I May Suspend Campaign Again....

Gotta admit, he's persistent. Listen to FOX give the boy a little help.

Great Moments in Blamestorming: Why The Bailout failed

He's talking about yesterday's comment from the Republican's saying that some comments Speaker Pelosi said some things about George Bush being partially to blame for the issue, and that 12 or so Republicans got pissed and voted no based on hurt feelings.

Whatever, but Pelosi should have kept her mouth shut. Trust me Speaker, pretty much no matter who blames who "on the record", we'll blame all of you for putting the country in this mess. I think there is plenty bi-partisam blam to go around.



Is it wrong of me to think Barney Frank would make an awesome cartoon character?

I think this is what she said that pissed them off.



Of course, it's some kind of smokescreen. The Rep's voted it down for other reasons, perhaps including the birdlike whispers of Newt Gingrich in their ear.

Fareed Zakaria sums up Palin problem. Please give this a listen.

Fareed Zakaria is an excellent journalist. I first noted him on the Daily Show, where he'd come on to lend some factual credibility between the jokes. He recently got his own show on CNN, which I haven't seen, but he is able to make very intelligent assessments without bias (at least in my opinion).

What I like about his statement below is that he stresses this elecction "Is not a game" and underscores the serious situation we are in and how we require real leadership and governance. The next 8 years are going to be a horrible time to be President... we need someone who can bear that load and watch them age 40 years in two terms.

Here's the article noted in the video.

Debate recap in one minute.

Want to relive the drama? The passion? The clever Wall Street/Main Street line? Here's a 60 second recap.

Reporters arrested at RNC Convention for... REPORTING.

SALON.com reports the story

Is this where we are now, America?

I want to understand the Republican base.

I saw this viewer comment on abcnews.com about the debate:

I can understand being a one-issue voter (NRA, abortion, gay marriage), but there are a few things that bug me when I read comments like this. It's not "his statement" about the concession speech. That is pretty generic.

Here's what I can't understand:

1) When I see people regurgitating campaign slogans like "COUNTRY FIRST!" I can't help but think just how weak minded people are. Some will clutch to whatever PR slogan they see presented to them. Maybe I've been in marketing too long, but I clearly understand that the slogan was tested by a marketing firm to respond to those who have a simple and nostalgic version of America. It strikes me as cynical.

2) The "david from texas" tag. He feels the need to tell us he's from Texas, so that is what he identifies himself with. Texas, home to W.

So if I live in Texas, am I by default in love with Bushworld and all things Republican? It's like me being from Boston means I love the Red Sox and hate the Yankees.

Anyway, I just don't get it. Simple minded? Naive? What drives these people? What makes people Republican or Democrat? I have trouble understanding what drives the opposition.

Or maybe I'm just a douche bag East Coast liberal?

The country debates the debaters.

I'm way too exhausted to tell you who won the debate, but I did check out some comments on ABCNews. There were about 2000 of them in just a few hours. Nice to see that much interest in the debate.

As you may expect, some of them are batshit insane. Here is one of the best:

Barack Hussein Obama actively sought and received the stamp of approval of a Marxist third party that operated briefly in Chicago between 1992 and 1998.The New Party was a Marxist political coalition whose objective was to endorse and elect leftist public officials -- most often Democrats. The New Party's short-term objective was to move the Democratic Party leftward, thereby setting the stage for the eventual rise of new Marxist third party.Most New Party members hailed from the Democratic Socialists of America and the militant organization ACORN. The party's Chicago chapter also included a large contingent from the Committees of Correspondence, a Marxist coalition of former Maoists, Trotskyists, and Communist Party USA members.

Shine on, you crazy diamond!

Nader loves Obama Girl

Funny. Viral. I like Nader. He should be given more press, though I'd be scared shitless if he took any votes from Obama and let McCain win. Not that would be his fault. It really wouldn't.

