In no way will I ever be able to explain to you how crap these past few weeks have been for me. But, suddenly, like a rodent poking its snout out of the crack between the stove and the wall, good things have started to creep into the room. I seem to almost be about to be employed in some fashion. And now, this little ray of sunshine has arrived. I sincerely hope someone nominates Ms. Westfall for something. I am posting the article in its entirety:
http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20235099,00.html
People Exclusive
By Sandra Sobieraj Westfall
Now that Gov. Sarah Palin's daughter has celebrated her 18th birthday, the GOP vice-presidential candidate says she's hoping Bristol and fiancé Levi Johnston – who are expecting a baby in December – will tie the knot well before the date next summer the young couple had been eyeing.
You're not one of those I-broke-a-fingernail outdoorswomen?SP: No time for that, no. You have to be tough out there. You don't come back on the boat if you're going to whine and complain about being cold or tired. You do what you have to do to get the job done. Tina Fey's got you locked up. Who would play Todd?SP: Tim McGraw. That's what they say back home, anyway. Some of the kids tell our kids, "Your dad, when he wears his hat, he looks like Tim McGraw." It's good. What types of things do you argue or bicker about back home?SP: We don't have a whole lot of time to argue and bicker. It's a team effort how we get from point A to point B every day with everything that needs to get done. TP: The normal challenges, it's the kids' schedules, where they go and who's coming over. And that's mostly fallen to you now –TP: Well we've always shared that responsibility, especially with my [oil-drilling] slope job. So, when I'm gone with work, she's got both hats on. When I come home, I try to carry both hats, as long as I don't disrupt their schedule. In normal times, who does what around the house? SP: Todd grew up helping to raise a lot of sisters and it was expected that he would be a helpmate to his parents and siblings. It's just par for the course now that he does as much as I do around the house. In fact you probably do more [laughs], with my busy schedule. Todd has an unconventional work schedule: gone summers commercial fishing and then week-on, week-off in his [oil] job. When he is home, he takes over. TP: I have to. If I don't then there's no Iron Dog [snowmobile racing], there's not all the good stuff.
Mm-hmm. The payoffs.SP: No. It's truly a partnership where we share the workload because … We've never really looked at it as a workload. It's a pleasure to be home, it's a pleasure to be working with the kids. We enjoy cooking, we enjoy cleaning up together. It's just what we do. Who's the better cook?SP: It depends on what we're cooking. I'm a better –TP: She's a good cook.SP: I'm a better cooker. You're a better, like he can smoke salmon better than anybody else that I know. And can salmon. We eat a lot of wild Alaska seafood and we're trying different recipes all the time with that. You do a couple of those dishes better than I do.TP: Barbecue, yeah.SP: Barbecued salmon. Tina Fey plays you sort of bubble-headed. You obviously –SP: That's funny, I play her bubble-headed, too, when I imitate her. – but you don't get to be governor without being smart, so how would you describe your smarts?SP: How would I describe my smarts?
The past few months have been really stressy for me. How about you? Yeah, I haven't talked to anyone in a good long while that's sleeping well or feeling particularly up. When you're actually in kind of a personal rut, like I am at the moment, it's really inconvenient to have the entire world tank at the same time.
First of all, there was Hurricane Ike. Remember? The one that hit the Texas coast? Nobody ever really talked about it, although I'm having a hell of a time figuring out why. Turns out, about 300 people died in the Galveston area in the storm. I honestly don't have the intestinal fortitude to rehash, again, why this is something you should care about. As I finally had to say to a particularly nasty comments troll on dailykos: if you don't know, I can't tell you. What is worth thinking about, though, is this: how is it that 300 people can die and you don't hear a peep about it on the national news channels? Give it some thought.
Next up for the apocalypse, the destruction of our national economy by approximately 100 jerks. How do I know it's probably all about 100 jerks? Because one of them used to be my jerk and I talked to him about his job a lot. What he did was credit default swap trading for Lehman Brothers, from 2001 to, oh, hey! a couple of weeks ago. Sound familiar? That's because you will find all of those same words in stories far and wide under titles such as "How Did This Happen?" and "Whose Fault Is It?" Answer: those jerks. Not the answer: people who tried to buy houses.
