So that much-rumored nasty temper emerges for the first time in the form of a policy decision.

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, we had a date!

Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes. -JH

Give me my way or I throw elbows. Sweet.

To think is not enough; you must think of something -- Jules Renard

As to the loafers. If Barrack Obama stepped onto the tarmac wearing 500 dollar shoes? Every nitwit who's been pimping tire gauges all week -- you know who you are -- would jump right on it. And worse? The McCain campaign would, too.

And you might even defend it as all in good humor.

To think is not enough; you must think of something -- Jules Renard

In that office manager's house......What kind of countertops does she have?

~At times like these I am reminded of the immortal words of Socrates when he said...."I drank what?"

and murkier.

Loafers could supplant tire gauges if the Obama campaign were so inclined, but thankfully they're not. Unfortunately that leaves the McCain campaign carte blanche to pursue the less substantial and more spurious aspects of campaigning uncontested, save for the Democratic nominee's biting humor.

GW Bush, leading contender for worst President ever.

Is that brand of shoe somehow related?

Fence post turtles -- They don't get up there by themselves, some moron had to put 'em there.

Answers: No (unless you're a Democrat); No (unless you're a Democrat).

Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes. -JH

I've tried to cut McCain a lot of slack, but those Ferragamos are just... tired.

All senators are elitists. That's part of their job. They're not part of that Local Yokel scene over in the House of Representatives. Obama isn't any less elitist, but he has a better fashion advisor.

McCain, as I've said before, is a Classic. He needs better suits and shoes, befitting his elder statesman gravitas. He's got physical infirmities, they are his badges of honor, but he's wearing suits which aren't made for him, they hang all over him. Frankly, they make him look awkward and elderly beyond his years. He looks a lot better with an open collar and good black suitjacket, such as he wears at his town hall forums. For a man in his early 70s, with his level of disability, he's a spry old fighter. Look like one, McCain. Those Ferragamos have to go.

And, oh, he needs to ditch that Navy ball cap, it's absurd to see that thing on his head. Makes him look like those walking billboards at NASCAR, you know, when they pull off the guy's fire gear and put that ball cap advertising Billy Bob's Hot Pork Rinds on his head while the breathless reporter gets his statement about how he's so grateful to his sponsors. You're not a walking billboard for the Navy, John.

But if you really want to get in step with the times, stop flying around in Harry Sargeant III's airplane. Start hanging out with bagmen, those 520 dollar Ferragamos are the ultimate in Bergen Gangster chic. Quit hanging around with grifters and gangsters, you're a better man than that.

All his life, John McCain has been the dashing maverick, the Naval aviator, the darling of the press. And to a very considerable extent, he earned that rep. But as with women of a Certain Age, it's time to take off those flashy duds and get with the times. An old woman in a young woman's dress is a somewhat tragic figure, but there is nothing more absurd and ridiculous than an older man trying to dress like a Jersey mob boss in Italian loafers.

The press seems to give McCain a pass on the frivolous stuff, perhaps becuz the Obama campaign doesn't enshrine it in attack ads. That's why the Expensive Shoes -- which is a natural, just ask John Edwards about his haircut -- doesn't seem to get any MSM traction. They are less timid when it comes to Traditional Republican Mendacity, however. And this money scandal is just the thing they can dig their teeth into. Cuz nobody ever won a Pulitzer reporting on shoes. That's why I believe this will have serious implications for the Senior Senator from Arizona.

As for presumption and arrogance, no kidding. Jon Stewart had fun with this a week ago. Running for president, not to mention leader of the free world? I think it's safe to assume that both men have both healthy egos, and a willingness to presume. But again, the frivolous stuff, at least to date, seems to land in the Obama column.

To think is not enough; you must think of something -- Jules Renard