Some Good News: The greatness of America

(CNN) -- Global activist and U2 frontman Bono attended the United Nations General Assembly in New York to push world leaders to join his ONE campaign in fighting disease, poverty, and hunger. He talked to CNN's John Roberts on "American Morning" about recent successes and what's next.

BONO: We got good news this week. I know normally I'm on your program with bad news -- the whingeing rock star -- but it's great. There's a disease, malaria -- it's 3,000 African kids die every day of mosquito bites. Sounds mad, but it's true. And people have committed and it looks like the funds are on the table so that that disease will be no more by 2015.

I know it's extraordinary, that while you're having this meltdown on the markets, that people could even concentrate on this stuff, but I'm really grateful that they did.

We had both [presidential] candidates make very powerful statements about the necessity for nonmilitary tools, for instance, in foreign policy. This is an America that both candidates want to show to the rest of the world -- the greatness of America.

READ BONO'S BLOG ON FINANCIAL TIMES

Another excellent quote:

“It is extraordinary to me that you can find $700 billion to save Wall Street and the entire G8 can’t find $25 billion to save 25,000 children who die every day of preventable treatable disease and hunger. That’s mad, that is mad.”

“Bankruptcy is a serious business and we all know people who have lost their jobs. But this is moral bankruptcy.”

– Lead singer of U2 Bono speaking today during day two of the Clinton Global Initiative.

Get Your War On: Bailout?!

A brief look at how the Media amps up the panic

It's seems pretty clear that the media plays a role in events, rather than just report them. As CNN, FOX, MSNBC, et al struggle with each other for ratings, they all know that inducing anxiety keeps eyeballs on the screen. For the same reason the weatherman comes on at 11:03 and implies that you NEED to know what he is going to tell you at 11:23, these guys profit from generating tension. Here's 23/6's take on CNN's Rick Sanchez as he rides the waves of panic.



Go to 23/6.com

BUSH AT MEETING: "If money isn't loosened, this sucker could go down."

Below: Another famous (and more productive) meeting.

Can we at least decide that she's not dumb, but out of her league?

Of course that question was regarding Katie Couric. Just kidding Katie!

Obama: MasterDebator?

I hope McCain doesn't show up for tomorrow debate. I think it would be awesome to see Obama just stand there and debate himself. We could count how many times he starts a sentence with "Look..."

America debates the existence of Weapons of Mass Financial Destruction

At what point to we stop responding to him every time he tells us to panic?

FIRST, the BAD NEWS:

"We're in the midst of a serious financial crisis, and the federal government is responding with decisive action.

We boosted confidence in money market mutual funds and acted to prevent major investors from intentionally driving down stocks for their own personal gain.

Most importantly, my administration is working with Congress to address the root cause behind much of the instability in our markets."

NOW, the OH SHIT GRAB YOUR ASS AND KISS IT GOODBYE NEWS:

"The government's top economic experts warn that, without immediate action by Congress, America could slip into a financial panic and a distressing scenario would unfold.

More banks could fail, including some in your community. The stock market would drop even more, which would reduce the value of your retirement account. The value of your home could plummet. Foreclosures would rise dramatically.

And if you own a business or a farm, you would find it harder and more expensive to get credit. More businesses would close their doors, and millions of Americans could lose their jobs."

Hey, let's let him go for the 700 billion dollar bailout. We should let him do that plan he had about sinking Social Security into the Stock Market too. Cause his instincts are spot on.

So is he crying wolf or not? What is a poor voter to do? Are there weapons of mass financial destruction or not?

Craig Ferguson knocks McCain campaign suspension, Dave jilted for Katie

He get's to the point torward the end and makes excellent point. He officially became a citizen a few years back.



And poor Dave, who Big Mac cheated on and ran into Katie's small arms... Don't wait up Dave, John is working late.

Pundit Art

As much as I support Obama and absolutely despise the concept of Palin as a VP, I don't think this is fair, accurate or even meaningful. But it is funny.