I swear if I hear one more politician boil it down to the responsibility of people who just should never be allowed to buy houses in the first place---Barack, McCain, whoever---I'm going to blow my top. I know Barack has to say whatever he needs to say to get to Nov. 4 now. I'm with him all the way. But it does make me ill to hear him talk about how people were irresponsible without talking about the percentage of foreclosures that were precipitated by the inability to go bankrupt because of medical bills that were impossible to pay. There is a significant portion of these people who faced that---as my family did when I was growing up. Twice. Only then there was not a draconian bankruptcy law in place. (Thank you, Joe Biden!)
Nor do these political hopefuls tend to mention the vicious and deliberately hidden terms embedded in these mortgages that made them, literally, impossible to pay back. Think about your friend that bought a house this year or last year. I'm sure you have one because everyone was buying friggin' houses in the past few years, weren't they? Now think about how smart that person is. Maybe really smart, maybe not. Either way----how much do they know about mortgage laws? How much time do they have to read the paperwork that goes along with their mortgage? Have you ever sat through a mortgage signing? It is like 10,000 pages of paperwork that you have an hour to sign. There's hardly even an expectation that you'll read it. It is completely absurd to lay the blame at the feet of average people trying to buy houses.
Anyway, back to the real culprits. Here's the long and the short of it: there were $62 trillion in credit default swaps on the market before the collapse. $62 trillion. You're going to try to tell me this is about Joe 6 pack and his mortgage? Please.
“The really interesting question that no one knows the answer to is, if you were to go into liquidation and sell off all the derivatives contracts, what is the value?” he told the newspaper. “We are just learning that no one, not even the senior people within these banks, knows how much these contracts are worth.” -- American Bar Association Journal
All right. What are credit default swaps? Well, when a trader loves his money very very much, he lays down with it side by side to give it a very special kiss...and 9 months later the economy collapses!
A lot of explantions of credit default swaps will tell you that they are a form of insurance. Okay. That's one way of thinking about it. But, they are "insurance" in the same way that the money you pay to Lefty and Rocko every other Wednesday is "protection." Let's just call this whole thing what it is: gambling.
"There is at least one key difference between casino gambling and CDS trading: Gambling has strict government regulation." -- Fortune
(Phew. I thought they were going to say lipstick.)
I'm just going to boil it down for you the same way My Jerk boiled it down for me about 5 years ago:
Let's say someone on your street opens up a lemonade stand. Then, his two neighbors bet one another on how much he'll make at the lemonade stand. Then, a guy down the street makes a bet on their bet, as to which of them will be right. A couple of streets over, the same thing is going on. The two third-party guys on both streets call each other up and decide to swap their bets. That is a credit default swap.
Does it sound crooked? Does it sound risky? That's because it is. Maybe, I think it's safe to say now, a little too risky.
Meanwhile, in the world of finding reasons to continue drawing breath, there is us winning everything all the time. Oh, and this rad thought:
"Palin's as off-putting and gross as a pageant contestant, but without the desire for world peace." -- Sarah Silverman
So, of course she is guilty as sin on Troopergate. Duh. The report is out today. And, of course, she issued a statement hours prior to the release of the Troopergate investigation report absolving herself of any wrongdoing. (Wait, did I miss something? Is she is a priest now? Was that part of that contract she signed in blood?)
What else has she been lying about lately? Well, you can't see Russia from her house, to start with. But, really, who can tell when she's lying and when she's not, if her sentences are so incomprehensible that they cannot be understood even by experts? Now that's what I call plausible deniability!
For those who think I'm being too hard on her, take heart. I'm sure she could give a damn what I think of her. (Oh, by the way, you too.) In fact, it turns out she's unpopular right the world round, as the Brit's say.
"What is most striking about her is that she seems perfectly untroubled by either curiosity or the usual processes of thought. When answering questions, both Obama and Joe Biden have an unfortunate tendency to think on their feet and thereby tie themselves in knots: Palin never thinks. Instead, she relies on a limited stock of facts, bright generalities and pokerwork maxims, all as familiar and well-worn as old pennies. Given any question, she reaches into her bag for the readymade sentence that sounds most nearly proximate to an answer, and, rather than speaking it, recites it, in the upsy-downsy voice of a middle-schooler pronouncing the letters of a word in a spelling bee." -- Jonathan Raban
And speaking of just talking without thinking, thereby, perhaps, emitting the shite: McCain has a tell. Which is kind of funny, actually, because there are these pols in Indiana who want to debate while strapped into polygraph machines, like that stupid television show. Still, perhaps this is what we need at this point of the apocalypse.
