Sunday Open Thread

I missed the morning talkies - are we any closer to a deal, or to Armageddon?

The WaPo and WSJ say yes.  Yes!  Maybe Meg Ryan can make the announcement and we can have a "When the Markets Met Sally" moment.

Comments

[bunky]

Let Palin be Palin. What do we have to lose right now?

[Porchlight]

Let Palin be Palin.

I agree. Now is the time.

[kim]

There are some who are in darkness
And the others are in light
And you see the ones in brightness
Thhose in darkness drop from sight.

H/t B. Brecht.
==========

[RichatUF]

Hank Paulson: "I'm from the Government and I'm here to help."

[kim]

'I'm from the government and I'm here to help myself to some of that risk and reward'.

Hint, hum that Brecht to Mack the Knife.
======================================

[Wang Chung]

"Progress on the Hill [Kathryn Jean Lopez]

A side-by-side (it's a Word doc) on the various plans, from Roy Blunt's office.

09/28 11:55 AM"

LUN

The doc shows, by issue, the 3 versions: Paulson, Frank/Dodd, Final Bill

[kim]

So here's more:

Though the shark's teeth may be lethal
Still you see them white and red
But you won't see Mackie's flick knife
Cause he's slashed you and you're dead

So why shouldn't Sarah Barracuda be loosed to swim free?
==================================

[Charlie (Colorado)]

Dc Examiner has the same comparison up on the web.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

There's also a myths and facts document from the House R's.

[Terry Gain]

I wish I had missed the morning talkies, however I saw five minutes of McCain on Stephanopoulos. It was long enough for me to see him flub two questions. The first was on the Franklin Raines advisor ad. The second dealt with Palin being quoted about troops going into Pakistan.

So doesn’t she agree with Obama asked the esteemed host?

It seemed to me that Palin was talking about a situation of hot pursuit, however, that was not the answer given by the Republican presidential candidate.

So are we closer to Armageddon? Yes, it is now five weeks away, unless McCain can turn this situation around. He won't turn it around unless he the courage and the mental agility to fix the Democratic Party with responsibility for the financial crisis. He needs to get educated and real quick. There is a certain Mormon who could help him.

Douglas Ross has a fabulous exposition of the Democratic Party Fannie Mae debacle, here.

http://directorblue.blogspot.com/2008/09/testimony-that-will-have-you-pulling.html

McCain/Palin are okay, but up against MSM/Obama I wish we had Romney/Jindal.

With the Democratic Party's guiding principle being that there are more Pauls than Peters perhaps the descent into socialism is inevitable.

[bunky]

Let her go all over, three a day events and let it fly!!

[bunky]

Mac has good ad people and terrible advisors.

PS: George Will and Kathleen Parker can take a hike.

[JM Hanes]

I don't want JBean's link to the upcoming Wall St. Journal $600 Million Baby to get lost in the thread shuffle this morning.

John Boehner seems to be aware of the ACORN issue, but I'm not sure he's really tuned into the larger picture yet -- a picture which includes both Obama's current involvement with ACORN and the fact that ACORN itself is just the tip of the iceberg.

It sounds like Dodd et al. may have found a way to keep the barn door open. The final bill emergency bill may seem to have elminated a monumental larceny -- but it may still be laying the cornerstone of a permanent support system for groups like ACORN which will actually outlast the current emergency measures.

I say groups like ACORN, because the WSJ description suggests that if public scrutiny makes ACORN itself to hot to handle, the Dodd-Schumer-Frank crowd can simply redirect the flow to variants or successor organizations. The Journal notes that, "Democrats claim the bill has ample protection against money going for electioneering and lobbying" which seems to indicate they realize that side of jig is up. I suspect they've always been prepared for that -- when you look at the coverage of ACORN's fraudulent registration activities, you'd never know that this is the same Association of Community Organizations being so generously funded in Washington.

This is, once again, the CAC model in action: you have a parent organization which devolves into a welter of independent off shoots and quasi-independent affiliated or subsidiary operations which are difficult to trace or connect. ACORN presents a clear target which may finally be crossing the public radar, but what I didn't realize till I saw the DC posse so flagrantly designing their own sinecures was that ACORN is as much symptom as disease. It can be endlessly recreated and reinvented, or simply "reformed" as circumstances require, unless and until its Democratic roots are dug out of the ground.