POST IT!

Thanks to a good man named James Brooks for finding this one.

CEO in India gets different kind of Golden Parachute

Take note, gentlemen in those Greenwich mansions...

Corporate India is in shock after a mob of workers bludgeoned to death the chief executive who sacked them from a factory in a suburb of Delhi.

Lalit Kishore Choudhary, 47, the head of the Indian operations of Graziano Transmissioni, a manufacturer of car parts that has its headquarters in Italy, died of severe head wounds on Monday after being attacked by scores of laid-off employees, police said. The incident, in Greater Noida, followed a long-running dispute between the factory’s management and workers demanding better pay and permanent contracts.

It is understood that Mr Choudhary, who was married with one son, had called a meeting with more than a hundred former employees who had been dismissed after an earlier outbreak of violence at the plant. He wanted to discuss a possible reinstatement deal.

READ MORE AT SOURCE

Newt Gingrich calls bullshit on The Bailout

Nothing will kill the chances of anyone reading this entry more that typing the words "Newt Gingrich", but here it goes anyway...

First of all, Newt Gingrich is a total douche.  I still hold him accountable for creating a large part of the partisan mess we are now in.  Granted, Bill Clinton helped him out by also being a douche, but I haven't heard Bill chime in on the Trillion Dollar Bailout that is about to flood out of our pockets and into Wall Street, so let's just take on douche at a time.

Mr. Gingrich, please chime in, and remember you have a new book to pimp, so make it good:

"Congress was designed by the Founding Fathers to move slowly, precisely to avoid the sudden panic of a one-week solution that becomes a 20-year mess."

HUH? Another Republican breaking ranks with poor George? Why Newt? This is from your own party, for Christ sakes??????

"Well, I think you have a Goldman Sachs chief of staff to the president and the Goldman Sachs secretary of the Treasury. And they convinced the president that the American people ought to send $700 billion to Wall Street, which I think is a very, very bad idea, and I would argue is a very un-Republican idea. I don't understand what they think they're doing."

Well, the shock of last week is now turning into outrage with a side order of distrust. It seems that now, after years of mismanagement and short-sighted solutions that make our national problems worse rather than better, the "Right" is turning against the Administration. All it took was a fuckload of money at stake. And we're not talking chump change "$500 billion War in Iraq" money, we're talking REAL money.

Or maybe he's right, but after years of manipulation, why should we trust Newt isn't just talking trash? In fact who can we trust period?

Are we are supposed to trust one guy? U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson... with a trillion bucks? It's seems we should do that, cause it's being written into the Bailout Package.

"Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency."

Um... so yeah this should work.

READ THE WHOLE THING

P.S. Despite being a douche, I give Newt mad props for stepping out of his political caste and acknowledging Global Warming.

Former President Bartlet chews Obama a new one

The ever-rocking Maureen Dowd* and West Wing creator Aaron Sorkin dreamed up a meeting between West Wing's President Bartlet and Obama.

BARACK OBAMA knocks on the front door of a 300-year-old New Hampshire farmhouse while his Secret Service detail waits in the driveway. The door opens and OBAMA is standing face to face with former President JED BARTLET.

BARTLET Senator.

OBAMA Mr. President.

BARTLET You seem startled.

OBAMA I didn’t expect you to answer the door yourself.

BARTLET I didn’t expect you to be getting beat by John McCain and a Lancôme rep who thinks “The Flintstones” was based on a true story, so let’s call it even.

OBAMA Yes, sir.

BARTLET Come on in.

BARTLET leads OBAMA into his study.

Read the rest HERE...

*AUTHORS NOTE: I find Ms. Dowd mysteriously alluring and sexy, and because of this (and becuase she's funny and intelligent) I have purchased one of her books and read her articles. It could be argued the same sales techniques are in play with men supporting Sarah Palin. So I'm a guy. Sue me. At least I don't want to elect her VP.

