Why, Indeed?

Chris Bowers blows the whistle to signal the start of lay-up drill with this headline:

Why Should Anyone Respect The Netroots?

After you...

MORE:  The Big Tent captures the spirit with this:

While I strongly disagree with Palinpaloooza for political reasons, I must say that I owe the Netroots a modicum of respect because they are acting in detriment to Barack Obama's political fortunes because they despise Sarah Palin.

There you go - he admires their self-destructive insanity.  OK, a good entry.

Comments

[matt]

The Japanese leadership in World War II was in a similar position. They chose to ignore the facts outlined in their own intelligence and even until the day of surrender, persisted in their beliefs in their superiority and invincibility. Much like the knight in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, they refused to accept that they were by all measures beaten.

Someday someone is going to write a book on mass delusions and will include a chapter on the looney left.

[Semanticleo]

It's the archetypal motivation for any revolution, revenge, plus the logical concomitant which is the Republican signature, 'the end justifies the means'.

[Semanticleo]

"they refused to accept that they were by all measures beaten."

You seem a reasonable guy; you do know there are six weeks left before victory can be declared?

[kim]

er, uh, from my viewpoint, you've got it backwards, Leo.
===================================

[boris]

One of several traits the radical left shares with islamofascism is using lies and deceit to hide and advance an agenda. A practice routinely justified using the Tu quoque defense. The natural state of interaction between self interested parties is akin to game theory simulations of the prisoner's dilemma, and the most successful of the simple strategeries in simulations is tit for tat. Western civ is mostly based on a "higher" standard, "honesty is always the best policy", very likely a significant factor in a better performing economy. Among proponents of traditional Western civ the tit for tat approach is generally derided, two wrongs don't make a right, never stoop to their level, just as bad as they are, eye for an eye makes everyone blind, etc. They tend to believe that any functional society needs to be based on honesty. That is incorrect. The simulations illustrate that societies can and do function at the "lower" level where deceit is common, and that tit for tat is a necessary component of functionality. Maybe less prosperous and less free, but they work and survive.

The defenders of deceit based societies claim that honesty based society is a sham. Honesty is not universally practiced (especially where they are concerned) and invoking it seems unfair and hypocritical. From their point of view it is an impossible standard that only seems to work for the West because they all help and trust each other, discriminate against everyone else and conspire to hoard all the wealth for themselves.

They have a point in that Westerners that try to deal with them honestly are taken for suckers and those who employ prisoner dilemma strategeries are hypocrites.

How this applies to a particular troll from Assclownistan and possible imaginary clownspawn is left as an exercise for the student.

[Rick Ballard]

It's good to see the left getting ahead of the curve. Why wait until after defeat to conduct a post mortem examination? How can we best assist them in conducting a pre mortem? The first thing is to advise them to abjure the use of any anesthetic and to make sure that whatever instruments are used are sufficiently dulled so as to prevent unintentional pain being inflicted. Maybe hatchets and dull saws would be safest?

[Danube of Thought]

"...they are acting in detriment to Barack Obama's political fortunes because they despise Sarah Palin."

Is there a translator in the house?

[Semanticleo]

"you've got it backwards, Leo."

You will excuse me if I disagree, Kim.

[narciso]

No, they're are much more like the Kamikaze Scotsmen, from another sketch entirely; who would blow up if they were deterred from their primary mission.

[Semanticleo]

"Western civ is mostly based on a "higher" standard, "honesty is always the best policy", very likely a significant factor in a better performing economy."

OMG!

Don't they have mirrors in borusstan?

Lectures from a 5th worlder......

[clarice]

Let's take up noms de plume, head over there and insist they not dim their revolutionary fervor by compromising. The hell with facts..it's feelings that count.

[Enlightened]

Well yeah Kim - Cleo's gang still has ACORN in their back pocket - just in case the race goes wide right, they can always rely on the "stolen election, voter fraud" meme to assuage their rage, or more likely to stroke their rage if Bambi tanks.

