Before the Turkey

++Before we hit the big shopping days,our political pundits decided to go a little nuts.

++Mark Halperin decided he was right all along about "death panels" in Obamacare.

++Bill Kristol's Weekly Standard published an issue with five articles on why the Iran deal is appeasement.

++Senator Menendez, Democrat from New Jersey, claims President Obama is "fear-mongering" on his warnings against further sanctions on Iran.

++Rush Limbaugh denounced Pope Francis as Marxist.

++Senator Ted Cruz announced that Pope Francis did not understand Christianity.

++Sister Sarah Palin went back to criticizing the Pope after she had retreated from her first criticism.

++Fox Business reporter Varney said that the Pope didn't understand capitalism.

++Jeb Bush actually went out of his way to criticize President Obama for "closing our embassy to the Vatican". This actually generated a fund-raising letter from the House Republicans, complaining that President Obama was disrespectful of the Catholic Church because they opposed "Obamacare". Actually, the Vatican Embassy is being moved inside the area of our Embassy to Italy and will be a separate building, which is actually closer to the Vatican. This is part of the movement for anti-terrorist architecture that is making our diplomatic posts eyesores. If President Obama didn't do this. It would be another Benghazi.

++President Obama postponed the on-site signup for small businesses for a year. The Hispanic website will be up by December 1. 

++The federal website should be cranking at 50,000 simultaneous hits by Monday. In California,insurance companies are opening stores in shopping malls for healthcare sign-ups. National insurance companies are ready to advertise for the federal exchange once they are confident the website is up and running at full speed.

++The Kentucky exchange is ready for the holiday surge. California Covered is up to speed. Maryland is having troubles. Rhode Island is perking along. States where they are problems are either Southern Republican-run states or states where only one insurance carrier like Wyoming.

++In North Carolina,the state insurance commissioned allowed Blue Cross a 20% rate hike in their premiums yesterday. So watch this to be featured in the Darryl Issa witch hunts.

++If you can't create a theocracy by the ballot box, create a corporation with a pseudo-religious person at the head. Hobbyland's case to the Supreme Court should be watched because it could be another assertion by the Supreme Court that corporations have rights superior to individuals. It would mean corporate control over women's reproductive rights.

++John Boehner is fighting the Farm Bill again because in this holiday season it doesn't cut food stamps enough. With poverty increasing in the country, it is interesting to note that 900,000 veterans use foodstamps to help feed their families.

++Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallon is ingenious about getting around federal benefits for same-sex veterans. All married veterans can't have rights in Oklahoma.

++Texas tried to prohibit same-sex veterans from receiving benefits but cobbled together a solution where they would be within the spirit of the law.

++The Democrats are doomed according to yesterday's Post. They say there is evidence of a "wave" election for the Republicans. The "wave" simply is that there is a chance that the Republicans could take back the Senate.