[Terry Gain]

"Mac has good ad people and terrible advisors."

bunky,

It sure seems so.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

For those of you who read Macsmind:

Hi All,

This is MacRanger of Macsmind. As you know I was hacked by operatives of the Obama Campaign last month. Well, it happened again. Basically they flooded the site with “sql bombs” according to the host that caused the shared server to stop running. Subsequently be had to disable the site. This had to do with running the “Obama wants to Disarm America” post which more than 2 million people viewed on the site. Just like the goons in Missouri, the Obama truthers can’t let the truth be known. I’ve now moved the blog back to blogspot at macsmind.blogspot.com at least temporally. Because of the hacking job I had to move to another host but unfortunately they haven’t got the server up yet to redirect the traffic to blogspot. I would appreciate a mention to your readers. I’m getting a couple of hundred emails about “what happened”, but as you can imagine it hard to get the word out by reply.

Thanks,

MacRanger
Jack Moss
Macsmind.com

[clarice]

JMH, It's the way of the world I'm afraid. It's a never ending whack a mole game, isn't it?

[Thomas Collins]

I expect that there will be a few yuk-yuks at the LUN. However, whether you are a Playboy bunny, butcher, baker or candlestick maker, the tsunami at the World Financial Casino Beach is going to affect you.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

Palin be Palin.

The press and their cohorts wouldn't like Gov. Palin being herself and you/they know it. When she is being herself, she makes all of them look like the clawing, out of touch elitists that they are, but try to hide. She exposes all of them and she must be punished for making them look at just how empty and shallow their own pathetic lives are.

[Neo]

How China has created a new slave empire in Africa

Wow, colonialism reinvented.

[DebinNC]

Rep. Mike Pence: Why I Oppose the Bailout.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

Family Told Obama NOT To Wear Soldier Son's Bracelet... Where is Media?

[Jim Ryan]

I offer

The Illness of the Republic

and

Ten Reasons to Vote Against Obama

to Obama supporters.

[bvl]

'Allows the government to purchase troubled assets from pension plans, local governments, and small banks that serve low- and middle-income families'

Why throw my money away? These are bad investments that will never make any money. These are losses.

[clarice]

BIG LOSSES and buying them up allows them to continue to continue to make foolish decisions--

[ROA]

Re: China’s new slave empire in Africa – American greed caused this

I read the article about China’s influence in Africa. I also read some of the comments, including the following:

American greed caused this. The Chinese must have copper and other natural resources due to corporations such as Wal Mart and many others moving millions of American jobs overseas to improve profit margins. America has pumped hundred of billions if not Trillions of dollars into their industrial base. They are the fastest growing economy in history. American greed feeds the Chinese Machine..and we may have built a machine that very well may eventually take us over.
Americans cannot compete on the world labor market, neither can those of you in Europe. If we continue to allow corporate profits continue to be paramount to nation states, all western countries will lose their standards of living. The West (Europe included) is being turned into one big third world. It appears that the New World Order plan will soon be complete.
- Jim Knapp, San Francisco CA, 28/9/2008 05:26

Is there nothing American greed is not responsible for?

[Terry Gain]

Jim Ryan

Great post Jim. You get it. May I suggest you facilitate comments from registered subscribers who have the courage to use their own names.

I've provided a link to your site at Power Line and Doug Ross. Here's my "signature" at Power Line Forum.

---
If we had not liberated Iraq and removed that insane stalinist dictator then we would now have both Iraq and Iran developing nuclear weapons and training terrorists.

Palin not ready? What do you call someone who proposes we concede oil rich Iraq to al Qaeda (other than UNFIT)?

The guiding principle of the Democratic Party is that there are more Pauls than Peters.

Armageddon. Obama in the White House and Iran with nukes.

[JM Hanes]

Terry Gain:

"[McCain] won't turn it around unless he the courage and the mental agility to fix the Democratic Party with responsibility for the financial crisis. He needs to get educated and real quick."

Educating McCain and focusing attention on on his pivotal role these last few days are ultimately even more important than pushing ACORN itself into the limelight. McCain should own this issue, because it is everything his entire platform is about. Earmarks are, indeed, the gateway drug to monumental corruption, -- corruption which not only led to the current debacle, but is also alive and well. Will we "know their names" or not?

McCain's impact this week played out in two critical ways. He opened a window of opportunity for House Republicans to begin exposing the corrupt practices at the heart of the ACORN proposal, and he cleared the way for a bipartisan agreement. He has given himself a near perfect drum to beat in the upcoming economy debate, which Obama is widely expected to "win."

The real knockout punch, however, will be very difficult to deliver because it's really ugly, and McCain is going to need help from every possible quarter to set it up successfully.

The GOP needs to hang the albatross of ACORN on Obama's shoulders. They/we need to paint a vivid picture of Obama's flyby disruption at the White House which nearly cost the country a bi-partisan fix for economic collapse. Obama did the partisan bidding of Reid and Pelosi, and the do-nothing Democratic legislators who couldn't even deliver on their promise of the most ethical Congress ever. Democratic Chairmen and leading Democratic figures in both houses have been implicated in one scandal after another with barely a slap on the wrists of the hands in the till. Do we want to give these people Congress and the White House too? We know their names, but the country doesn't connect the names they with Obama?

