SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 8:31 P.M. ET:

POLL MAYHEM – There is polling chaos going on again, as Rasmussen has the race deadlocked, but Obama jumped to a six-point lead in the daily tracker, 50-44.  Accusations are flying all over the place about biased polls and oversampling of Democrats, but the general feeling is that Obama may have made some gains in the last week or so.  Look to the first debate Monday night.

HILLARY GOES HONEST – The esteemed secretary of state said for the first time on Wednesday that Al Qaeda was involved in the Libya attack.  We thank you, o secretary, for your honesty.  Do you get the same feeling I have – that Hillary is putting some space between herself and her boss, hoping to avoid blame in any investigation?  Obama was still sporting the old "it was the YouTube video" line before the UN just yesterday.

BIG MEDIA MUDDLE – It happened on the media's left wing today.  Roger Simon, a writer for Politico, wrote a satirical piece describing Paul Ryan as using the name "Stench" as a label for Mitt Romney.  But some of the lesser media minds didn't realize it was a satire and ran with it as a news story.  There really isn't much embarrassment, though. On the left this is called "an alternative narrative."

THE NFL – For you ruffians who follow these things, it's reported that the NFL and its locked-out referees are close to an agreement that would bring truly professional officiating back to football.  The game has been an embarrassment since the labor dispute began.  I understand that some of the officials they're using as replacements are usually in charge of Chicago elections.

September 26, 2012