What's another great reason for loathing McCain this week. How about this?
Tune in for Part II of "So, You're Living During the End Times" later this afternoon........
National Popular Vote
Diageo/Hotline O 47%; M 41% Rasmussen O 52%; M 44%Gallup O 50%; M 42%Pollster Poll of Polls O 49.9%; M 42.3%Kos/Research 2000 O 52%; M 40%
State Polls
Virginia O 51%; M 39%Minnesota O 55%; M 37%Ohio O 49%; M 42%Pennsyvania O 50%; M 40%Colorado O 44%; M 44%
This is not the English language. As an editor and HUMAN I find it deeply troubling to read the transcripts of Palin's voice box moving sound out of her mouth. If you have not tried it yet, may I welcome you to the funhouse that is Palin's use of the making talking.
It is worth noting that this verbal effluent was merely the tail end of a lengthy soliloquy that began in answer to this question: "How would a Biden administration be different from an Obama administration if that were to happen?"
Gwen Ifill, from the bottom of my heart, you are fired. Take it away, Governor Palin:
Say it ain't so, Joe, there you go again pointing backwards again. You preferenced [sic] your whole comment with the Bush administration. Now doggone it, let's look ahead and tell Americans what we have to plan to do for them in the future. You mentioned education and I'm glad you did. I know education you are passionate about with your wife being a teacher for 30 years, and god bless her. Her reward is in heaven, right? I say, too, with education, America needs to be putting a lot more focus on that and our schools have got to be really ramped up in terms of the funding that they are deserving. Teachers needed to be paid more. I come from a house full of school teachers. My grandma was, my dad who is in the audience today, he's a schoolteacher, had been for many years. My brother, who I think is the best schoolteacher in the year, and here's a shout-out to all those third graders at Gladys Wood Elementary School, you get extra credit for watching the debate.Education credit in American has been in some sense in some of our states just accepted to be a little bit lax and we have got to increase the standards. No Child Left Behind was implemented. It's not doing the job though. We need flexibility in No Child Left Behind. We need to put more of an emphasis on the profession of teaching. We need to make sure that education in either one of our agendas, I think, absolute top of the line. My kids as public school participants right now, it's near and dear to my heart. I'm very, very concerned about where we're going with education and we have got to ramp it up and put more attention in that arena.
Say it ain't so, Joe, there you go again pointing backwards again. You preferenced [sic] your whole comment with the Bush administration. Now doggone it, let's look ahead and tell Americans what we have to plan to do for them in the future. You mentioned education and I'm glad you did. I know education you are passionate about with your wife being a teacher for 30 years, and god bless her. Her reward is in heaven, right? I say, too, with education, America needs to be putting a lot more focus on that and our schools have got to be really ramped up in terms of the funding that they are deserving. Teachers needed to be paid more. I come from a house full of school teachers. My grandma was, my dad who is in the audience today, he's a schoolteacher, had been for many years. My brother, who I think is the best schoolteacher in the year, and here's a shout-out to all those third graders at Gladys Wood Elementary School, you get extra credit for watching the debate.
Education credit in American has been in some sense in some of our states just accepted to be a little bit lax and we have got to increase the standards. No Child Left Behind was implemented. It's not doing the job though. We need flexibility in No Child Left Behind. We need to put more of an emphasis on the profession of teaching. We need to make sure that education in either one of our agendas, I think, absolute top of the line. My kids as public school participants right now, it's near and dear to my heart. I'm very, very concerned about where we're going with education and we have got to ramp it up and put more attention in that arena.
My mom used to tutor "learning disabled" kids---a 70s term so amorphous that I couldn't tell you how to place these kids within our current semantic landscape---when I was young. These were kids in my normal classes who, nevertheless, could barely write two sentences in a row with any cogency. They were tutored several times a week from elementary straight through high school and STILL could not develop any meaningful or adequate reflection on their school assignments, despite, I will just emphasize, seeming "normal" in every other way. Even popular and successful at other pursuits like sports or dance, etc. My mom propped these kids up, coaching them through their assignments, and their parents footed the bill. The result is that these kids had the illusion that they graduated from high school when, in fact, they were mere puppets on very well-meaning strings.
I have a feeling that little Sarah's "house full of school teachers" might have done something similar for their darling, sweet, spunky little dum-dum, and we have them to thank for this woman's incomprehensible self-esteem.