They pretty much have all their ducks lined up:

Throwing any and all poo against the wall, fact checking be damned - Troopergate just went "whoosh" as far as facts, but of course they do have the Bambi-backed investigators - just in case they really need that October surprise

Supress Free Speech - WGN station attacked by Bambi action alerters - this time David Freddoso

ACORN on the ready - of course Bambi is trying to distance himself from his record of community service to ACORN - they aren't the ACORN'ers he remembered

Bambi on teleprompter at all times - even if it's in the middle of a rodeo arena

Netroots to blame

Clintons to blame

Palin has a tanning bed - thank god! I mean how much more orange/tan spray painted celebrities do we have to watch walking the red carpet anyway. And that damn Alaska - this global warming is got those temps up there so high, Sarah should be able to get a tan without a tanning bed. I wonder how many spray painted Bambi supporters will be at the Bambi Hollyweird gala tonight?

[Enlightened]

Another distortion about McCain debunked:

Mayor Bloomberg:

"I do agree that fundamentally America has an economy that is strong,” he said. “America’s great strength is its diversity, its hard work, its good financial statements, its broad capital markets,its enormous natural resources” and its work ethic, he said at an afternoon press conference devoted to reassuring New Yorkers that the city’s finances and its economy are intact.

“I’d rather play America’s hand than any other country,” he said. “Without problems? No.”

[GMax]

Go Nutroots go. You rally cry should be remember Senator Lamont. After all look it not only was unsuccessful it got you a speech in primetime from your former vice presidential candidate. If that wont change your mind, I assume nothing will so step on the accelerator and enjoy the ride - right off the cliff ----- AGAIN!

[kim]

There will be so much exposure of ACORN, that it can't get from sprout to mighty oak. The dirt to nourish it has been brushed off by curiosity. All eyes are on the poll booths. At least, I hope so.

Leo, you're excused but not pardonned. Catch the mirror on the way out.
========================================

[Enlightened]

And who got us into this credit mess and economic meltdown?

Who? Say it again Bambi- (via Hot Air)

"Barack Obama has made this point one of his major campaign themes, arguing that John McCain would provide more of the same failures that Bush did. However, what many do not recall is that Bush wanted to tighten oversight with a new regulatory board for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and other government recipients for the express purpose of addressing bad loan practices — and Democrats blocked it.

The New York Times reported this five years ago

Keep up the good work Dems - even the MSM carrying water for Bambi ain't gonna go far with this carp.

[Enlightened]

Roh Roh - per Malkin - The DOJ will not participate in censoring free speech for Bambi's campaign.

Guess we will get to see more of Bambi's colleague and co-worker Bill Ayers.

[Topsecretk9]

Sarah Palin bests Joseph Biden 47% to 44% in a hypothetical head-to-head match-up for the presidency, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey (see

Rasmussen, 1 hour ago.

[matt]

Leo;

What I was referring to was not the end result of the election, but the mass hysteria and delusion on the part of the Left in this country.

Wild, vicious, and unsubstantiated accusations, vitriolic attacks, and conspiracy theories are not a healthy for the political process. While the Right has been accused of this repeatedly, in fact it is the left who have come unhinged.

[kim]

I can't help but wonder, matt, whether the money put into the left to manipulate markets and politics has warped them with an artificial stimulus.

You know, Soros has spent half a billion or more on 'public policy' and sneers at the Gates's for spending their money on public health. Maybe you reap what you sow, huh suckers?
===========================

[Charlie (Colorado)]

How can we best assist them in conducting a pre mortem?

Ensure the mortem part?

[matt]

in the 1930's there were a lot of mass demonstrations in places like Germany and Russia, but also England, France, and even the United States. It was a time of crisis. What we don't need right now is the ravings of lunatics.

From the mid-30's until perhaps 1992, the grown ups were in charge in the West, and the world weathered a lot of crises because of their experience, common sense, and enlightened self interest. Now we have a leadership class who have not been tested in fire, and it is of deep concern. The extreme divisiveness, the economic problems, and the sense of entitlement in the West are creating a dangerous scenario.

[First Time Caller]

Podcast available for WGN Radio interview by Rosenberg of Freddoso.

