Weekend Roundup - Let the Fallout Begin!
Let's start up with the debate Friday night.
You know, the one that John McCain at first tried to blow off because he absolutely positively had to drop like a hot brick because the Economic Catastrophe was just so damned important that he absolutely had to be in Washington to help stop - then sat quietly through a 40-minute photo op and finally offered a nonsensical plan of his own. No one wanted him in Washington DC.
So he went into the debate irritated, and even more irritated that Obama had obstinately refused to tag along to his proposed series of carefully-scripted, softballed and vetted-crowd "town hall meetings." So he refused to look at Obama, refused to refer to him in anything but third person, and kept insisting that somehow cutting government spending would save Wall Street.
It was like listening to the Underpants Gnomes from South Park, who had a simple corporate business plan:
1. Collect underpants
2.
3. Reap massive profits
He also obstinately refused to concede that the Iraq War had started in 2003, not 2007 with the 'surge.' And his stance on many foreign policy issues only served to reinforce my contention that this angry old man should not be allowed anywhere near the SIOP or the nuclear release codes.
And that brings me to Sarah Palin, who meandered her way through a Katie Couric interview with all the intelligence of a middle school student making a D average. I mean, come on, Sarah! This was Katie Couric you were talking to - the woman is to a journalist as MacDonalds is to haute cuisine!
But I tried, I really really tried to listen to the interview with an open mind:
Unfortunately, about midway through Palin's labored explanation of how Alaska's proximity to Russia serves to give her foreign policy credibility, my brain tried to take advantage of my open mind and attempted to escape through my left ear.
I managed to stop it from getting away.
Palin's ratings are slowly starting to drop as more and more she is revealed to be the most eminently unsuitable candidate for Veep since Admiral Stockdale (who frankly admitted during his debate that he didn't even know why he was there). The reported shotgun wedding of her pregnant daughter to the child's putative father can be construed as yet another ploy by the campaign to postpone or cancel the Veep debate scheduled for 2 October.
There's a limit to how long they can keep her bound and gagged and in a closet - eventually they have to let her out to answer questions.
And that brings me to the Economic Bailout. Seven hundred billion dollars that are designed to cover the bad debts and toxic securities accumulated by the runaway rabid capitalists on Wall Street (which moves were always facilitated by Washington - along with the complicity of one Senator John S. McCain of Arizona and his BFF, former Sen. Phil Gramm of Texas).
Here's my take on it (and bear in mind that I'm not an economist):
The money is wasted already and will do nothing to stop the slide. In fact, the slide may continue despite the bailout. CNBC was reporting this morning that the Benelux countries' central banks are acquiring massive stakes in the Fortis investment bank to shore that institution up. Wachovia is in talks with two banks, and the British government has apparently nationalized a failing bank in England.
With all the hooting and hollering about "socialism," the robber baron capitalists are actually leading the charge away from the free market to having the government control a larger segment of the economy.
So, all hail the People's Republic of the United States of America. Hank Paulson and the enablers in Congress - on both sides - have managed to do what FDR and the New Dealers never dreamed of doing.
Bombings continue in Iraq, and now the new provincial elections law there is coming under fire because it gets rid of ethno-religious quotas. That has the tiny minority of Iraqi Christians up in arms, of course, along with the Turkmen. Sunnis apparently set off the most recent series of bombs.
Speaking of bombs, we've seen them in Pakistan and in northern Lebanon now.
Piracy has gained a milestone with the seizure of a Ukrainian-owned, Belizean-flagged freighter carrying 30 Russian T-72 main battle tanks, along with parts and ammunition. The pirates are asking for $20 million in ransom, and US and Russian naval units are in the area.
So that's where we sit this Monday morning. Stay tuned.
You know, the one that John McCain at first tried to blow off because he absolutely positively had to drop like a hot brick because the Economic Catastrophe was just so damned important that he absolutely had to be in Washington to help stop - then sat quietly through a 40-minute photo op and finally offered a nonsensical plan of his own. No one wanted him in Washington DC.
So he went into the debate irritated, and even more irritated that Obama had obstinately refused to tag along to his proposed series of carefully-scripted, softballed and vetted-crowd "town hall meetings." So he refused to look at Obama, refused to refer to him in anything but third person, and kept insisting that somehow cutting government spending would save Wall Street.
It was like listening to the Underpants Gnomes from South Park, who had a simple corporate business plan:
1. Collect underpants
2.
3. Reap massive profits
He also obstinately refused to concede that the Iraq War had started in 2003, not 2007 with the 'surge.' And his stance on many foreign policy issues only served to reinforce my contention that this angry old man should not be allowed anywhere near the SIOP or the nuclear release codes.
And that brings me to Sarah Palin, who meandered her way through a Katie Couric interview with all the intelligence of a middle school student making a D average. I mean, come on, Sarah! This was Katie Couric you were talking to - the woman is to a journalist as MacDonalds is to haute cuisine!
But I tried, I really really tried to listen to the interview with an open mind:
Unfortunately, about midway through Palin's labored explanation of how Alaska's proximity to Russia serves to give her foreign policy credibility, my brain tried to take advantage of my open mind and attempted to escape through my left ear.
I managed to stop it from getting away.
Palin's ratings are slowly starting to drop as more and more she is revealed to be the most eminently unsuitable candidate for Veep since Admiral Stockdale (who frankly admitted during his debate that he didn't even know why he was there). The reported shotgun wedding of her pregnant daughter to the child's putative father can be construed as yet another ploy by the campaign to postpone or cancel the Veep debate scheduled for 2 October.
There's a limit to how long they can keep her bound and gagged and in a closet - eventually they have to let her out to answer questions.
And that brings me to the Economic Bailout. Seven hundred billion dollars that are designed to cover the bad debts and toxic securities accumulated by the runaway rabid capitalists on Wall Street (which moves were always facilitated by Washington - along with the complicity of one Senator John S. McCain of Arizona and his BFF, former Sen. Phil Gramm of Texas).
Here's my take on it (and bear in mind that I'm not an economist):
The money is wasted already and will do nothing to stop the slide. In fact, the slide may continue despite the bailout. CNBC was reporting this morning that the Benelux countries' central banks are acquiring massive stakes in the Fortis investment bank to shore that institution up. Wachovia is in talks with two banks, and the British government has apparently nationalized a failing bank in England.
With all the hooting and hollering about "socialism," the robber baron capitalists are actually leading the charge away from the free market to having the government control a larger segment of the economy.
So, all hail the People's Republic of the United States of America. Hank Paulson and the enablers in Congress - on both sides - have managed to do what FDR and the New Dealers never dreamed of doing.
Bombings continue in Iraq, and now the new provincial elections law there is coming under fire because it gets rid of ethno-religious quotas. That has the tiny minority of Iraqi Christians up in arms, of course, along with the Turkmen. Sunnis apparently set off the most recent series of bombs.
Speaking of bombs, we've seen them in Pakistan and in northern Lebanon now.
Piracy has gained a milestone with the seizure of a Ukrainian-owned, Belizean-flagged freighter carrying 30 Russian T-72 main battle tanks, along with parts and ammunition. The pirates are asking for $20 million in ransom, and US and Russian naval units are in the area.
So that's where we sit this Monday morning. Stay tuned.
posted by Walt at 8:16 AM
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