How excited am I about Halloween? Lots.

Love it!

I totally shouldn't have read Ruben Navarrette's commentary on CNN. It's about the intolerance of Liberals as demonstrated by Palin and JtP.

Commentary: Liberals let loose on Palin and Joe the Plumber

I also thought the Democratic Party was supposed to go to bat for the little guy, the everyday Joe the Plumber.

Tell that to Joe Wurzelbacher, the Ohio resident who got his 15 minutes -- and 40 lashes -- because he dared question Obama about his tax plan. Obama insists that the plan would raise taxes only on those Americans earning more than $250,000 per year. It was then Obama made his clumsy "spread the wealth" comment.

What was Joe thinking: that we live in a democracy where everyday Americans who pay the salaries of elected officials can dare question their policies? That just isn't done.

Arrrgh! JtP asked Obama a question and Obama took a good chunk of time calmly and seriously answering it. McCain then made JtP the pillar of his campaign as an example of how Obama's policies hurt the average guy. The media followed up, the narrative turned out to be false and the media reported it. It was McCain who thrust him into the limelight.

There's plenty more, but a pet peeve of mine was violated in particular.

Commenting on a CNN.com story, one condescending reader wrote that Joe the Plumber should pipe down and "get back in my bathroom and unclog the toilet."

Don't try to prove your point quoting some dude's comment on the Internet! I can go get dozens of reprehensible quotes from right wingers on comment threads, and it means nothing. Sure it might be fun in an informal thread, but it is ridiculous in a syndicated column.

Sorry, venting.

Liv looks action packed!

Tonight I'm going dancing

What? Without me?

What? Without me?

Why, are you going to be in Seattle and want to go two-stepping?? I go dancing every Friday, Hec!

I'm still suspicious about the last minute invite

I (and a bunch of other FBookers) got a last minute invite to a birthday party and then a retraction shortly afterward. She (not the birthday girl) said they'd reached the limit on invitees, and she asked us not to tell the birthday girl.

I never really liked the girl who sent out the invite, but really like the birthday girl. The whole thing sat badly with me, and I still wonder if anyone made drama.

Happy (and drama free!) birthday, Kate!

This weekend I'm going to Kernersvile, for more dad stuff. I've been doing this nearly every weekend since mid-August, and it's gotten kind of old now. But this time some of the dad stuff involves a test run of him driving. If he seems steady and competent behind the wheel, his doctor says he can start driving himself again. His first chemo wiped him out so much that he just wasn't safe to drive, but he's been off that for a while now. If he can drive, that means my own weekend commutes will go way down. Yay! (Plus, you know, a sense of self-sufficiency and whatnot for him. Also good.)

A writer for ESPN gets Obama as his partner in a fantasy football league for a week.

Why, are you going to be in Seattle and want to go two-stepping?? I go dancing every Friday, Hec!

I still don't hear an invite. Is because (as katefate told me at the first F2F: "You don't have the tits for it, baby.")?

• We* could go, Hecubus, and find the club in Scottsdale where Chris Berman lost his mind and became an Olbermann catchphrase.

msbelle: ER summary:

Gates sits down with his daughter and tries to talk to her about oral sex. She says the piercing has nothing to do with that--she just upgraded from a bellybutton piercing on a $10 dare. She takes it out. Ozzie doctor sits down with the black older guy and tells him that his son was clean, and the mother comes out of surgery well. Ozzie invites Neela for coffee at the Jumbo mart (olive branch) and she accepts.

Cop talks to Angela Bassett about the mugging and tells her she'll need to testify to get him behind bars. Morris talks to her about taking a break. She says she doesn't buckle. She goes to talk to the gymnast's sister who says she wasn't trying to hurt her sister, that she was tired of being in her shadow and wanted to teach her a lesson and get alone time with her mother. Then she admits she liked watching the fruit of her efforts. Angie tells her she'll have to stay in hospital and she runs out of the room screaming. They catch her and put her on a gurney. She screams and says she'll kill Angie, cut her into little pieces. Mother's in denial.

Neela and Ozzie do coffee. He invites her dancing. She says they're just going to be friends despite the shag. He says one day she'll wake up next to him and wonder how she got there, and he'll say he told her so.

Mother of psychette talks to Angie, looking for reassurance. She doesn't get it. Angie walks into an empty trauma room and seems to be hearing the sounds of someone flatlining and being shocked.

End of episode.