Cheat Sheet

In a piece for the New York Times Magazine, Robert Draper peers behind the curtain of the McCain operation and cycles through, by his count, the six narratives that the campaign has pushed. (The latest being “The Fighter (Again) vs. the Tax-and-Spend Liberal”). But what’s remarkable about the piece is the extent to which McCain, who is supposed to be a born leader, is, in fact, the creature of his advisers. His chief campaign strategist, Steve Schmidt, severed McCain from his old garrulous self by insisting that the candidate keep the media at bay. Schmidt and other advisers apparently chose Sarah Palin (who, it turns out, has a voice coach) as his best-possible running mate before they even mentioned her to McCain. When all is said and done, it seems that McCain’s campaign will be best by a new narrative: McCain vs. his advisers.

Third-party 527 advocacy groups were supposed to be the McCain campaign's reinforcements, swooping in with advertisements that went further than McCain himself was willing to go (read: Jeremiah Wright). But it appears that McCain will be left high and dry, Politico reports. "Thanks largely to lack of passion for McCain within the conservative base, diminished hopes that he can win, and a sharp decline in the stock market that has badly pinched donors' pockets, veteran Republican operatives say it appears almost certain that what could be the most damaging line of attack against the Democratic nominee will be left on the shelf." Freedom's Watch, a high-profile 527 whose founder's large purse had Democrats nervous a few months ago, has not even aired an ad during the presidential race.

Remember Josef Fritzl? He’s the Austrian man who made headlines earlier this year when it was discovered that he had locked his daughter in a cellar for 24 years and fathered seven children with her, only three of whom he allowed to live upstairs with him. The Telegraph reports that a “highly confidential” report by a forensic psychologist on Fritzl was recently leaked to an Austrian tabloid. “I realized I had an evil side,” Fritzl is quoted as saying in the report. “But I managed to contain myself for quite a long time, for someone who was a born rapist.” Apparently, Fritzl served a prison sentence after raping a nurse in 1967. Later, he came up with what the examining psychiatrist called the “ideal” solution—upstairs he’d lead a normal life, while downstairs he’d act out his dark side, determined to possess his daughter so completely that even if she broke loose, she’d never be attractive to another man.

Details are leaking out about the summit Bush is holding on the global financial crisis—which, given the huge Dow drop, needs to be addressed ASAP. While the venue for the November 15 summit has yet to be finalized, White House press secretary Dana Perino said the Bushes will host a dinner the night before at the White House. On the invite list: leaders of the Group of 20, which includes Brazil, China, India, and Russia, among others. The meeting will be the first in a series aimed at reforming the international financial system.

“Will white people riot if Barack Obama wins?” wonders Wendi C. Thomas at The Root. She’s been asked whether black people will riot if Obama doesn’t win, but gauging the ugly anger (shouts of “Kill him!”) cropping up in the presidential campaign, she sees an alternate possibility: “Will the dream of a perfect streak of white men in the White House, if deferred, cause white people to explode?” The idea, she argues, is no more absurd than black people rioting—and it could be scarier.

How long until Madonna sneers about this onstage? Guy Ritchie’s latest film, Rocknrolla, grossed a paltry $400,000 in U.S. theaters on its opening weekend. It’s the latest bomb for producer Joel Silver, whose rotten eggs include Speed Racer, The Invasion, The Reaping, and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. Sharon Waxman notes at WaxWord that Silver still has a deal at Warner Brothers thanks to past successes, like Lethal Weapon, and Hollywood’s old-boys club. “How long can his friends protect him?” she asks. “Hard to say. But I’d bet that Silver’s deal is likely to outlast Guy Ritchie’s marriage.”

When the Cold War ended, Cuba’s relations with Russia, which had hitherto accounted for 75 percent of the island’s commerce, ground to a halt. But the opening of a new Russian orthodox church in Havana signals a revival. El País reports that the church symbolizes the recently renewed relations between the two nations. Cuba’s newfound eminence among countries like Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Bolivia makes it a natural starting point for Russia’s plan to increase its influence in Latin America. In 2006, Russia extended $355 million of credit to Cuba, and last year, commercial exchanges between them reached $400 million. When hurricanes hit Cuba this summer, Russia was the first country to send aid. And, for what it’s worth, the Castro regime sided with Russia in its recent conflict with Georgia.