Am I in another universe? When did the executive branch become a T-ball league where everyone gets a trophy? Who cares if she beat expectations, when expectations are that she's functionally illiterate and verbally incontinent? The fact is, should she win, she would be in the business of governing, not winking. Pretty doggone good translates to very grave disaster should they win. I know you guys agree with me. But, what is wrong with the other half of the country? I think we should all start advocating everywhere and often that she put her very real talents for looking cute and being perky to their most natural use: talk show host. I might actually tune in so that she could annoy me while cooking chicken caccitore with Paris Hilton. Put the image in your mind. See how it causes you to suddenly, unexpectedly relax just a little. That is the feeling of the world put right again.
We are down the rabbit hole, people, and I think Palin might be the Cheshire Cat. If ever there was a grin without a cat, this bird is it.
"How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice."You must be," said the Cat, "otherwise you wouldn't have come here."Alice didn't think that proved it at all: however she went on. "And how do you know that you're mad?""To begin with," said the Cat, "a dog's not mad. You grant that?""I suppose so," said Alice."Well, then, " the Cat went on, "you see a dog growls when it's angry, and wags its tail when it's pleased. Now I growl when I'm pleased, and wag my tail when I'm angry. Therefore I'm mad."
"How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, "otherwise you wouldn't have come here."
Alice didn't think that proved it at all: however she went on. "And how do you know that you're mad?"
"To begin with," said the Cat, "a dog's not mad. You grant that?"
"I suppose so," said Alice.
"Well, then, " the Cat went on, "you see a dog growls when it's angry, and wags its tail when it's pleased. Now I growl when I'm pleased, and wag my tail when I'm angry. Therefore I'm mad."
No energy for a longer post, but I'll just pop up here what I sent into Andrew Sullivan this morning. He never prints my letters. Poor me. But, I can put them here anyway.
Letter #1
Andrew, I really must agree with Fallows. Ifill was worse than bad. That part where she listed Baker twice in the list of secretaries of state? I know she just broke her foot. All kidding aside, was it the pain killers? The questions were worse than softballs. As a journalist, I've worked up a set of questions in advance myself, and I must say Ifill's were laughably open-ended, able to be answered without specifics. Many times, she actually coached Palin on the answers--asking the question and then giving a lead-in with a few hints, so that Palin could answer, "Yes, that's exactly right." Or, how about this one: "Has this administration been an abject failure, Governor?""No, and......" On the other hand, she often gave Biden a simple, "Senator?" when passing the ball to him.Not one of the questions was surprising or anything I couldn't have come up with off the top of my head. When should we use nuclear weapons? Is that a contentious issue in this campaign? Or, in anyone's mind? How about "as a last resort"? No brainer. Even Palin got that that was a terrible question and asked to change the subject to Afghanistan--appropos of nothing--and Ifill just caved with, "Sure." She was the only hope to contradict Palin's misstatements and to overcome this format, and she completely failed to do that. I honestly feel that I'd like to never see her do journalism again, which makes me sad. I know I will hold this against her for a long while. I'd love to hear you give your thoughts on how this travesty occurred. Has Ifill failed this badly in the past and I just missed it? Congrats on the traffic uptick, Kayte VanScoy
And, letter #2 for the morning
A few more thoughts to add to my letter on Ifill: She referred to worrying with Todd around the kitchen table about how they'll pay "to send our kids to college." Um, pardon? Your husband said thanks but no thanks to a college education; your oldest just blew college off to go shoot up some Iraqis; your 17-year-old dropped out of high school a year ago and carries the spawn of yet another high school drop out. I guess we can all have high hopes for Willow that she might rise above her environment and reach for the starry future of a journalism degree from the University of Idaho, which, apparently, now leads to the highest office in the land. At the very least, however, I'd say that ponying up college tuition is among the Palins' least pressing concerns. In the meantime, though, is anyone going to point out that this woman's children do not attend school? They are---all of them---on the road with her 24/7. They. Are. Not. In. School. I think this accounts for the little catch in her throat when she talked about her children "participating" in public school. Yet another semantic train wreck, or a deliberate talk-around for the fact that her kids are home schooling on a campaign bus? And, speaking of Palin's diction, I have, perhaps, an insight into its tinny clang. In addition to her semantic creativity, her over-articulation of initial consonants and her under-articulation of final consonants in an attempt to sound simultaneously smart