LUN (9-16-08 show)

[First Time Caller]

Clarification. Rosenberg/Freddoso interview was on 9-15, but link is posted on 9-16

[Enlightened]

Why won't this stupid carp die?

"The Bridge to Nowhere: Palin never told Congress "no thanks", Congress had already killed it."

Governor Palin told the Alsakan CONGRESSIONAL delegation, who continued to push the bridge after US Congress defunded, to stop the bridge project.

So when you tell a CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION - "No thanks", you're not telling CONGRESS "No thanks"?

Cleo - help out on the libtard semantics here please - or at least point out to whom in the US CONGRESS she allegedly said "No Thanks" to.

[ben]

"Sarah Palin bests Joseph Biden 47% to 44% in a hypothetical head-to-head match-up for the presidency, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey"

Sarah the unqualified? Sarah the bad mother? Sarah the unprepared? Sarah of Troopergate, nowheregate, wolfkillgate, tanningbedgate?

People are smarter than the media? Who would have known?

[Ranger]

"...they are acting in detriment to Barack Obama's political fortunes because they despise Sarah Palin."

Is there a translator in the house?

Posted by: Danube of Thought | September 16, 2008 at 11:52 AM

Well, my take is that BTD feels the Netroots sold their souls in backing Obama to the cost of the "core values." He points to accepting Obama's justification for breaking his promis to lead the fight against FISA reform and then voting for it. Many Nutroots said afterwards 'well, if he things FISA reform is good now, then it must be.' What he is saying now is give them credit for doing what they "believe in" again, even if it hurts Obama.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

DOT: I posted this in the wrong thread, so here it is again as answer to your request for translation:

Kos To Kossacks: We Haven't Been Scummy Enough!

The head Kossack has spoken: the way to help Obama win is to be as disgusting as possible.

I'm not about to revert to writing puff pieces about Obama thinking that his magic "new politics" bullshit will carry us to victory. He may or may not believe that crap, but I don't. We're going to win this thing the way campaigns are won -- by playing hardball. Politics is a blood sport. Republicans understand this and never flinch from flinging the shit. We won't win until we learn to fight back in kind. And I'm more than happy to get down in the mud with our friends on the Right so Obama doesn't have to.

[Enlightened]

NYT 2007:

"To direct the federal financing to other projects, for example, would require action by Gov. Sarah Palin, a Republican, and the State Legislature. It would also mean undoing the work of the powerful Congressional delegation, led by Senator Ted Stevens and Representative Don Young, both Republicans, who secured the money for the bridges.

This is called telling Congress - No Thanks.

Get over it Dems - you lose again.

[Enlightened]

Fixed that.

[Enlightened]

Hmmmmm

[ben]

"I'm not about to revert to writing puff pieces about Obama thinking that his magic "new politics" bullshit will carry us to victory. He may or may not believe that crap, but I don't."

Obama is doomed. If the Kos moonbats don't believe the "hope and change" crap, who else is going to?

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

Just an oddball observation. I have a "Today in History" column in my right sidebar on Pal2Pal under the Title "History's Headlines." For the first time in 4 years of running this column, today is the first time there is a message:

"There are no entries for today."

[fdcol63]

" ... Ensure the mortem part? ..."

Definitely. The "choice" must be made.

[fdcol63]

I saw this quote at "Armed and Dangerous", and couldn't agree more:

http://esr.ibiblio.org/?p=260http://esr.ibiblio.org/?p=260">http://esr.ibiblio.org/?p=260">http://esr.ibiblio.org/?p=260http://esr.ibiblio.org/?p=260

" ... I remain more optimistic than this. I think there is still an excellent chance that the West can recover from suicidalism without going through a fevered fascist episode and waging a genocidal war. But to do so, we have to do more than recognize Stalin’s memes; we have to reject them. We have to eject postmodern leftism from our universities, transnational progressivism from our politics, and volk-Marxism from our media."

"The process won’t be pretty. But I fear that if the rest of us don’t hound the po-mo Left and its useful idiots out of public life with attack and ridicule and shunning, the hard Right will sooner or later get the power to do it by means that include a lot of killing. I don’t want to live in that future, and I don’t think any of my readers do, either. If we want to save a liberal, tolerant civilization for our children, we’d better get to work. ... "

[Jim Treacher]

Respect must be earned, yes? So there you go.

