Cliched, but true: I have so many things to be thankful for this year. Here’s a random sampling because there are way too many to list: - Sarah Palin (and Tina Fey) for bringing me the gifts of laughter and mirth. You betcha! - Ann Coulter for illustrating the beauty in silence. - The mushroom pizza at Mozza. - Barack Obama for proving that hope still exists. - The American voters who had faith......

Well, this is timely. Hustler's "Who’s Nailin’ Paylin?" hit the streets today and has already taken over the #1 spot on Adult DVD Empire’s best-sellers list (thanks to pre-orders), according to the Beverly Hills based company. Jumping on the Palin wagon, porn companies used Los Angeles Craigslist pages to recruit an amateur Palin look-a-like. For Hustler, Veteran MILF Lisa Ann took the job along with Nina Hartley who plays Hillary Clinton and Jada Fire as......

After a "heart-to-heart" talk with West Hollywood Mayor Jeffry Prang as a "huge mob scene" protested outside, Chad Michael Morrisette took down the controversial Sarah Palin effigy, which he said he saw as a Halloween display mixed with some election politics, two days earlier than he had planned. During the 5 o'clock hour yesterday evening, a man parked a black truck with a noose wearing male dummy that wore a T-shirt saying "Chad, how does......

Toby Huss, as Rudy Casoni, belts one for the Republicans. LAist met the amazing Toby Huss at McCabe's when he sang with Syd Straw.......

Neighbors of the home owner who has mixed Halloween decor and free speech together for Sarah Palin effigy in his West Hollywood front hard took their First Amendment right this afternoon by peacefully covering the display with sheets for a half hour. "Chad Michael Morrisette, a professional window display designer who set up the life-size mannequin of Palin in front of his house, said the protesters were mostly concerned that the Palin display cast a......

Possibly taking a cue from the buzz created around the Sarah Palin effigy in West Hollywood, a Barack Obama effigy was found this morning on the campus of the University of Kentucky, Chicagoist reports. U of K President Lee Todd said he was, "personally offended and deeply embarrassed by this disgusting episode."......

... as long as it's just a goofy doll in a Neiman Marcus coat dress and it's Halloween in WeHo. "We're not treating it as a threat," said Deputy Special Agent in Charge Wayne Williams on Tuesday. "Halloween presents some interesting challenges for us with the masks and costumes." The effigy was up "for weeks" before being called out on LAist (and elsewhere) earlier this week, according to LAT.......

On Monday night, MSNBC's Keith Olbermann named Chad Michael Morrisette, the West Hollywood resident that took front lawn Halloween decor to new levels with a Sarah Palin effigy and a burning John McCain, as the Worst Person in the World. He beats out Bill O'Reilly and Joe Lieberman.......

West Hollywood Mayor Jeffrey Prang chimed in on LAist's Sarah Palin effigy post yesterday. Like 99.9999% of everyone else, he's not cool with it. "I respect that we all have the right to freedom of speech," began Prang. "However, with that right comes responsibility. While these residents have the legal right to the display of Senator McCain and Governor Palin, I strongly oppose political speech that references violence - real or perceived. Politics in America......

digg_url = 'http://digg.com/2008_us_elections/Sarah_Palin_Effigy_Hangs_in_West_Hollywood'; How's this for bad taste? If you are not a fan of Sarah Palin, we recommend ignoring her existence entirely. Not only is this lame attempt at a joke in poor taste -- and not only in light of reported Obama effigies (most recently at a Christian university in Oregon) -- but acknowledging Palin in such an extreme way (or any way) only gives her more credibility / recognition. As it......

Next week's election presents a tough choice for some, although others have known for sometime which option is more suited to their taste. Here the dilemma gets a sweeter treatment, in the form of McCain/Palin and Obama/Biden chocolates for your choosing, as caught by LAist Featured Photos contributor C-Monster. These confection candidates were found in Laguna Niguel at Downey's Chocolates--we don't know which one is more delicious, but we did get to sample their......

The Phillies fans go wild. AP Photo/Julie Jacobson Philadelphia Phillies defeat LA Dodgers 3-2. In a well pitched game, any mistake made is amplified. Unfortunately for the Dodgers, Derek Lowe just made one too many mistakes. The Dodgers got things started with back-to-back one out doubles by Andre Ethier and Manny Ramirez taking a 1-0 lead. In the fourth inning they showed their improved execution after Matt Kemp hit a second to advance to......

LA Times' top blog, Top of the Ticket, spoke to local artist Shepard Fairey about all the spoofs on his Obama "HOPE" poster. One replaces the word "HOPE" under Obama to "HYPE" and another shows Sarah Palin or John McCain with "NOPE" under their faces. Unimpressed, finding them too negative, Fairey told the blog that "when something becomes pervasive enough, it becomes a reference point that people are going to use for commentary and parody.......

Remember when refrigerator magnet poetry was en vogue? Well, this site is kind of like that but a zillion times better -- especially if you're a fan (or foe?) of VP candidate Sarah Palin. We got a heads-up e-mail from Culver City's Jordan Kolasinski, the creator of this new site: Palindrome. He writes, "I created this site where you can take actual words Sarah Palin has said, re-arrange and re-contextualize them as you'd like,......