and folksy when she is neither, and, for the same reasons, her Guys-and-Dolls level of devotion to the eschewing of the common contraction while embracing the trailer-park varietals such as "gonna" and "ya," she is also a flagrant abuser of the demonstrative determiner, causing a subtle congestion in her speech. To wit:"....John McCain who pushed so hard with the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac reform measures. He sounded that warning bell. People in the Senate with him, his colleagues, didn't want to listen to him and wouldn't go towards that reform that was needed then....""Now, what I've done as a governor and as a mayor is...I've had that track record of reform. And I've joined this team that is a team of mavericks with John McCain....""And that's why, with all due respect, I do respect your years in the U.S. Senate, but I think Americans are craving something new and different and that new energy and that new commitment that's going to come with reform."In my opinion, this particular grammatical tic is one she thinks adds gravitas. Technically this usage is not wrong, but her overuse creates a series of awkward knots that pile up one on the other until we are left with that discomfiting Huh? like the aftertaste of an oversweet soda. However one analyzes its purpose or effect, though, it's just not how people talk. For one last close reading chuckle, note that embedded pun in the last excerpt: "...with all due respect, I do respect...." She is truly the Herald of the Homophone.With that due respect I do respect, without ado in this respect, I bid you adieu, Kayte VanScoy
Dear Governor Palin,
I haven't been sleeping so well lately. How about you? I mean it's a pretty stressy time for everybody, don't you think? You've got that mean, new boss, too. That old, grumpy guy keeps treating you like you're dumb. I hate being micro-managed like that just because I'm new on the job.
Here's the deal, though. I'm really tired. I keep trying to go to sleep, but just as I'm drifting off I end up startling awake and then I'm like, Oh no, not again. I wander in and get some water. I funch the pillow around and, yes, eventually I get back to sleep. But it's not the same.
I need that kind of sleep where you're out for like 10 hours and when you wake up you've had like 4 different dreams and it feels like you've grown a whole new spine. But, what keeps happening is, well, like today. I kind of accidentally drifted off---which isn't surprising considering I didn't sleep last night. And I was just about to go into super-sleep mode. But then, that nagging little voice in my ear: what's she doing now? what's she doing NOW? WHAT'S SHE DOING NOW?! And, sure enough, I woke up. It had only been an hour. But now I have to write up a whole new post with a bunch of links to your latest, um, activities.**
So, here's my pitch. It's sort of quid pro quo, but we don't have to tell anyo--well, you know how that works already, right?
Could you just hold off on doing anything hilarious, or frightening, or that as-yet-unnamed combination of the two that seems to be your stock-in-trade, just for, like, 10 hours? That should be plenty of time for me to snuggle down, get comfy, konk out, and make a go of a whole night of sleep, knowing that I'm not missing out on anything in the meantime.
In exchange, or whatever, I promise to keep sending out links about your latest, um, performance, to everyone I know. And everyone they know. And everyone they know.
If we work together, I know that we can assure that in the future you can continue your lakeside lifestyle without the bother of living near all those city people. You don't want to do that anyway. You can stay exactly the same. That weird, twitchy guy won't be your boss anymore. And you can get back to the business of fleecing Alaska. You're my favorite show on TV, but we'll all just have to make some sacrifices. Country first, right?
So, yeah. I'm just going to set the timer on the stove now for 10 hours. When it beeps, please feel free to go back to acting like someone who just emerged from their pod, got drunk, and then put on lipstick.
**PALIN'S LATEST**
I'm sure there were more. But I'm going to bed.
It's not the most significant drop (so far) ever. The one in 1987 was a smaller number (-508) but a much larger percentage (over 22% in 1987 vs. 7% drop today).
What is 100% real and might make this more significant than 1987 is the number, which is the largest numerically, and the coolest numerologically. Three sevens. I'm pretty mild in my superstitions, but even I get wigged by that. It's a big, vibrating, magical jinx. The drop heard round the world, no doubt.
I don't have my 401k anymore. I cashed it out last year. Because I saw this coming? Well....no more than you did. But I knew I could use the money and I had a gut feeling that it was just going to dwindle to nothing. Which, indeed, it would have. I probably would have had $23 today.
So, I'm not as invested as I might be. But, why do I feel like this was a sock to the jaw from the people to the money bags? A David and Goliath moment, special delivery from us to them? Is it because of my personal history? Or, is it just that a specialized class of people, approximately 150,000 of them, just got an INSUFFICIENT FUNDS notice from their ATMs.
