Ah, we were so close, liberal media! So close to ensnaring Keyser Söze, a.k.a. Republican pundit Bill Kristol in his devious plan to take over the world without anyone ever knowing.

But he eludes us yet: months after allegedly forcing the McCain campaign into picking Palin for VP (and four years after he wrote Bush's inaugural speech and then tried to not take credit for it), the sly fox Kristol does a 180 and changes his opinion on Palin and the GOP camp amid rumors that a) Obama is leading in the polls and b) that John McCain listening to Kristol instead of his advisors on the Palin issue may have something to do with his drop in popularity.

So from the most vocal supporter of the camp after August ("Let Palin be Palin!") to a terminal detractor, ("The McCain campaign, once merely problematic, is now close to being out-and-out dysfunctional. Its combination of strategic incoherence and operational incompetence has become toxic."), Kristol is now freed himself of his unsavory choices and lets McCain walk away with all the mud on his face. Classy.

Now, political anylists are given a little more leeway on flip-flopping than the candidates, but since Kristol seemingly hand-picked this team, you'd think he'd have a little more faith in his fantasy league draft.