This year's election has gone to the tech generation, which can account for this clever way to txt your way into today's Sarah Palin rally in Carson. An E-billboard across from the Home Depot Center was rented by the California Democratic party so that those wishing to pose the Alaskan Gov. and Republican VP nom some more hard-hitting questions could do so via a text message. Watch what came up online here.......

Did you watch last night's debates? If you did, you were one of the minority. Kevin Roderick at LA Observed reports: "Nielsen says that last night's Biden-Palin debate drew a much larger television audience — 45% of households in the 55 biggest metered metro areas — than the earlier McCain-Obama debate. But the ratings in Los Angeles were dead last at 34%."......

Tomorrow, Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin will be in the Los Angeles area for a fundraiser and a big afternoon rally at the Home Depot Center in Carson that is expecting to draw 15,000 people. With that, LA Indy Media tells readers to "think about getting tickets and take the protest inside the hall." In addition to a fundraiser in Orange County, she'll have one in the Bay Area city, Woodside.......

OK, Everybody ready? Drink in hand? TV on? Let's get ready to get trashed!!! According to the odds makers at www.betonline.com, the over/under on the number of times Palin mentions 'Russia' is currently at 2 1/2, with the site favoring the over. Everyone take a shot every time Palin says "Russia" and hang on to your barstool! If you're not sure where to drink, check out our earlier post.......

Here's the latest ad from the California Nurses Association.......

As his running mate Sarah Palin prepares for her Thursday debate (notice how FOX News is already giving her an out?) with Obama VP select Joe Biden, Republican nominee John McCain will be trying to raise a quarter million dollars at a fundraiser tonight. It's at the Century Plaza Hyatt Regency in Century City, so plan ahead for some extra special traffic tonight if you're in the area. Or maybe you're going to the fundraiser......

This ad, from Republicans Against 8, is probably one of the more interesting Proposition 8 ads out there (compared to the official campaign ones). In November, Proposition 8 will be on the ballot asking Californians to eliminate gay marriage.......

Photo by Sparkylulu via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr Some sellers in California can't unload their Palin Syrah, but in the South Bay some can't wait to get a taste of Sarah Palin. The Republican vice presidential nominee is headed to So Cal for a rally at the Home Depot Center in Carson on October 4th, and folks were eager to get their tickets yesterday from the Republican campaign offices in Torrance. The......

AP Photo/Eric Risberg Pronounced "pa-LEEN sih-rah," but with current events it's thought of otherwise and is leaving a bad taste for some Californians. From Serious Eats: "It was our best selling wine before (the V.P. announcement),” said Chris Tavelli, owner of Yield Wine Bar, which has offered Palin Syrah, a certified organic wine from Chile, by the glass since July. But after Sen. John McCain tagged Sarah Palin as his running mate, sales of......

Earlier this month, local electropop duo Electrocute (MySpace) -- previously covered here -- performed at Bordello (MySpace) in Downtown LA. Tomorrow night, they will be part of the Barack Obama-rama at Spaceland (MySpace) in Silver Lake, with locals The Bird and the Bee (MySpace), The Lady Tigra (MySpace), Hard Place (MySpace), Willoughby (MySpace), and The Polyamorous Affair (MySpace), as well as the Copenhagen-based Wolfkin (MySpace), and Lance Rock manning the DJ booth. The fundraiser......

Tina Fey for President! OK, well, she should at least be a cabinet member. She has more communications experience and exposure than all of the contenders combined. The big question that is getting asked is, will Fey be back again as Sarah Palin on SNL? She might be back on as early as this upcoming Saturday according to some reports, depending upon how negotiations go. 8:00pm Top Gear BBC America - The guys review off-road......

The LA Times got their hands on a recent interview Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger did with a German Magazine, Der Spiegel, last Friday. In the interview, he was very candid, here are some highlights captured by the Times' translated copy: Barack Obama: "He praised the 'incredible' candidacy of Sen. Barack Obama, the Democrat running for president... 'The Germans have no idea how someone like Obama can rise within a short period of time...' Schwarzenegger said......

It looks like there's one more thing we can add to Sarah Palin's list of hobbies. We've all seen her leaning out of an airplane gleefully shooting wolves, and surely we've delighted in her ability to catch and gut a fish. Now we know that, much like her running mate, she also loves to gamble. Not gambling of the Vegas variety. No sipping free alcoholic beverages as she mindlessly and repeatedly yanks a lever.......

An announcement for Labor Day (or it just happened to fall on it), John McCain's VP running mate Sarah Palin said that her daughter Bristol Palin, 17, is five months pregnant. Palin most recently gave birth to her down syndrome son Trig in April, but rumors spread on the internet that it was actually Bristol's. Today's announcement was in effort to debunk that rumor. Sarah and Todd Palin said they were proud of Bristol's decision......

John McCain's web people were a little busy this morning prepping the "Ticket for America." (Is it just us or does the photo have SNL skit written all over it?) Just for fun...let's play caption the photo.......

As we were watching The Today Show this morning, trying to wake up, Matt Lauer came on live with a bit of an eye opener: Sen. John McCain, the Republican presumptive nominee for POTUSA, took a little bit of wind out of Democrats' sails this morning with the announcement that Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has been picked as his running mate. Now we don't know a lot about the Alaska governor, but we do know......