McCain can't do this all by himself and still get elected. How can people be scratching their heads and faulting McCain for not bringing up his own personal recognition of the potential runaway horse here and his early efforts to reign it in with regulations? How hard can it be to anticipate Obama's obvious response? How long does anyone think it would have taken Obama to derail that discussion by seizing on McCain's failure to forestall economic disaster when he had the chance -- while Obama's outsider hands are clean as a whistle?

Where is the infamous Republican attack machine when we need it most? Republicans can't afford to play it safe in this election, because they've got to give the country a reason to vote for them. The fact that the press is so obviously in the tank -- and that the public clearly knows it -- should be working to Republican advantage. Media will never volunteer the spotlight, unless Republicans go on the offense and grab it themselves. John McCain has obviously figured this out, but unless everybody down the ticket gets that message, they will all lose and they will drag their presidential nominee down with them. If his party doesn't have the guts to step up to the plate, or if they squabble amongst themselves, this election will, indeed, hang entirely on McCain's performance in the debates, and that's a tough row to hoe.

Boehner ran a disciplined operation in the House. That's the only way the minority gains traction, and Republicans used to know it.

[JM Hanes]

That should read **We know their names, but the country doesn't connect the names they know with Obama.**

[Jim Ryan]

Thanks, Terry. I tired of moderating comments after five years. But at your request, I open them up again. I'm not sure which setting to use for real names, though.

[PeterUK]

1. Ahmadinejad Feted at Obama Fundraiser’s Hotel

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was feted on Thursday night by left-wing U.S. religious leaders and self-styled pacifists at a gala reception at New York’s Hyatt hotel — which is owned by the family of the Obama campaign’s national finance chairperson, Penny Pritzker.

Several thousand protesters gathered on 42nd street, directly across from the hotel, late Thursday afternoon, including Beth Gilinsky, president of the Jewish Action Alliance; Frank Gaffney, president of the Center for Security Policy; and the Rev. Keith Roderick, the Episcopal canon to persecuted Christians.

Ahmadinejad arrived at 8:45 p.m., nearly three hours late, and was protected by the Secret Service and Iranian security guards, Newsmax correspondent Kenneth R. Timmerman reported.

Inside, the Iranian president was given a warm welcome by John Brademas, a former congressman from Indiana who rose to become Democratic whip in the House from 1977-1981.

Also welcoming him was Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which was named as an “unindicted co-conspirator” in an alleged criminal conspiracy to fund the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas.

Ahmadinejad began his address with an invocation of the 12th imam, according to a source who attended the event.

He made a similar invocation of the 12th imam at the start of his speech to the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday, adding that he hoped his actions “would hasten the Imam’s return.” He went on to blast Israel and the United States in that speech.

The Mahdivist cult of Shia Islam, to which Ahmadinejad subscribes, holds that the 12th imam will “return” to earth after a period of worldwide conflagration, mass destruction, famine, and starvation.

By calling on his own actions to “hasten” the imam’s return, many scholars of Islam believe that Ahmadinejad is revealing his intention to provoke a world war.

Ahmadinejad has referred to Israel as “a dried, rotten tree that will collapse with a single storm,” and has called on the Muslim world to “prepare for the great war, so as to completely wipe out the Zionist regime and remove this cancerous growth.”

Government buildings in Tehran are festooned with giant banners that read, “Israel should be wiped out of the face of the world” in English and Persian. Similar banners are draped across Shahab-3 missiles when the Iranian regime drives them through the streets of Tehran in military parades, Timmerman reports.

Barack Obama has made negotiations with Ahmadinejad and other dictators a cornerstone of his foreign policy approach, in contrast to John McCain, who believes that the U.S. must spearhead an international coalition to prevent Iran from going nuclear.

Obama has said that he is ready to sit down with Ahmadinejad “without preconditions” to negotiate a sweeping security agreement with his regime. McCain has dismissed this as “reckless,” and McCain’s top foreign policy adviser, Randy Scheunemann, has called it “cowboy diplomacy.”
Newsmax

[centralcal]

Thank god, FoxNews is beating the ACORN drum today. John Fund speaking on it now.

Sara - we should wait and see about the Jopek families feelings regarding the bracelet. The radio interview with the ex-husband was a few months ago, where he says his ex-wife objected to Obama using their son as a campaign issue. Jake Tapper says he has a call into the wife/mother to get her side of the story.

It would be wiser not to run with this until the mom speaks herself.

[glasater]

It appears to me that there is a direct correlation between ACORN and the US Attorney firings. Anyone else get this notion? Or am I helplessly behind the times once again?

