressional Budget Office estimates the U.S. deficit will grow by $246 billion this year, and reach $407 billion. The large jump is partly due to a a decline in corporate tax receipts. The $407 billion estimate was reached before the government’s temporary takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, so the deficit is expected to rise.

No soup for you! And no government too! Thailand’s Constitutional Court forced Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej out of office today because he had violated conflict-of-interest rules by being paid to appear on various cooking shows. Because Samak’s party will remain in power it will likely nominate him again, as early as Friday, to retake his post as prime minister.

Sen. Barack Obama’s big speech on Iraq tomorrow is a big gamble when there’s no reason to be speaking on anything other than the economy.

Media moguls are billing Obama’s talk as a speech as important as his eloquent race relations peroration in Philadelphia. Following the speech, he’ll have a FULL HOUR interview on the subject. Isn’t that overkill? It’s not that the Iraq war isn’t important, but Obama should be saving the Iraq speech as a kind of ace in the hole.

Conventional wisdom isn’t always wise. And through repetition and distortion in the last two or three weeks, John McCain and associates (Randy Scheunemann chief among them) have created and established the myth that Obama has not just flip flopped on his signature primary pledge of ending the Iraq occupation, but has actually come in closer alignment to McCain’s position!

To speak of Iraq now, before his campaign trip, isn’t going to get Obama more votes. It’s going to vindicate the McCain line that Obama is windsurfing on the war– in wartime.

Obama ought to save the Iraq speech for his return from Iraq. Then, with retiring GOP Senator Chuck Hagel and Jack Reed (D-RI) flanking him (both outspoken war critics in their own right), Obama will be in a position to be definitive, persuasive and nuanced — all things good presidents must be, and things Obama hopes to be tomorrow… but won’t. I won’t be surprised when the story that Obama is weak on Iraq continues.

To the operatives, pollsters and cynics alike, elections are about getting votes–pure and simple. Talking about Iraq right now could lose Obama votes, whereas blasting away on, say, Washington’s ways in the wake of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would hit all the buttons the DNC should be pushing right about now.