Gossip Roundup: Everyone Hates Franken
•Names & Faces: Ripkintours CIA. . . Bally namesKennedyfittest president, followed byClinton. . .Ellsbergwill be on panel at Silver Theatre tomorrow. . .Jessi Klein: "I think we're divided intoMichael Moorestates andBill O'Reillystates -- the undecided states are[Don] Imuses. We like to see things in black and white, good and evil. We're a Lord of the Rings country." [ WP ]
•Inside Politics: Halperin's father headsSoros' Open Society Public Center. [ WT ]
•Inside the Beltway: Chalabisays Iraqi insurgents favorKerry: "They may feel thatJohn Kerrydoesn't have the investment, the political investment in the Iraqi situation thatPresident Bushhas.". . . Bumper sticker: "I Actually Voted ForJohn KerryBefore I Voted Against Him." [ WT ]
•Lloyd Grove's Lowdown: Jon StewartcriticizesNovakfor causing expensive investigation: "Novakapparently broke his hip. I think that's not the case. I think his hip tried to escape.". . .FrankenonO'Reillyscandal: "It seems like a sad thing. . . If this is true, there'll be enough schadenfreude to fuel. . . "HillarytoKenneth Cole, Hilfiger, Zac Posen: "If we don't get a new President, the next four years will be a burden that will fall upon so many Americans and particularly Americans who are free thinkers, who are creative, who want the freedom to be able to do what they see and feel in their hearts is their destiny and dream!" [ NYDN ]
•Rush & Molloy: MoreStewart, at panel set to air on C-SPAN: "It's as if a guy drove me into a ditch and said, 'Don't worry, I know how to drive us out of this.' I don't think [President Bush's] decision to go to Iraq was principled because he said in 2002 he's not into nation-building.". . . "The whole town is talking about"Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, who wore the same suit three nights last week. [ NYDN ]
•Liz Smith: WouldStewartwantBush's reelection for the jokes? "From a purely comic perspective, you'd wantMr. Tto be president. That would be truly fun. But no, I don't cheer for the demise and erosion of the world purely for my own professional standing. I can write jokes about anything!" [ NYP ]
•Page Six: Sundance Channel source says everyone there hatesFranken: "He obsesses over every single promo and laughs uproariously at his own bad jokes. He thinks he's hilarious. And he's so bossy during the editing process." [ NYP ]