[M. Simon]

It appears to me that there is a direct correlation between ACORN and the US Attorney firings. Anyone else get this notion? Or am I helplessly behind the times once again?

That is what it seems like to me.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

centracal: that was my take on the bracelet story too. The interview is from March. Lot could have transpired since then. Although, as a mom, I think I'd be a little pissed that O-man didn't even know my son's name.

[Rick Ballard]

I don't see a link to the bill - here's the discussion proposal. It's only 106 pages so I'll read it and comment in a couple of minutes.

Or so.

[ben]

Chicago Tribune and Hot Air:

"Antoin “Tony” Rezko, a convicted influence peddler who was once one of Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s most trusted confidants, has met with federal prosecutors and is considering cooperating in the corruption probe of the governor’s administration, sources told the Tribune.

Rezko’s possible change of heart—after years of steadfast refusal—has sent ripples through a tight circle of prominent defense attorneys who represent dozens of potential witnesses and targets in the wide-ranging probe.

His cooperation would give prosecutors investigating the governor and his wife access to someone they have described as an ultimate political insider at the center of a pervasive pay-to-play scheme."

[Porchlight]

The bracelet story *should* have been about Obama's "me too" delivery and the fact that he couldn't even remember the soldier's name. Instead people looked for an even bigger gotcha with the mom's supposed disapproval, and the main message was lost. It should have been left where it was.

[bend]

Lots of bad poll results around for McCain but on the bright side:

ARG Colorado: McCain 48 Obama 45

[Pagar]

glasater, I think there is a direct correlation between ACORN and a lot of things. The first one I would think is a 129 vote win (after the 3rd or whatever# recount)by the Democrat candidate for governor of Washington State. M.Simon has a lot more on his list. I'm thinking there are many other races that have been affected, but I'm going to have to find some links for them. With all the exposure that ACORN is getting today, I'll bet they are scrubbing the entire internet to try to erase their trail.

[Jim Rhoads aka Vnjagvet]

Great comments here.

I am convinced, based on the evidence adduced by Diamond and Kurtz, that BHO is inextricably entwined with the ACORN/FNMA/FHLMC financial scandal. It is, IMHO, the greatest scandal since Teapot Dome.

But unless McCain overtly and directly links BHO to the scandal (much like HST linked the "do nothing" Republican 80th Congress of 1948 to the average citizen's disaffection with the state of the nation) he will lose.

He now has a winning theme. Can he exploit it in the next month?

I hope he has been playing possum on this, and the naming names starts soon.

[Neo]

Hot Air is reporting that Rezko is ready to sing to Fitz, before his sentencing in October.

I wonder if this explains the InTrade selling of Obama, buying McCain and Hiliary Clinton.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

The best minds are not in government. If any were, business would hire them away.
- Ronald Reagan

[baked alaska]

PALIN: That's why I say I, like every American I'm speaking with, were ill about this position that we have been put in where it is the taxpayers looking to bail out. But ultimately, what the bailout does is help those who are concerned about the health-care reform that is needed to help shore up our economy, helping the—it's got to be all about job creation, too, shoring up our economy and putting it back on the right track. So health-care reform and reducing taxes and reining in spending has got to accompany tax reductions and tax relief for Americans. And trade, we've got to see trade as opportunity, not as a competitive, scary thing. But one in five jobs being created in the trade sector today, we've got to look at that as more opportunity. All those things under the umbrella of job creation. This bailout is a part of that.

This is nonsense—a vapid emptying out of every catchphrase about economics that came into her head. Some commentators, like CNN's Campbell Brown, have argued that it's sexist to keep Sarah Palin under wraps, as if she were a delicate flower who might wilt under the bright lights of the modern media. But the more Palin talks, the more we see that it may not be sexism but common sense that's causing the McCain campaign to treat her like a time bomb.

fareed zakaria

[Porchlight]

ARG Colorado: McCain 48 Obama 45

Thank you, bend! I needed that.

With all the exposure that ACORN is getting today, I'll bet they are scrubbing the entire internet to try to erase their trail.

No doubt. Hope everyone is grabbing screencaps while they can.

[baked alaska]

The best minds are not in government.

Palin is exhibit A in support of this proposition.

[MayBee]

This is nonsense—a vapid emptying out of every catchphrase about economics that came into her head.

I agree. I think the McCain campaign has her spooked.
They need to let her be herself, more often. Then all of her mistakes will blend in with everyone else's.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

This is nonsense

Sayeth the resident expert.

[Jim Rhoads aka Vnjagvet]

If Palin is truly vapid, Baked, it will come out in the debate with Biden. If she holds her own or kicks his butt, guess what? Fareed's opinion will be be but a molehill on the way to a McCain/Palin victory.

