John McCain says he's about change, too, and so I guess his whole angle is, "Watch out George Bush." Except for economic policy, health care policy, tax policy, education policy, foreign policy and Karl Rove-style politics. "We're really going to shake things up in Washington." That's not change. That's just calling something the same thing, something different. But you know you can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig. You know, you can wrap an old fish in a piece of paper called change, it's still going to stink after eight years.

That's what Obama said yesterday. He got a laugh with the lipstick reference because it recalled Palin's pitbull joke. The McCain campaign is now demanding an apology. The press is fanning the fires.

So the national debate is about lipstick and the need for severe limits on polical humor. The charge Obama made in the same paragraph about the meaning of McCain's change agenda is ignored. Another opportunity to get substantive has been lost.

This election will be decided by the independents, and the independents hate this shit. Historically, they tend to turn off and not vote. I hope that doesn't happen this time. Democracy doesn't work when good people do not vote.

We need more and better political humor, not less. McCain used to be a funny guy. He seemed to have lost his sense of humor when he shifted right. I miss the old McCain. To anyone who can't tolerate a good pig joke, I say the same thing I said to Osama bin Laden: "Fuck'em if they can't take a joke."

• Smearing Cloud Lipstick on a Legacy Tech Pig