[Enlightened]

And the Kossacks play their hand superbly -

We don't care about Hope and Change, we just want to beat the Republicans and we will resort to lies, innuendo, ACORN, hate, Free Speech Censorship and any other means possible to get what we want.

Or else we will have a major hissy fit on November 6.

Waahhh-ssiah 2008.

[clarice]

OT: But what ever happened to the case against Congressman Jefferson? To the gj that was supposedly investigating the NSA leaks?

[matt]

6 weeks ago, this campaign was supposed to be one of the cleanest we've seen in a while. What happened?

Was it the Palin choice? Was it poor McCain numbers? Was it the questions from the right about Obama's associations and personal history? Was it the prcipitous drop in Obama's numbers?

[Enlightened]

"What happened?"

Team Arrogance was trumped by an old man that's out of touch and a plugged in hockey mom.

Ain't that America.

[M. Simon]

My article "The Best Congress Fannie Could Buy" is getting massive hits from No Quarter (Puma Central) and Free Republic. Its going viral.

And Clarice - smooches - ♥ ♥ ♥.

I owe it all to taking orders from a wise woman.

[Enlightened]

And here's that good old Democratic econimic plan rearing its ugly head:

"New York Gov. David A. Paterson (D) is going to violate regulations and allow AIG to borrow up to $20 billion from its subsidiaries"

Typical.

[M. Simon]

Digg has it.

We are going to bust this wide open.

Clarice - more smooches - ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥.

[matt]

fdcol;

a very wise perception in the first para.....but a healthy society depends upon a diversity of views. No one has exclusive ownership of the truth or ideas. We need the wing nuts as well as the mass in the middle.

[Topsecretk9]

--OT: But what ever happened to the case against Congressman Jefferson? --

Trial date is set for Dec. 2! Our birthday!

Delayed a gazillion times due to Jefferson attempting to get everything thrown out and repeated attempts to change venue, among other things.

[M. Simon]

Clarice,

It is up at American Thinker "Motor Voter".

[clarice]

Good--I think I have a good nose for what is newsworthy --even if I have to induce someone else to write it up when I run out of steam myself.

[fdcol63]

matt,

I think if you read the whole post, that was the author's point. His fear, as well as mine, is that if the saner of us "in the middle" don't do our part to tamp down the craziness of the extreme Left, then there will be an equal but opposite reaction from the extreme Right.

[Enlightened]

Ruh Roh - McCains camp is in big poo poo.

Leftwing musicians don't like McCain's camp using their songs, even though McCain's camp has legally purchased licenses from both ASCAP and BMI to play the songs.

Leftwing musicians are a whiny bunch. Watch them whine when they get smaller crowds - they will either blame it on Bush or- someone.

[fdcol63]

Full disclosure: I don't consider myself "in the middle", if that's considered as being directly on the fence in the political center. I would categorize myself as being "right leaning", "right of center" or "middle right", however one might want to describe it. LOL

[RichatUF]

Enlightened-

Gov.Paterson is protecting his friends and allies that former Gov. Spitzer was able bully into AIG.

[matt]

fdcol;

granted. I was multitasking at the time.

as to left wing musicians, if the product was legally purchased and is being used within the terms of the agreement, screw 'em! They have to be the most self indulgent, self destructive sector of our society and we're supposed to seriously consider their political beliefs? Triumph of the Id as a philosophy of life?

[clarice]

M. Simon, someone posted the AT blog on Lucianne--it's getting a warm reception which must mean more hits to you.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

WSJ via Fox, reporting McCain and Palin will be going to the UN next week partly to introduce her to world leaders.

[Jim]

Some blog to persuade. Some to refine their own thinking.

Others blog to spew their bile into the stratosphere.

There seems to be a right/left correlation, though with exceptions.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

Via California Conservative:

Debate Schedule Is Set
Sept 16, 2008

The campaigns of Barack Obama and John McCain announced they have formally accepted the lineup of presidential debates this fall.