BTW, if you parse the Savior's answers in Friday's debate (and elsewhere), they sound like a string of political slogans don't they?

[JBean]

JM Hanes --

Re the WSJ $600 Million Baby -- it's not "upcoming," it's a done deal. ACORN+ gets a percentage of Fan/Fred sales as of July 30, 2008 -- just a little over two months before Fan/Fred are in such distress they are taken over by the Feds. Oh, my -- no one in Congress could have foreseen that, could they?

As far as McCain goes, he used the word "bipartisan" on TV today referring to this "deal." If there is a more glaring example of toxic partisanship, given the performance of Reid, Pelosi, Obama, Dodd and Rangel this week -- I can't think of what it might be.

I'll vote for McCain, but now I'll have to get very, very drunk to do so.

[Laura]

I don't know what the McCain handlers are doing, but it is not working. Sarah Palin right now is not the same Palin I saw on Kudlow and Co or with Maria Baritoroma. Indeed she is not the same confident participantI watched on video of the debates for Gov in Alaska. They really need to lay off with the coaching.

[baked alaska]

BTW, if you parse the Savior's answers in Friday's debate (and elsewhere), they sound like a string of political slogans don't they?

Debate Watchers Give Obama Edge Over McCain

by Frank Newport

PRINCETON, NJ -- Americans who watched the first presidential debate on Sept. 26 gave Barack Obama the edge over John McCain as having done the better job in the debate, by a 46% to 34% margin. These results are based on a special USA Today/Gallup Poll conducted on Saturday, Sept. 27, the first day after the debate.

Not only did Obama win the debate among debate watchers, they say that their attitudes towards the Democratic candidate also improved as a result. Thirty percent of debate watchers said they came away with a more favorable image of Barack Obama, while just 14% said they had a less favorable image. On the other hand, John McCain did not fare as well. Just as many watchers said that they developed a less favorable image of John McCain -- 21% -- as said they gained a favorable image of McCain as a result of the debate.

Gallup poll on debate

[centralcal]

From Byron York at NRO:

"Sarah Palin's schedule for tomorrow includes time at 8:00 a.m. and again at 11 a.m. listed as "Media Interview." It turns out Palin will be spending more time with Katie Couric. Palin and Couric will tape a "Day in the Life" feature that will run on the CBS Evening News on Monday and Tuesday, according to CBS."

[clarice]

Was it over when Germany dropped a bomb on Pearl Harbor or did the other 56 states pull up their britches and fight back?

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

Whenever you see an online poll, you can be sure to see it heavily favoring Obama. The left bombards any online poll it can find. So I'm left wondering why this weekly AOL Straw poll for the week of 9/25-10/2 with 214,438 votes registered, so far, shows:

McCain - 61% - 131,633 votes

Obama - 39% - 82,805 votes

[centralcal]

Laura:

"Sarah Palin right now is not the same Palin I saw on Kudlow and Co or with Maria Baritoroma. Indeed she is not the same confident participantI watched on video of the debates for Gov in Alaska."

Might this be a strategy?

[bio mom]

That gallup debate poll oversampled Democrats wildly. They were the predominant viewers of the Friday debate. Rasmussen showed it tied and remarked that the other polls were just showing that the Dems watched more and so polled higher. Geez. Please stop relying on any polls. Without internals and careful analysis they can show just about anything.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

Palin should come up with an Alaska version of this quote from Margaret Thatcher:

"If my critics saw me walking over the Thames they would say it was because I couldn't swim."

[bio mom]

Stop paying attention to polls please. Gallup oversampled Dems wildly. They were the ones who watched Friday mainly. Rasmussen showed a tie if you actually took that into accout. He said the other polls had oversampled Dems. Without analysis and internals polls can show anything. Therefore, ignore all of them. Please.

[Rick Ballard]

I've skimmed the bill and read some parts of it pretty thoroughly. There is no allocation of profit to ACORN and such allocations as were established in the FMs bill of July have been rendered about as moot as they could possibly be. The FMs are deader n' doornails.

The oversight provisions of the bill seem a bit onerous but so is bankruptcy. There was a lot of ink wasted on executive compensation and golden parachute issues but that's just going to give Wall Street lawyers something to do (aside from bankruptcies).

There could certainly be some cute stuff hidden in the bill but on the whole it's reasonably transparent.

I really do like the provision on insurance - an MBS issue can achieve Treasury backed status through the payment of a premium derived through a transparent calculation. That ought to put Arsonists R' Us Hedge & Pawn (well known to the finest sWine connoisseurs down at the club) right out of the game wrt the soon to disappear CDS market on MBS.