Sarah Palin and the Rape Kits

Let's end the week on a happy note.

Some good news that also makes a large part of the country squirm in their bible thumping seats... A TWO'FER!

Nichelle Nicols and Walter Koenig were present at the wedding of Brad Altman and George Takei at the National Center for the Preservation of Democracy, in the Little Tokyo section of Los Angeles. The wedding took place last Sunday, Sept. 14, 2008.

As a life long Trekkie and lover of the positive view of humanity it promoted, where people were free to pursue their bliss (unless you're a Godless Commie Romulan), it's nice to see a smidge of that happening in the mere 21st century.

Congrats guys! Live long and get a room, for Christ sakes.

Oh yeah... Sarah Palin Sarah Palin Sarah Palin. (Blogger terms of use obligates me to type her name at least 3 times in every post.)

Sarah Failin'?

It seems that the honeymoon may be over for Sarah Palin. Due in no small part to obsessive 24/7 media coverage, tabloid articles and bloggers, her light certainly burned bright... and like all other American obsessions, burns out in about 2 weeks. Beanie Babies anyone?

Andrew Romano at Newsweek breaks it down:

"Palin seems to have lost some of her luster. Since Sept. 13, Palin's unfavorables have climbed from 30 percent to 36 percent. Meanwhile, her favorables have slipped from 52 percent to 48 percent. That's a three-day net swing of -10 points, and it leaves her in the Sept. 15 Diageo/Hotline tracking poll tied for the smallest favorability split (+12) of any of the Final Four. [UPDATE: The Sept. 17 Diageo/Hotline tracking poll shows Palin at 47 percent favorable and 37 percent unfavorable--an even narrower +10 split.] Over the course of a single weekend, in other words, Palin went from being the most popular White House hopeful to the least."

Well, I'm glad that in some small way, I have contributed to this.

I have but one blog to give for my country.

SOURCE

UPDATE: 23/6 has a new video:

The week in economics: If we could understand what the fuck was going on, we'd be scared out of our fucking brains.

What does it take to get Congress Republicans and Democrats to work together – after 5pm no less – 45 days before a Presidential election? Put them in a room and have the Fed Chairman tell "We're Literally Maybe Days Away From A Complete Meltdown Of Our Financial System."

So now you know.

Selected blamestorming below. Rough translation: You're on your own. Start hoarding water and bubble gum.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/18/minow.pay/index.html

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26793500/

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=5844658&page=1

Postcards from the Edge, Part 3

Counterparties, Creditors, Shareholders and Claim Filers
For questions related to Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.'s Chapter 11 filing:
U.S.: 1-888-498-7762
Non-U.S.: 1-646-282-2500
http://chapter11.epiqsystems.com/lehman

Postcards from the Edge, Part 2

From their "in the news" section:

NEW YORK--Sept. 16, 2008--American International Group, Inc. (AIG) today said that AIG's life insurance, general insurance and retirement services businesses, including its extensive Asian operations, continue to operate normally and remain adequately capitalized and fully capable of meeting their obligations to policyholders.

NEW YORK--Sept. 16, 2008--The Board of Directors of American International Group, Inc. (NYSE:AIG) issued the following statement in response to today's announcement by the Federal Reserve Board that the Federal Reserve Bank of New York is providing a two-year, $85 billion secured revolving credit facility to AIG that will ensure the company can meet its liquidity needs:

NEW YORK--Sept. 18, 2008--American International Group, Inc. (AIG) today announced that its Board of Directors has elected Edward M. Liddy Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Liddy, 62, succeeds Robert B. Willumstad. Stephen F. Bollenbach, who was named lead independent director in June 2008, continues in that role.

Postcards from the Edge, Part 1

Selected excerpts:

Together, you and your Merrill Lynch Financial Advisor can make the most of the firm's world-class research and breadth of products and services to create strategic solutions tailored for you. From investment, banking and retirement products to estate planning and philanthropic services, discover the power of Total Merrill's resources below.