“The campaigns have come to the earliest agreement on presidential debates reached in any general election in recent history,” the joint statement said.

The campaigns said they also accepted the Commission on Presidential Debates’ rules on third-party candidates, guidelines that make it unlikely that either Libertarian Bob Barr or independent Ralph Nader will be included unless they get a large and unexpected rise in the polls. The rules require a candidate to reach at least 15 percent in an average of five national public opinion polls.

The debates are all scheduled to air at 9 p.m. Eastern and will last 90 minutes:

First Debate
Sept. 26 at University of Mississippi
Topic: Foreign policy and national security
Moderator: Jim Lehrer of PBS
Staging: Podiums
Format: Broken into nine 9-minute segments. The moderator will introduce a topic and allow each candidate 2 minutes to comment, then facilitate a discussion for the remaining 5 minutes.

Second Debate
Oct. 7 at Belmont University in Nashville.
Moderator: Tom Brokaw of NBC
Staging: Town hall
Format: The moderator will call on members of the audience (and draw questions from the Internet). Each candidate will have 2 minutes to respond to each question. Following those initial answers, the moderator will invite the candidates to respond to the previous answers, for a total of 1 minute.

Third Debate
Oct. 15 at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y.
Topic: Domestic and economic policy
Moderator:Bob Schieffer of CBS
Staging: Seated at a table
Format: Same as first presidential debate, plus each candidate will get a 90-second closing statement.

[M. Simon]

Good--I think I have a good nose for what is newsworthy --even if I have to induce someone else to write it up when I run out of steam myself.

Any time Clarice. Any time. ♥

[clarice]

How will O hide a teleprompter?

[bgates]

Jim Lehrer, Tom Brokaw, Bob Schieffer. Who's moderating the VP debate, Gwen Ifill or Howard Dean?

[clarice]

Rangel says he's not quitting his charimanship. Maybe Stevens should call him as an expert witness on how complicated the ethics forms are to file out.

[kim]

Very interesting. National Security in a Red State. Domestic policy in a suburb of the Big City and a townhall in Tennessee. They could have picked worse moderators. The format will hurt Obama, the Stumblebum, the lying sack of shit.
=======================================

[matt]

so now we find that Obama cannot speak or even engage in a town hall exchange between himself and the public without a teleprompter? Is someone counting up the red flags with this guy? There is something very seriously wrong with this guy....

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

The first question I have is was one of those planes John McCain's? This is just sick.

Ayers & Dohrn Given Rings Made From US Planes Shot Down Over North Vietnam

Kerry gets a plaque in the VC museum, these scumbags get rings from American planes shot down. America wake up!

[PeterUK]

Just to add a little more misery to the Kleptocrats,sorry Democrats Is there any reason why Al Gore should not be tried for crimes against humanity? Hoist him up and hang him high.

[MeTooThen]

clarice,

You won't last long at TalkLeft.

Dissent is not tolerated.

Nor is fervent support. They tend to see through that kind of thing.

Or not.

It's a strange combination of sever cognitive dissonance, paranoia, and intolerance.

Still, you could try for a while. It's fun until they "disappear" you.

[PeterUK]

Semanticleo is reminiscent of the legendary soldier of the Japanese Imperial Army who didn't know the war was over,but kept on fighting on his own on a Pacific island.

[Dan S]

"WSJ via Fox, reporting McCain and Palin will be going to the UN next week partly to introduce her to world leaders.

Posted by: Sara (Pal2Pal) | September 16, 2008 at 03:21 PM"

I'm hoping for a "Tear down this hall!" speech from Sarah!

[MeTooThen]

fdcol63

I think the kind of authentic right wing you allude to is alive and well in Europe and to a miniscule extent here in the US.

As the Green-Red-Blue-Brown-Pink-Islamist Axis builds, it will be Black Shirts that will fight back in Europe, most likely beginning in Germany and Belgium.

Ultimately it will be the Neo-Nazis who save Europe and the Jews.

Funny, this.

Or not.

[LindaK]

Off topic but nice to know. Soros bought 9.5 mm shares of LEH during the second quarter. Let's hope he owned them as of Monday.