[Pofarmer]

Went to an historical reenactment this morning after church. They've got stuff set up from the civil war to modern. We went to a demonstration of small arms from the 1770's to today. They had an army reservist doing AK 47 vs M-16. When they announced him, and announced he was an Iraq army Veteran, the crowd gave him a standing ovation. You could tell he was a little overwhelmed. I think there is hope for this country.

[MayBee]

Thanks, Rick.

[DrJ]

So the bill actually reads as it was advertised! That's very good news. I certainly can live with what came out. (And I agree with the comments on lawyers and compensation.)

[JM Hanes]

JBean:

"Re the WSJ $600 Million Baby -- it's not "upcoming," it's a done deal. ACORN+ gets a percentage of Fan/Fred sales as of July 30, 2008 -- just a little over two months before Fan/Fred are in such distress they are taken over by the Feds"

Thanks for the correction; it's even worse than I thought. Team McCain has been pretty good on rapid response till now, but their increasingly apparent lack of due diligence on the oppo research front is depressing beyond belief.

[PeterUK]

"The best minds are not in government.

Palin is exhibit A in support of this proposition."

What was it Governors do?
Sarah Palin of course,isn't in national government YET.But she will be.

[Simple Simon]

Why is no one seeing this as "The Producers" selling a Ponzi scheme where we bailed out Freddie and Fannie as max Bialystok because the GSE was our supposedly lovable Scghmucks but we are ditching on all the Leo Bloom's In Bear Sterns , Lehman, WAMU. After all they went viral. The Chinese are tryiing to extract their pound of flesh for being taken but what can they do. Causing a massive depression here closes all the factories there.
Is not globalization grand.

You should go read johnbatchelorshow.com to get the real story. The House Republicans are dug in and Pelosi has amutiny on her hands and she is trying to have the media as her bully pulpit to beat everyone into submission. Do not be fooled. McCain does not know to much but is running cover for the Republican house.

[Laura]

Powerline has a graphic put out by House republicans comparing deal as is, the Paulson proposal and the Dodd/Frank proposal.
If the comparison and deal are as portrayed it seems like something we as taxpayers can live with.
LUN

Centralcal we can only hope it's a strategy

[centralcal]

Great story, Pofarmer!

[Jim Rhoads aka Vnjagvet]

Debate Watchers Give Obama Edge Over McCain

[Porchlight]

Chicago Tribune says McCain edged out Obama in the debate:

Advantage: Experience

On Iraq, Obama spoke repeatedly about his opposition to initiating that war. But he didn’t directly respond to McCain’s key points—that a surge-enabled victory in Iraq will leave this country with a stable ally in a bad neighborhood, and that the next president has to decide not whether to enter Iraq but how to leave in a way that best serves America. Obama gamely noted that he had chosen Sen. Joe Biden, a specialist in foreign affairs, as his vice presidential candidate.

The bulk of Friday night’s debate took place on the turf McCain knows best: foreign affairs and military endeavors. That showed. Obama spoke capably on one topic after another; McCain, who has traveled to numerous crisis locales and joined in more foreign policy debates, spoke with more fluency and experience.

As one TV talking head said afterward, McCain spent the night on offense; Obama found himself playing more defense. The debate that almost didn’t happen was a serious—and decorous—affair. Over 90 minutes, though, Americans who’ve been following the campaign didn’t hear much that McCain and Obama haven’t said, and said, before.

Given the recent swing of poll numbers against him in recent days, McCain had to make the better showing in the Mississippi night. By some small measure, he did.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

Why is no one seeing this as "The Producers" selling a Ponzi scheme where we bailed out Freddie and Fannie as max Bialystok because the GSE was our supposedly lovable Scghmucks but we are ditching on all the Leo Bloom's In Bear Sterns , Lehman, WAMU.

Well, for one thing, the rest of us are better writers than that.

[redstocking]

I suspect that last Friday night in red states, or battleground states many citizens were at soccer, volleyball, or football games watching their children, not glued to the plug-in idiot box.

[Porchlight]

That's very cool, Pofarmer.

[JM Hanes]

Here's a passing outrage, for anyone with outrage left to give.

Yesterday Sara linked to a blow-by-blow story of Congressional negotiations at Politico. The same link now pulls up an almost entirely different article, with only traces of the original at the end of page 2. The appears to be no cached page, but I did manage to find the first version, 'Verbal' deal in place for bailout, elsewhere. The very passages I have been relying on as a basis for McCain's pivotal role have simply disappeared in the unacknowledged transformation to The bailout: Will the center hold?. The massively reworked edition comes with only an oblique reference to an "earlier version" in a minor correction.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

McCain as the Alpha Male

By David S. Broder, WaPo
Sunday, September 28, 2008

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

JMH: I linked to a WaPo article either Friday night or Saturday morning that covered McCain's role pretty much like the Politico article did. I don't remember which thread. Might be interesting to see if they are into the editing game too.

