“Cultural critic” James Wolcott, on his Vanity Fair blog, outlines why he voted for Hillary:

“Perhaps it’s my atheism at work but I found myself increasingly wary of and resistant to the salvational fervor of the Obama campaign, the idealistic zeal divorced from any particular policy or cause and chariot-driven by pure euphoria. I can picture President Hillary in the White House dealing with a recalcitrant Republican faction; I can’t picture President Obama in the same role because his summons to history and call to hope seems to transcend legislative maneuvers and horse-trading; his charisma is on a more ethereal plane, and I don’t look to politics for transcendence and self-certification.”

Why do you hate Love so much, Mr. Wolcott? [James Wolcott via Andrew Sullivan]

Mere months ago, Washington’s favorite drunken Englishman put himself through a comical health & beauty regiment, including myriad arduous stop-smoking schemes. His unrepentant conclusion: “I am more than ever sure that it’s enough to be born once, and to take one’s chances, and to grow old disgracefully.” And yet, today we hear the shocking news that Hitchens has indeed given up his greatest literary prop. No, not booze. The other one. MORE »

Bill and Hillary are apparently responsible for the Bush presidency, according to Vanity Fair’s October issue. As we all could’ve probably guessed, Al Gore’s loss in the 2000 election was entirely the fault of the the Clintons, who used all their fundraising acumen and massive charm reserves to get Hillary elected to the Senate instead of helping Bill’s rightful successor, Al, get elected despite his best efforts to fuck the whole thing up. MORE »

Judith Giuliani used to be a poor gal from a small Pennsylvania town, but she clawed her way up and over the corpses of various ex-husbands until she found New York fascist mayor Rudy G. and tore apart his family so she could finally be the first lady of 9/11. That’s the gist of this long Vanity Fair story about the former Judi Ann Stish who left home with nothing more than cheap lipstick case in need of so many, many notches. Also: MORE »

If you see a disheveled teen-aged panda around Union Station, stinking of urine and crack fumes, that’s the once-popular Butterstick. Everybody knows babies don’t stay “adorable” for long, but the burn rate is even faster for our animal friends because they live “dog years” or something. And there’s always a new, younger, cuter animal ready to take the title of World’s Most Adorable Critter. MORE »

Ok, we know Chris Hitchens doesn’t always photograph that well, but you’d think his own magazine could’ve found a better author photo. MORE »

The Donald’s at the bottom of a big messy Abu Ghraib-style human rape pyramid today as the Gannett-owned military papers and three infamous White House neoconservatives jumped him 72 hours before the election.

Army Times, Navy Times, Air Force Times and Marine Corps Times — the biggest commercially published military papers — are running a joint editorial calling for Rumsfeld’s head on a pike. Bloody details, after the jump.

MORE »

• Katherine Harris pens blog post, incites flurry of pandering to Florida’s Cuban voters. [The Hill Blog]

• Ousted from Connecticut, Juan Liebermantienez to lead coup in Cuba. [The Satirical Political Report]
• Vanity Fair releases military tapes from 9/11, titles article as if it were a classic rock box set. [Vanity Fair]
• The Republican party of Oregon, apparently more racist than in other states. [Oregon Live]
• Expect one less mysterious “tax” on your phone bill as Congress closes books on Spanish American War. [News.com]
• Christians pray for stability in Iraq, so they can hurry up and start proselytizing. [The Carpetbagger Report]
• Relive all the hot Texan backrub action at the G-8 with this new video game — fastest finger wins! [Addicting Games]

* Reliable Source: Cheney, at Fox News party, says Tony Snow will “do a superb job”. . . George Clooney, Joey Cheek in town for Sunday’s “Save Darfur” rally. [WP]
* Rush & Molloy: Rupert Murdoch to Snow: “Congratulations on your promotion - or maybe it’s a demotion.” [NYDN]
* Page Six: Snow isn’t “the greatest sax player”. . . Gen. Richard Myers dining at Da Tommaso in New York. . . Valerie Plame gets star treatment at a Vanity Fair party at the Tribeca Film Festival. [NYP]
* Inside the Beltway: Washington Life magazine hosts celebrity luncheon today, ahead of Correspondents’ Dinner. [WT]

* Names & Faces: Bono says he feels “exploited” by the use of his photo in campaign literature for Italy’s Silvio Berlusconi. [WP]
* Washington Whispers: Playboy and Penthouse are banned from State Department newsstands at the request of Condoleezza Rice. . . Josh Bolten recently cut work to watch a few Washington Nationals games. . . Fidel Castro could die within the next few years, American officials contend. . . Frank Luntz has a favorable view of Mark Warner. . . Rep. Nancy Pelosi misses the chocolate she gave up for lent. [USN&WR]
* Page Six: Site indicates Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) may have kept a “love nest” with his former chief of staff. . . Jenna once woke Bush up and made him call her then-boyfriend Blake Gottesman after they fought. [NYP]
* Lloyd Groves’s Lowdown: Gore blames Bush for failures surrounding Katrina and 9/11 in the “green issue” of Vanity Fair. [NYDN]
* The Scoop: Susan Sarandon wants national elections to be monitored by a third party: “The last one was an embarrassment. Everybody knew there was fraud, but nothing was done about it.” [MSNBC]

* House Appropriations Committee votes overwhelmingly to block Dubai ports deal; measure was attached to war spending bill. [WP]
* For Republican lawmakers, “political considerations” trump loyalty to Bush over port deal and, to a lesser extent, eavesdropping. Rep. Roy Blunt (R-MO): “If there was ever a good time for Congress to figure out oversight, it would be in the sixth year of a presidency.” [NYT]
* Senate compromise would permit eavesdropping on Americans without court warrant; administration would have 45 days to prove individual cases. [NYT]
* Bush accuses Congress of underfunding Gulf Coast reconstruction: “Congress heard our message about improving the levees, but they shortchanged the process by about $1.5 billion.” [WP, NYT]
* Senators agree to reject meals and gifts from lobbyists. [WP, NYT]
* Jack Abramoff to Vanity Fair: “Any important Republican who comes out and says they didn’t know me is almost certainly lying.” [NYT]
* Senate Republicans try to trim Bush’s spending requests for defense and foreign aid. [W$J]
* South Dakota expected to start trend of states rethinking abortion rights; nine others are moving to limit the procedure. [W$J]
* Michael Chertoff looks for the high road as others point fingers of blame — and some directly at him. [NYT]