[Joan]

"Ensure the mortem part?"

LOL, Charlie!

[Danube of Thought]

"...kept on fighting on his own on a Pacific island."

Actually, he didn't fight at all. He hid out in the jungle.

[Pagar]

M. Simon, I'm glad to hear that you're getting so many responses from so many different sources on your Mortgage article.Great Job!

[ben]

"Off topic but nice to know. Soros bought 9.5 mm shares of LEH during the second quarter. Let's hope he owned them as of Monday."

I hear he had donated them to the DNC on Friday...

[PeterUK]

"...kept on fighting on his own on a Pacific island."

Actually, he didn't fight at all. He hid out in the jungle."

Yes,but Septic thinks she is fighting.She has to be included in the narrative somehow.

[ben]

The Lost Japanese Soldier analogy does fit Semanticleo well. Besides, I think he knows he is just another minnow in a sea of like minded morons over at the moonbat sites, and here he gets to debate with grown-ups and actually gets his posts read. His pattern is to throw out some trash he picks up elsewhere, then when it gets appropriately ripped apart, he leaves to search for something else. However, has been thoroughly indoctrinated in the Republicans Bad, Democrats Good school for trolls, which is not conducive to any sort of real interchange of ideas.

[Topsecretk9]

Another of Obama's advisor's not to overlook

One reason Barack Obama might not want to talk about the role of financially irresponsible bank board members in creating the subprime mortgage foreclossure financial disaster is that the national finance chair of Obama's campaign, Penny Pritzker, is a former board member of the failed Superior Bank S&L that engaged in irresponsible subprime mortgage lending during the 1990s.

Apparently Penny was into subprime lending before it became all the rage starting in around 2000. It continues:

Penny Prtizker's chairmanship was apparently "to concentrate on subprimelending, principally on home mortgages, but for a while in subprime auto lending, too," after the Pritzkers' bank acquired its wholesale mortgage organization division, Alliance Funding, in December 1992.

Back then they called it "predatory lending."

[PeterUK]

"School For Trolls"? Is it one of the Animal House movies?

[Topsecretk9]

LUN

Obama's Sub-prime Gal

Obama's campaign notes that Pritzker stepped down as chairwoman of the bank's board in 1994, seven years before it failed. She then went on the board of the bank's holding company.

But a letter obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times shows that until the end, Pritzker appeared to be taking a leadership role in trying to revive the bank with an expanded push into subprime loans.

Pritzker wrote in May 2001 that her family was recapitalizing the bank, and she pledged to "once again restore Superior's leadership position in subprime lending." The bank shut down in July 2001.

Pritzker's attorney Kevin Poorman and Obama's campaign spokesman emphasized that not all "subprime lending" is the "predatory" kind that Obama and White House rival Hillary Clinton rail against. The kind of subprime lending Superior was doing in 2001 was not predatory, Poorman said.

But at least some of the 1,400 victims who are still owed money seven years after the bank failed say Pritzker is the wrong person for Obama to put in charge of the campaign's finances when part of his campaign is about reforming the banking industry.

"They still owe me $113,000," said Fran Sweet, 63, of Downers Grove, who deposited her $480,000 retirement account at Superior a month before it collapsed. "To the Pritzkers, this is nothing. They probably think, 'Why pay her back?' That's nothing. But we're all upset that someone who made these decisions could be in that position."...

[kim]

I had a cat once, still partly kitten, who used to leave the room I lived in in College while I was studying at a table in the corner, and hunt the house for what my landlady genteely called 'waterbugs'. They were two inch cockroaches. He'd return with one in his mouth then release it in the middle of the 3X5 carpet in the center of the room. It would limp toward the edge crazily, batted repeatedly by my cat, then, just as it reached the edge, he would lift it carefully back to the middle of the rug. When the bug could no longer progress, he would dispatch it with one crunch of his jaws, a quick swallow, and then out the door for another. This could go on for hours. And thus did I study.
====================================

[PDInDetroit]

Here is an interesting site - The site name kinda says it all.