If you are keeping track of changes, add this one on how the left edited Roy Blunt, in a video no less.

[BOATBUILDER]

Barack Obama is an historic candidate, and his first presidential debate was an historic event. I would guess that for that reason his natural constituencies, blacks and young voters, watched the debate in significantly higher numbers than would ordinarily be the case. (Even on a Friday night!)Conservative constituencies--not so much. Hence the poll numbers from people who watched the debate.
I wouldn't have watched it myself if I had anything better to do. Sigh.

[sbw]

This is the message for Sarah Palin:

The conventional wisdom is that Obama is the man of the future. It’s argued that he represents what the younger generation desires. But what if, on the contrary, Obama actually represented the last gasp of the past?

Worn out economic ideas and tactics that have no place.

[RichatUF]

Sara-

I've noticed the same thing. I was thinking that maybe only the right side of the blogsphere has pointed it out-both Hot Air and Powerline have had links. But I'm really surprised that it hasn't been bombed by Obots yet. Every time I've checked it, McCain has had at least a 20 point lead.

Yea, yea it is a meaningless internet poll, it showed the Red Witch winning the Dem nomination-I'm reaching for anything to cheer me up.

[PeterUK]

"I would guess that for that reason his natural constituencies, blacks and young voters, watched the debate in significantly higher numbers".

To whom Barrack Hussein Obama's insolent and sneering manner would be appealing.Pity they will be too out of it to vote on the day.

[clarice]

My guess is that the race is very tight and that we are seeing in the shifting tides transitory sentiments--as the economic catastrophe stories predminated over the past few days, O had some advantage.

As for online polls, pls --why bother even reporting them?

[JM Hanes]

I'm waiting for the polls that come out on Tuesday to see where reaction to the debate has settled, but unless Obama does a crash and burn or McCain/Palin transcend debate expectations, I think the default spread will continue to favor Obama. Serious assistance from Republicans across the board might help shift that dynamic, but time is running out.

[baked alaska]

I would guess that for that reason his natural constituencies, blacks and young voters, watched the debate in significantly higher numbers than would ordinarily be the case. (Even on a Friday night!)Conservative constituencies--not so much.

The conventions got equal numbers of viewers, so this doesn't hold water. Republicans refuse to accept the fact that 8 years of bush and mccain's desperation in choosing a weak, unprepared veep has changed more than a few weak Republicans into Democrats this cycle.

November will correct this misunderstanding.

But what if, on the contrary, Obama actually represented the last gasp of the past?

Older voters support mccain while younger voters support obama.

[M. Simon]

The best minds are not in government.

Palin is exhibit A in support of this proposition.

So much so that she has am 80% approval rating in Alaska. How is Joe "Gaffomaic" Biden doing?

[M. Simon]

BaAl,

That Joe Biden is really strong. He has the long winded vote totally secured.

[RichatUF]

To whom Barrack Hussein Obama's insolent and sneering manner would be appealing.Pity they will be too out of it to vote on the day.

Yes the magic of the youth vote. So much promise, they could have vaulted McGovern to the Presidency.

[BOATBUILDER]

I think that we should anticipate unprecedented black voter turnout. This is huge matter of ethnic pride, and I am sure that even the most apathetic members of the black community will be motivated to vote. (With or without ACORN assistance).
Whether Sarah Palin similarly motivates traditional non-voters remains to be seen.
It's a terrible way to elect a president, but it's the best anyone's come up with.

[Terry Gain]

Perhaps some of us took the debate too seriously.

http://patdollard.com/2008/09/snl-mocks-debate-nails-obama-on-race-card-rezko-etc/

This will cheer you up. It's hilarious.

[RichatUF]

Older voters support mccain while younger voters support obama.

Hum. Who votes?

[Rick Ballard]

Rich,

Thank you for the link to the CDS piece. As the legislation moves it will be a help in explaining the true value of the insurance segment.

[clarice]

Alinsky:"freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it "

It's now the Democrats Trillion Dollar Scam--and that's got to be the theme for M/P:
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2008/09/mccainpalin_could_win_this_ele.html>Freeze it

[baked alaska]

Primatologist Frans de Waal on David Broder:

Frans de Waal: Nervous Old Male: David Broder in the Washington Post of September 28, 2008, writes an opinion piece entitled "McCain as the Alpha Male." Since the term "alpha male" comes out of primatology, and I have known many males who qualify, I feel like commenting on Broder's observation

... an imbalance in the deference quotient between the younger man and the veteran senator -- an impression reinforced by Obama's frequent glances in McCain's direction and McCain's studied indifference to his rival....

