donkeys

American leaders rather like being portrayed as donkeys and elephants. But when protesters in Indonesia paraded a water buffalo with the president's name sprayed on it, he got mad.

Even though the buffalo is a presumably proud symbol of Indonesia's peasant farmers, the president took it to mean he is "big and stupid." So he banned all animals from street rallies.

Now the protesters complain that the country's leader can't deal with criticism.

Gallup is out with a poll that suggests more problems for the Dems and a 10 point shift in voter preference since July.

First, the numbers…

The bigger news here?

Independents are swinging wildly in favor of the generic Republicans.