Are you getting a little dizzy? I think Hank Paulson was sober at his little press conference but I could be mistaken. Sober or stoned, it doesn’t really matter. He will hold another press conference as soon as he hears another ‘solution.’
The ‘Smartest Man in Washington’ has changed his mind again. Of course that doesn’t mean any of his earlier ideas were wrong. After all, he is the ‘Smartest Man in Washington.’
To get serious, Hank is just emblematic of the problems that put us in the fix we are in. His herky-jerky dance also points out how he and his ilk have intellectual limitations that preclude their being able to find the solutions to the problems they caused.
[click to continue…]
Strange Bedfellows. A major battle has been going on and we didn’t even realize it. And coming to the rescue is that card-carrying member of the opposition: Bloomberg News. Who woulda thunk it?
Bloomberg News has filed both a request under the Freedom Of Information Act and a lawsuit against the Federal Reserve. The issue is the lack of transparency in the bailout. Transparency was promised by both presidential candidates and by the leaders of Congress. This may not sound all that sexy but the numbers definitely will grab your attention.
I bet you thought that little matter of $700 billion was all you had to fork over to the guys that ruined the entire world economy. Wrong.
[click to continue…]
We have before us the potential of America. We should not expect its full realization but we hope to see a substantial step forward.
Before going any further, I must congratulate Senator John McCain for his concession speech. The campaign was not something of which to be proud but that speech went a long way to repairing my impression of him. That speech truly was gracious and generous. I am convinced that it was also heartfelt.
Mr. Obama was not my first choice but I have come to appreciate his temperament, his curiosity, his empathy, the absence of cant and the remarkable efficiency and organization of his campaign. Those are traits and strengths that can prove valuable in his efforts to deal with the worst prospects of any incumbent since FDR. I continue to harbor some disagreements in his stated policies but will hope for the best. I’ll take what I can get.
[click to continue…]
We’ve been sitting around stunned by the financial crisis. What to do? We don’t trust the experts, and rightly so. They lurch from one answer to another. There is little confidence that they are doing anything more than thrashing around, grasping at straws.
Actually, since their starting point is their religious belief in a simplistic and flawed ideology, whatever ideas they come up with seem to benefit the very ones responsible for the situation.
[click to continue…]
Perhaps I should begin with an apology to Samuel Morse for using his famous quotation as the title of this post. I really can’t blame God for the yo-yo to the left.
All of my copies of the Bible contain a short, simple, easily understood statement. It can be found at 1 John 4:8. it says, “God is love.” The full verse is, “He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.”
Calling oneself a Christian doesn’t establish it as a fact. The word Christian means Christ-like or follower of Christ. Neither of these seem to fit the members of the rabid Christian right. No, this is not going to be a sermon, so keep up with me.
[click to continue…]
Old Alan is quoted as saying, “I still do not fully understand why it happened.” Really?
Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Poor old Alan, formerly the architect of America’s prosperity, is now the fall guy. There he was being grilled by Representative Henry Waxman and his crew. There he was being treated as just a normal human being. What a comedown.
While finally admitting to a lack of understanding, he still refuses to take the blame. I’m guessing that going from taking all of the credit to sharing the blame is too great a transition for someone of such limited intelligence and integrity.
[click to continue…]
Drug companies claim they test their products. Sometimes that may be true. For psychopharmaceuticals it is a baldfaced lie.
You want to paint your living room. You can’t decide between beige and blue. One way to make up your mind would be to apply a few strokes of beige on one wall and a few strokes of blue on one of the other walls.
[click to continue…]
On David Letterman’s show Thursday night John McCain apologized to Joe the Plumber for destroying his privacy. That was nice.
Out on the campaign trail the next day John McCain (yes, the very same one) went on a rant about how terrible it was that Barack Obama had violated Joe’s privacy. That wasn’t nice. Then John asked everyone to email Joe.
This little story line could become an entire semester course in abnormal psychology. Is it Alzheimer’s? Is it just short term memory loss? Is it a sign of desperation? My money is on the later. It’s just a pathetic grasping at straws.
[click to continue…]
Being laid up with bronchitis isn’t pleasant. Thousands of thoughts race through my mind. Although I haven’t fully recovered, I just couldn’t wait. The absurdity of our present situation is so obvious. The lack of understanding of why it happened is not.
The only thing that has relieved my misery has been laughing at the idiot ideologues complaining about socialism as if they understood what it is. The misunderstood use of such terms as free market, capitalism, et al. is hilarious. This problem of ignorance is shared by both the pros and their victims.
Someone came up with a cute little definition. It is hardly accurate but there is enough truth to make you smile: Socialism is when big government steals from the banks to bail out the people; capitalism is when big government steals from the people to bail out the banks. You can discuss and laugh about it the next time you and a corporation go out to the pub for a mug.
[click to continue…]
How have they lied to thee? Let me count the ways. There may be a problem when I run out of fingers and toes. (memo to self: check w/Dan in re e)
Well, an easy one is pork. McCain claims never to have voted for pork. True, he’s been a bit stingy in that regard but not exactly absolute. Of course he seems to think that pork is the major domestic problem.
[click to continue…]