John McCain

You might think Sarah Palin - the Republican candidate for Vice President of the United States - is having a great week, but three recent developments have popped up:

1. Political website The Daily Kos says Palin is lying about being the mother of her fifth child. Seriously.
2. Palin's own mother-in-law in unlikely to vote for her, as Faye Palin told The New York Daily News: "I'm not sure what [Sarah] brings to the ticket other than she's a woman and a conservative."
3. Diddy is down on her as a selection.

In a hilarious - albeit truthful and insightful - rant, the rapper went off on John McCain for being irresponsible enough to place someone as inexperienced as Mrs. Todd Palin on the ticket.

See what Diddy has to say now:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thmueS0ngAs&eurl=http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/videos/obama-blog/[/youtube]

With Sarah Palin named to John McCain's Republican ticket, both parties are set for an exciting November election. But we're concerned with something far more important here - ticket nicknames. Vote in the poll below and tell us:

WHICH TICKET HAS THE BEST NICKNAME?

Apparently presidential hopeful John McCain shares a birthday with Michael Jackson. Michael Jackson! What does THAT say about his ability to lead?!

Just kidding. We won't hold sharing August 29 as a of birth with the King of Crazy against John McCain, who turns 102 (give or take 30) today.

As for Michael Jackson, he officially reaches the half-century mark today after decades of pop hits, plastic surgeries and absurd news stories.

We'd recount some of them here, but we just don't have that much server space. So here's a brief photo tribute to the birthday boys instead ...

Check out The Hollywood Gossip's celebrity birthdays calendar to see who's up next - and when your favorite stars celebrate their special days.

On the eve of the Democratic National Convention, Madonna has sparked some controversy by including Republican presidential hopeful John McCain in a video montage on her tour that includes Adolf Hitler and Robert Mugabe.

The montage is shown as Madonna sings "Get Stupid" on her "Sticky & Sweet" tour. Images of John McCain, Hitler and Mugabe appear among a litany of images of destruction and global warming until the song nears its end.

That's when images of John Lennon, Al Gore, Mahatma Gandhi and yes, even Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama, are shown.

John McCain's camp quickly fired back against this lunacy.

"The comparisons are outrageous, unacceptable and crudely divisive all at the same time," McCain campaign spokesman Tucker Bounds said.

"It clearly shows that when it comes to supporting Barack Obama, his fellow celebrities refuse to consider any attack off limits," he added.

Regardless of how you feel about McCain, the Material Girl may have gone a bit overboard in likening him to genocidal maniacs. Just a bit.

Tell us your opinion via the poll below:

MADONNA SHOULD ...

Kathy Hilton already issued a terse response. Now Paris Hilton herself is hitting back against John McCain, who for some reason used a clip of her in a recent campaign ad to ridicule rival Barack Obama's celebrity status.

Below, in a new video for FunnyorDie.com (it's a no-brainer which one we choose), Paris slings some mud of her own at "that white haired dude."

It could be right around the corner, if John McCain has his way.

The Arizona Senator and GOP presidential hopeful volunteered his wife to participate in a beauty pageant ... which make sense, as she is a former beauty queen. Only this one includes topless and occasionally bottomless women.

"I was looking at the schedule, and noticed that you had a beauty pageant, so I encouraged Cindy to compete," McCain said at a rally in Sturgis, S.D.

"I told her [that] with a little luck, she could become the only woman to serve as both the First Lady and Miss Buffalo Chip."

Lame ESPN.com columnist Jim Caple wrote that one scene at the pageant resulted in a woman "dancing naked on a bar top."

It is unclear if John McCain knew the specifics of the town's pageant while making the remark, but that's at least somewhat doubtful, as he doesn't know the specifics of economic or foreign policy either.

Regardless, the audience burst into cheers at the thought of a topless Cindy McCain. That would truly be a watershed moment in political history.

You know you've dropped the political ball when Kathy Hilton of all people is criticizing you - and making a lot of sense in doing so.

Kathy is slamming GOP Presidential candidate John McCain for his recent ad featuring her daughter Paris. Barack Obama was mockingly likened to the younger Hilton and Britney Spears, presumably because he's a big celebrity too.

The Hiltons are especially pissed because they donated $4,600 to the McCain campaign - the maximum allowed, $2,300, per person.

Kathy told the Huffington Post:

"I've been asked again and again for my response to the now infamous John McCain celebrity ad. I actually have three responses. It is a complete waste of the money John McCain's contributors have donated to his campaign. It is a complete waste of the country's time and attention at the very moment when million of people are losing their homes and their jobs. And it is a completely frivolous way to choose the next President of the United States."

Wow. We can't believe we're actually saying this about the woman to gave birth to Paris Hilton, but agreed, agreed and agreed.

Presidential candidate John McCain has released a new ad comparing rival Barack Obama to Britney Spears and Paris Hilton and questioning his readiness to lead.

Yes, we're serious.

The aforementioned gossip mainstays appear in a brief montage as a narrator describes Barack Obama as "the biggest celebrity in the world."

The narrator then asks "Is he ready to lead?" and proceeds to list off a series of vague positions supposedly held by the Democratic Illinois Senator.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHXYsw_ZDXg[/youtube]

To us, it seems like your boilerplate Republican ad, criticizing the Democrats over taxes, foreign policy, etc. ... with random pics of Britney Spears for good measure.

In short, a vote for Obama is a vote for a girl who shaved her head, was hospitalized for after a psychotic episode, and who eschews pants at nightclubs. Nice!

What are your thoughts on this John McCain ad? We'd love to hear them. And for more from the colliding worlds of celebrity gossip and political news, check out the latest on John Edwards and Rielle Hunter!

Arizona Senator and GOP presidential candidate John McCain laughed, then just froze after he was asked about his position on insurance companies that cover Viagra but not birth control pills. To put it mildly, it was extremely awkward.

"I certainly do not want to discuss that issue," McCain told the L.A. Times aboard his campaign bus, nicknamed the Straight Talk Express.

They might want to rename it the Straight Confusion Express if exchanges like this become the norm. Look at his facial expressions! Goodness.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Q8obHEULLg[/youtube]

Uhhh... Hello? John? We're still here! Hi!

Rachael Ray isn't getting riled up about Cindy McCain stealing some of her recipes. Then again, we all know Rachael Ray is a shameless media whore and bona fide megalomaniac good sport, so this probably makes her excited!

The wife of Republican presidential candidate John McCain, Cindy McCain cooked up some controversy when an intern shoplifted Rachael Ray's recipe for rosemary chicken, Ahi tuna and several other Food Network recipes.

The Arizona Senator's campaign site pawned them off as "Cindy's Recipes," only to have Recipe-Gate uncovered by a deft Huffington Post reporter (the next thing you know, they're gonna tell us The Hills re-shoots scenes for good angles).

Just the same, the wife of John Cusimano was unfazed, saying:

"All these recipes are supposed to be accessible to everyone. Interns, senators, students and families alike! I am flattered when anyone cooks my food."

Cindy McCain and Rachael Ray: Bonded by Ahi Tuna.

To further show she has no hard feelings, Ray wants to cash in big on this in every possible way John McCain and Cindy McCain to visit her show and "get in the kitchen to share with viewers some of their favorite recipes."

On Monday, after being outed, the campaign swiftly removed the recipes, and said the intern responsible was "dealt with," according to a campaign spokesperson. Joking, the rep told reporters, "We took away his zero pay."

Also exposed as a fraud this week? The McCain Girls! Sad.