Palin Effigy Sparks Uproar

400-year-old tradition 'roasts' politicians

(NEWSER) - It was all in good fun, insisted a group of Brits yesterday after they exploded an effigy of Sarah Palin, which was packed with firecrackers. The spectacular send-off was the climax of an annual bonfire celebration in the southern town of Battle, which traditionally blows up an effigy of someone famous, usually a politician, reports CNN. "We just felt she was one of the most interesting characters in the American elections," said one diplomatic resident. More»

And Julianne Moore as Sarah Palin is still pretty scary: reactions

(NEWSER) - If you thought Julianne Moore's Sarah Palin was terrifying in the first Game Change teaser , wait until you see her in the full trailer, where she utters lines such as, "We have to win this thing. I so don’t want to go back to Alaska." Watch below, then read on for some reactions:

• This will clearly be "a Frankenstein-esque story about McCain’s staffers coming to regret the choice they made in bringing a little-known governor into the limelight," writes Jon Bershad at Mediaite . "The full trailer ... gives us even more famous actors getting their turn to stare in horror at the 'monster' they’ve created."

HBO debuts first teaser

(NEWSER) - For all of you who have spent the past nine months wondering how Julianne Moore’s Sarah Palin impersonation will stack up against Tina Fey’s , you finally have your answer. HBO debuted its first teaser trailer for Game Change, the film due in March that's based on the Mark Halperin-John Heilemann book about the 2008 presidential election. Neither Ed Harris as John McCain nor Woody Harrelson as top adviser Steve Schmidt sound much like their real-life counterparts, notes David Jackson in USA Today , but Moore’s Palin is spot-on: Numerous publications including People , New York , the Huffington Post , and Jezebel are fairly impressed. More»

McCain team wrote 'palling around with terrorists' line: book

(NEWSER) - Sarah Palin was actually on message when she attacked Barack Obama’s relationship with former Weatherman Bill Ayers during last year's campaign, the Atlantic reports. A new book, The Battle for America, reveals that Palin received an email from top McCain staff suggesting she use the Ayers attack. It even specified the approved language. Strategists also planned to run a similar TV ad. More»

Possible snub could be inaugural team's doing—or bad blood

(NEWSER) - The Obama inaugural committee is throwing a dinner honoring John McCain as an advocate of bipartisanship, but there's a gap in the guest list. Notably absent is running mate Sarah Palin, Daniel Schulman blogs for Mother Jones. “I don’t know if she was invited,” says a Palin spokesman. The inaugural committee passed up multiple opportunities to comment. More»