Perhaps naive.
ps. Thanks, Amy, for calling to tell me what was on All Things Considered ten minutes after the stock market closed. Barnacles. A story about...barnacles. I would bother being upset if it weren't so expected. Thanks, again, NPR! You truly are the barnacle of the news media.
The House has voted down the bill:
205 Yea, 228 Nay
They held the vote open 40 minutes. A few votes moved back and forth.
I'm sorry, but I think this is a good thing. Maybe I'm wrong, but thank god.
Watching C-SPAN at the moment with Pelosi on the floor of the House. I guess she's selling it....?
She is following a long string of really, really angry Republicans. Why are the Dems making me have to agree with Republicans? It is not making me happy.
They have the numbers to push this through, right? Or, if they did, would they send Pelosi up there? I mean, if it were going to pass anyhow, maybe she wouldn't bother? Does she just like to hear herself talk? Or is she trying to convince herself? them? us? Well, she's doing a bad job of convining anyone.
How could on the one hand could this be so urgent at the moment and yet so unnecessary...They get a golden parachute as they drive their firm into the ground and the American people have to pick up the bill. Something is very, very wrong with this picture....If we take a review of the success, or whatever, of this program, that we will have a review, but not one penny of this should be carried by the American people....What is the opportunity cost of the investments that our country would want to make....People tell me all over the world is that the biggest emerging market is rebuilding the infrastructure of America. We're trillions of dollars in deficit. We know how to do it in an All-American way. We can't get the time of day [from the administation] for that, but $700 billion.....This subject is not over, about how we save our economy....So many of the things that were said on both sides of this issue in terms of the criticism, I share. But it just comes down to one simple thing. They have described a precipice. We are on the brink of something that might pull us back from that precipice. I think we have a responsibility. We all insisted that the tax payer be covered and that we have a 'party is over' message. This legislation is not the end of the line. I hope you will pursue fraud and mismanagement and the rest. For too long this government has followed a right wing ideology of anything goes..... [transcribing this as it went, so apologize for errors]
I mean, that's not much of a pitch, if you ask me. Now she's thanking people like she just won an Oscar. Sheesh. And claiming bipartisanship. Did not look that way to me.
Kucinich is not on board today either.
What's good for Wall Street is good for Main Street? Not today.
This is a truly gripping, terrifying, harrowing debate. Everyone should be watching this.
6. The debate. Now, this only represents the opinions of my parents and their friends, but I spoke with my mother yesterday and she told me an interesting story. After church on Sunday, they went out to lunch with the other couples in their Sunday school class. These people are my parents' best friends, and are equally if not more conservative than my parents. And of course the topic of conversation turned to the debate on Friday night, with everyone expressing the same sentiment: that McCain was weird and angry (as my mom said, "Why wouldn't he look at Obama? That's what everybody wants to know. Do you know?") and that Obama was "nice" and seemed "smarter" than McCain. So, look. I know it's anecdotal, but if McCain has lost my parents' Sunday school class, he has lost. Period. These are not Democrats. These are not Independents. These are Indiana Republicans who believe in small government, are pro-life, and are deeply religious. And they don't trust and they don't like McCain. And every day, they are becoming more and more comfortable with Obama.
For the other five reasons Obama is kicking butt in the conservative midwest, check this out.
New electoral college projections from Fivethirtyeight.
Fivethirtyeight O 325.5; M 212.5
Here's the long and short of it for John McCain: Barack Obama has as large a lead in the election as he's held all year. But there is much less time left on the clock than there was during other Obama periods of strength, such as in February, mid-June or immediately following the Democratic convention. This is a very difficult combination of circumstances for him.
******************************
By the way, they've come to an agreement on the bailout bill. The dems are talking it up right now. Apparently they've managed to curtail CEO compensation for the first time in history. Yay! My $700 billion will only partially be spent to send Dick Fuld's family and friends on a trip around the world, as opposed to being spent entirely on that Extremely Important and Urgent Mission. Sigh. What can we do, people?
One thing to think about, I suppose, is that when Obama wins he'll have precedented executive power (as opposed to the unprecedented power taken by W) to do whatever he likes about this bill and the gigantic financial companies that we all just bought. Maybe he'll set up a spanking room in the Oval. I could totally get behind that.
And here's something for those that just don't understand this whole bailout deal and what happened (i.e.; everyone). It's the best explanation I've seen so far that is also detailed enough to be meaningful.