Tomorrow, the British Library is releasing for the first time recordings of 30 British and 27 American literary giants—most of whom have not been heard on recording before. The catalogue includes Virginia Woolf, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Tennessee Williams, Gertrude Stein, and Arthur Conan Doyle. Raymond Chandler wins the prize for "drunkest interviewee," while Vladimir Nabokov sounds like "a ham actor reciting poetry." Nabokov describes the drudgery of writing thusly: "Harrowing irritation when strolling with my tools and viscera, the pencil that needs resharpening, the bladder that has to be drained, the word that I always mis-spell and always have to look up."

Radar’s Choire Sicha reports that an envelope with a “white granular substance” was discovered in the New York Times Building today. According to a Times internal memo, “The New York City police were called and are now on site investigating.” Needless to say, one hopes that it’s a prank.

Coda to the Colin Powell endorsement saga: Powell tells The Times’ Maureen Dowd about the kind of email he received after appearing on Meet the Press. There were missives calling Powell “unconstitutional and unbiblical,” of course, but one in particular stood out. “He got a mass email from a man wanting to spread the word that Obama was reading a book about the end of America written by a fellow Muslim,” Dowd writes. Surprised, Powell clicked over to Amazon.com. The book was The Post-American World. The author was Fareed Zakaria. It seems even the rumor-mongering emailers are getting desperate.

Looking for a voodoo doll of Nicolas Sarkozy? Get it quick—the French leader may sue the makers of the doll, which comes with a “voodoo instruction manual” and a set of pins, The Daily Telegraph reports. Sarky’s lawyer has called on the company, K&K, to “immediately cease all distribution of this doll.” The threat is the latest in a series of legal actions the French president has undertaken since his June victory, and comes a week after he sued over the printing of portions of his notebooks.

Rudy Ray Moore, the self-proclaimed "Godfather of Rap," died on Sunday. Moore was famous as an especially raunchy comedian, whose recordings were wrapped in brown-paper and held behind the counters at record stores. His film Dolemite was, according to John Leland, "the Citizen Kane of kung fu pimping movies"—a cult classic in the blaxploitation genre. Rap artists often sampled Moore, performed with him, and imitated him. "Without Rudy Ray Moore, there would be no Snoop Dogg," said Snoop Dogg, "and that's for real." Moore was 81.

Less than two weeks before Election Day, a state ballot measure to ban gay marriage in California is gaining support, The Wall Street Journal reports. The latest polls show almost even odds of Proposition 8 passing. “The outcome will be close because Californians are evenly divided on gay marriage, Mark Baldassare, chief executive of the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California in San Francisco, told The Journal. California legalized same-sex marriages in June, and Proposition 8 has gained ground since supporters began running a TV ad showing San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom saying after the ruling, “The door’s wide open now. It’s going to happen, whether you like it or not.”

Brave, brave Bill O'Reilly. The Fox News host has decided "to put myself through all the attacks and smears" and sign a new 4-year contract. We take it that the $10 million he will earn each year is hardly enough compensation to endure such smears, but it’s a hefty sum all the same. O'Reilly says he plans to end his radio show in the coming years, as "I just can't work 60 hours a week." The new deal will not change the tenor of the O’Reilly Factor, which Monday reported that "fair-minded Americans might have something to fear if hard-core leftists gain control of the government in two weeks. They already control the [New York] Times, NBC News, and other powerful media."

After weeks of rumors, the Los Angeles Times breaks the news definitively: Sumner Redstone and his wife of five years, Paula Fortunato, are splitting, with the Viacom chief filing divorce papers last Friday. The couple have “amicably ended our marriage,” a spokesman said. Fortunato, 46, will receive at least $5 million of Redstone’s own money—not his troubled company’s. The Times writes: “The merger of Fortunato, a former third-grade teacher in New York City, and Redstone culminated after a blind date arranged by a mutual friend and executive at Bear Stearns & Co, according to the couple’s 2003 wedding announcement in the New York Times. It is worth noting that Bear Stearns also did not survive.”

John McCain said at the last presidential debate that ACORN is “now on the verge of maybe perpetrating one of the greatest frauds in voter history in this country.” Slate’s Jack Shafer suggests the senator crack open a history book, which will reveal “hundreds of more blatant examples, including ballot stuffing, the purchase of votes, counterfeit votes, discarded ballots, voter intimidation, and bloody murder.” Shafer’s tour of election shenanigans includes George Washington winning office by buying off his neighbors with booze—a trick even ACORN isn’t accused of yet.