Teach Children to Be Money-Wise for Life
Financial responsibility is one of the greatest lessons parents can teach their kids. Start when they're young to instill a lifelong practice.

"This is the party that embraces the change and the progress that America and American women are craving and deserving." - Palin

Look at the older man with his big hairy mitt extended way to the left. I can forgive some of the women for misguided sense of feminism mixed with ignorance and bible-belt brainwashing... but this guy? He just wants to grab some boob. Period.

Viva la personality cult.

Get Your War On: See You Next Tuesday, Cindy

Swiftkids search for truth: Target Obama!!!

Wait... did Rove say something... "decent"?

Former Bush campaign guru Karl Rove said Sunday that both campaigns’ attacks have “gone one step too far,” adding that some McCain spots go “beyond the 100-percent-truth test.”

“Both campaigns ought to be careful about it. They ought to — there ought to be an adult who says, ‘Do we really need to go that far in this ad? Don’t we make our point and won’t we get broader acceptance and deny the opposition an opportunity to attack us if we don’t include that one little last tweak in the ad?’” Rove told Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday.

Sounds good, Rovery baby. You are a hypocrite, but at least you are saying something half decent, though it's probably some self serving attempt at "image improvement." Let's see what he says about the swift boaters who are prepping up to go after Obama.

Greenspan joins the "nation of whiners"

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan offered a woeful outlook of America's economic situation on Sunday, saying the crisis with the country's financial institutions was as dire as he had ever seen in his long career, and predicting that one or more of those institutions would likely collapse in the near future.

"Oh, by far," Greenspan said, when asked if the situation was the worst he had seen in his career. "There's no question that this is in the process of outstripping anything I've seen and it still is not resolved and still has a way to go and, indeed, it will continue to be a corrosive force until the price of homes in the United States stabilizes. That will induce a series of events around the globe which will stabilize the system."

As quoted from Huffington Post

Here is former Sen. Phil Gramm, a top economic adviser to presumptive GOP nominee John McCain calling the economic slowdown as "a mental recession" and called the United States “a nation of whiners.” A classic!

If Sarah Palin looked like this....

Do you think everyone would be so enamored with her? Just wondering if her celebrity is based on her brains or... something more tangible.



By the way, the face is Former Secretary of State Madeline Albright. Someone with experience that can't be questioned.

Saturday Night Special

You may have seen it by now, but if not, here's the Saturday Night Live opener from last night with a cameo from the amazing Tina Fay as Gov Palin and Amy Poehler's Hilary. Two feminists who see these past few weeks in perfect clarity. Well done.

http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/clips/palin-hillary-open/656281/

Because if I don't find a way to laugh about her, I'm going to start crying.

See more Gina Gershon videos at Funny or Die

Let's have some fun with the carnage!

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

This sums up my opinion on Palin

"She is a gift from heaven for McCain and will appeal directly to his desired audience: young, female, unintelligent, and close-minded. And she'll never answer direct questions on anything other than how she met her husband and oh look at my adorable children. No abortion (even if you know you are carrying a fetus with incurable brain damage), no sex education (even if you know this leads to 17 year olds getting pregnant), no evolution and the earth is 6000 years old (even though her state's wealth comes directly from it's hundred million year old geology). She's a sad excuse for a female in the Twenty-First Century and if McCain has any brain cells left, he'll keep her well away from any journalist worth his or her salt."

Thank you, Ingot_Wheat_Rust

Pearls of Political Wisdom, Part 1

“The media doesn’t understand life membership in the NRA; they don’t understand getting up at 3 a.m. to hunt a moose; they don’t understand eating a mooseburger; they don’t understand being married to a guy who likes to snowmobile for fun. I am not surprised that they don’t get it. But Americans get it. A mooseburger means she is like one of us. She is not some jackass who’s ‘gone Washington.’”

-- Florida Rep. Adam Putnam