Here's his summary:
1.) Bailing out LTCM set a very bad precedent2.) Deregulation exposed banks to unnecessary risks3.) Deregulation led to the development of an entire shadow market in CDSs4.) Lowering interest rates to 0% after inflation led to massive speculation in real estate5.) Lack of any regulatory oversight encouraged outright fraudAll of these combined led to a terrible problem that we are now paying for.
1.) Bailing out LTCM set a very bad precedent
2.) Deregulation exposed banks to unnecessary risks
3.) Deregulation led to the development of an entire shadow market in CDSs
4.) Lowering interest rates to 0% after inflation led to massive speculation in real estate
5.) Lack of any regulatory oversight encouraged outright fraud
All of these combined led to a terrible problem that we are now paying for.
Although I have credited my ex-boyfriend with causing this entire problem, it is true that he only got in on it for #5, the outright fraud. So......yeah.
Maureen Dowd sums up my thinking nicely:
Who would have dreamed that when socialism finally came to the U.S.A. it would be brought not by Bolsheviks in blue jeans but Wall Street bankers in Gucci loafers?
The Palin Baby Name Generator is already not satisfying enough. I am not alone, apparently, in coining my own this afternoon. Before I could even get back home to post this I heard of a couple more people have made up for themselves, hat tip to Mallet Palin, the croquet champ.
This one just came to me in the car and I'll be heading down to city hall to change it tomorrow.
Lunchables HolyGhost Palin
I have one more that's up for grabs--Firehose FlackJacket Palin. First one to post a comment on this blog gets it!
xo,
LHP
Hertzberg has been my personal hero since I read Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72, which is required reading for all of you right now. Go on, go buy it. Among other things, it will illuminate the whole Eagleton discussion that's been floating around.
And now, a little of Hertzberg from the New Yorker (via Sullivan, as usual):
PALIN: We have trade missions back and forth, we do. It’s very important when you consider even national-security issues with Russia. As Putin rears his head and comes into the air space of the United States of America, where do they go? It’s Alaska. It’s just right over the border. It is from Alaska that we send those out to make sure that an eye is being kept on this very powerful nation, Russia, because they are right next to, they are right next to our state.This seems to be a case of incoherence of thought leading to incoherence of syntax. Pronouns wander in search of antecedents like Arctic explorers in a blinding snowstorm. Homophones confuse the transcriber. For example, one of the Governor’s answers could as sensibly, or insensibly, be rendered asPALIN: Well, it certainly does, because our, our next-door neighbors are foreign countries. They’re in the state that I am the executive of. And they’re…
PALIN: We have trade missions back and forth, we do. It’s very important when you consider even national-security issues with Russia. As Putin rears his head and comes into the air space of the United States of America, where do they go? It’s Alaska. It’s just right over the border. It is from Alaska that we send those out to make sure that an eye is being kept on this very powerful nation, Russia, because they are right next to, they are right next to our state.
This seems to be a case of incoherence of thought leading to incoherence of syntax. Pronouns wander in search of antecedents like Arctic explorers in a blinding snowstorm. Homophones confuse the transcriber. For example, one of the Governor’s answers could as sensibly, or insensibly, be rendered as
PALIN: Well, it certainly does, because our, our next-door neighbors are foreign countries. They’re in the state that I am the executive of. And they’re…
Any of you young people stay up late enough to see Tina Fey doing god's work again?
p.s. Wow. The new Gallup Daily Poll: O 50%; M 42%
New York Times brings in the cavalry.
For much of his adult life, Mr. McCain has gambled as often as once a month, friends and associates said, traveling to Las Vegas for weekend betting marathons. Former senior campaign officials said they worried about Mr. McCain’s patronage of casinos, given the power he wields over the industry. The officials, like others interviewed for this article, spoke on condition of anonymity.
Thanks for the gimme, Brave New Films.
And this terrifying thing, too, about his medical records.
POPULAR VOTE
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ELECTORAL COLLEGE
MORE DEBATE RESULTS
"An average of all this week's national polls puts Mr Obama ahead by 3.3 points - a turnround from the modest lead held by Mr McCain two weeks ago but still within the margin of error for most surveys." -- Financial Times
What? She broke up with Kimmel, you know. My theory is that it was over politics.
And, while you're at it, check out the Sarah Palin Baby Name Generator. Mine's Drumroll Cola Palin.
