This mini-plugin will fix your layout/graphics
for visitors that insist on using IE 8.0
function fix_ie8() {if (strpos($_SERVER['HTTP_USER_AGENT'],"MSIE 8")) {header("X-UA-Compatible: IE=7");}}
add_action('bb_send_headers','fix_ie8');
Essentially it makes IE8 render like IE7 by sending a special (invisible) header only to IE8 users.
Problem solved.
It blows my mind that a page that can render perfectly in Opera - which is THE standards browser - can be messed up by Microsoft attempting to conform to standards. What a (continued) waste of everyone's time.
ps. this plugin might also work for WordPress if you change the 'bb_send_headers' to plain 'send_headers'