A confident alpha male chimpanzee would never show studied indifference. I have seen such behavior only in males who were terrified of their challenger.... A self-confident alpha male just approaches his challenger and sets him straight, either by attacking him or performing a spectacular display of his own. No avoidance of eye contact: he takes the bull by the horns. It rather is the hesitant or fearful alpha male who avoids looking straight at the other.... I read the body language between McCain and Obama as that between a senior male being challenged by a remarkably confident junior one. The senior didn't know exactly what to do. He avoided eye contact and body orientation, probably realizing that a direct confrontation might not go his way. If McCain was an alpha male, it was an incredibly insecure one...

link

[JM Hanes]

Poor bakedalaska!

Having waited lo these many excrutiatingly long years to glory in the ultimate Republican take down, he's going to be so disappointed to discover just how short lived the Republican misery he's been contemplating all this time will be.

Republicans don't wallow in defeat the way Democrats do, or head off for intensive therapy. They'll moan & groan for a week or so, then pick themselves up, put their shit back together and show the Democrats what a really effective minority looks like. With Pelosi, Reid and Obama at the helm, I'd see a Republican sweep a mere four years down the road -- one that might well be underway in two.

[bend]

John Hinderaker at Powerline has a good summary of the final deal and what House Republicans accomplished in favor of the taxpayers...

"So, what did the Republicans achieve? They put strings on the availability of funds beyond $250 billion, requiring fresh Congressional action for the last $350 billion. They added a requirement that Treasury establish an insurance program which would be funded by participating companies. This may be a big deal; I'm not sure exactly how it is intended to operate or how much, in the end, it will reduce the exposure to the taxpayer. They established a bipartisan oversight committee, rather than a committee run only by the Democrats, as Dodd and Frank had proposed. They took out special interest boondoggles for unions and for ACORN, the voter fraud organization. They removed a provision that would have allowed bankruptcy judges to arbitrarily reduce mortgages, an ill-conceived measure that would have aggravated a central cause of the current crisis, the difficulty of evaluating mortgage-backed securities. And they mandated a GAO study on the impact of the mark-to-market accounting rule, implicitly encouraging regulatory agencies to revise or abandon that principle, which is a key reason why banks that have little to do with the origins of the crisis are currently threatened.

The insurance approach was always central to the House Republicans' alternative to the Paulson and Frank-Dodd proposals. Whether their impact on the final product is profound, as opposed to merely helpful, depends on whether the insurance program is implemented and becomes a significant brake on taxpayer exposure.

The role played by John McCain appears to have been a constructive one. He supported and worked with the House Republicans. The Democrats no doubt wanted his support for the final product, and that must have enhanced the Republicans' position at the table. The Democrats would not have wanted an unpopular bailout plan to be supported by Barack Obama and opposed by McCain.

If voters understood the events of the last week, they would probably return control of the House, and perhaps the Senate, to the Republicans. The mainstream media will make sure that doesn't happen."

[RichatUF]

Rick-

It was the easiest article to understand of a bundle I tracked down-the academic papers in support of credit default swaps, not so much. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that after the bill moves (whats the voting schedule?) and the President signs it the FBI moves on some insider trading targets-seeing a few hedge fund operations in New York and Chicago picked over for evidence would be entertaining. A tight shot group around those carpet bombing Lehman and AIG could prove fruitful.

[JM Hanes]

bakedalaska:

Does Obama know you're posting such racist stuff?

[baked alaska]

Republicans don't wallow in defeat the way Democrats do

True- they just buy another house or find a younger wife and all is well.

[bend]

"With Pelosi, Reid and Obama at the helm, I'd see a Republican sweep a mere four years down the road -- one that might well be underway in two."

I am more pessimistic, I think the Democrats would water down laws to prevent voter fraud, allow immigrants to vote (legally or de-facto, implement the Fairness Doctrine, pack the courts and federal agencies with ultra-liberals, and many other measures to perpetuate themselves in power. That is why THIS election is so important.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

No wonder males on the left seem like such wooses, if they are taking the advice on the nature of the alpha male from Frans de Waal as laid out in the quote. Sheesh!

[Pagar]

" The mainstream media will make sure that doesn't happen."

Things that don't get mentioned by the MSN.

"NBC DICK GREGORY WIFE'S FANNIE MAE FIXER"

" Do you think we, "the little people" (to crib the leftist phrase) and the wallet for these pillagers, are going to get objective coverage from NBC OR MSNBC on the financial crisis from this plant?"

LUN

[M. Simon]

Republicans don't wallow in defeat the way Democrats do

True- they just buy another house or find a younger wife and all is well.

The difference between success and failure. Unless you count John Edwards. Actually I don't think Edwards counts. He just has the same old wife and a new girlfriend.