LUN

[ben]

"now we find that Obama cannot speak or even engage in a town hall exchange between himself and the public without a teleprompter?"

Yeah, but in the debates the moderators will probably help him out "Uh, Mr. Obama I am sure what you really meant was............", "Let me just fill in here for what I am sure the candidate wanted to express", "Mr. Obama are you sure you didnt mean.........", "Let me just allow Mr. Obama to respond to such and outlandish claim by his opponent...."

[PeterUK]

More intelligent roaches.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

Has this been posted?

Here is what President Bush wanted as detailed by the New York Times, 5 YEARS AGO:

The Bush administration today recommended the most significant regulatory overhaul in the housing finance industry since the savings and loan crisis a decade ago.

Under the plan, disclosed at a Congressional hearing today, a new agency would be created within the Treasury Department to assume supervision of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored companies that are the two largest players in the mortgage lending industry.

The new agency would have the authority, which now rests with Congress, to set one of the two capital-reserve requirements for the companies. It would exercise authority over any new lines of business. And it would determine whether the two are adequately managing the risks of their ballooning portfolios.

The plan is an acknowledgment by the administration that oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — which together have issued more than $1.5 trillion in outstanding debt — is broken. A report by outside investigators in July concluded that Freddie Mac manipulated its accounting to mislead investors, and critics have said Fannie Mae does not adequately hedge against rising interest rates.

And then along come the Democrats:

Among the groups denouncing the proposal today were the National Association of Home Builders and Congressional Democrats who fear that tighter regulation of the companies could sharply reduce their commitment to financing low-income and affordable housing.

”These two entities — Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — are not facing any kind of financial crisis,” said Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts, the ranking Democrat on the Financial Services Committee. ”The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing.”

Representative Melvin L. Watt, Democrat of North Carolina, agreed.

”I don’t see much other than a shell game going on here, moving something from one agency to another and in the process weakening the bargaining power of poorer families and their ability to get affordable housing,” Mr. Watt said.

[matt]

new ad:

"America is in Crisis...Obama is the Answer.....

Fellow Americans, our country is in a crisis caused by big business and Wall Street. They altered lending laws, diverted reform at Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac, and took lobbying money from Countrywide and made sweetheart deals with powerful members of Congress. I am going to bring my team to washington to root out this corruption!

The day I am sworn in, Christopher Dodd, Chuck Schumer, Charlie Rangell, Penny Pritzker, Rahm Emmanuel and my entire team will take on the entrenched special interests....oops...excuse me? They caused it?.....Nevermind...."

I am Barack Obama and I approved this message....

[Pofarmer]

Oct. 15 at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y.
Topic: Domestic and economic policy
Moderator:Bob Schieffer of CBS
Staging: Seated at a table
Format: Same as first presidential debate, plus each candidate will get a 90-second closing statement.

Ya know,

Bog Scheiffer coveing the 1992 election is the first time I was really aware of Bias in the media. Either it's steadily gotten worse or I've just become more aware of it.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

PUK: What is wrong with your Brits?

Via Tigerhawk:

When it comes to anti-Americanism, lack of familiarity breeds contempt:

More than 50 percent of Britons believe that polygamy is legal in the United States; in fact, it is illegal in all 50 states. Almost one-third of Britons believe that Americans who have not paid their hospital fees or insurance premiums are not entitled to emergency medical care; in fact, such treatment must be provided by law.

Seventy percent of Britons think the United States has done a worse job than the European Union in reducing carbon emissions since 2000; in fact, America’s rate of growth of carbon emissions has decreased by almost ten percent since 2000, while that of the EU has increased by 2.3 percent.

Eighty percent of Britons believe that “from 1973 to 1990, the United States sold Saddam Hussein more than a quarter of his weapons.” In fact, the United States sold just 0.46 percent of Saddam’s arsenal to him; Russia, France, and China supplied 57 percent, 13 percent, and 12 percent, respectively.

The majority of Britons believe that since the Second World War, the United States has more often sided with non-Muslims than with Muslims. In fact, in 11 out of 12 major conflicts between Muslims and non-Muslims, Muslims and secular forces, or Arabs and non-Arabs, the United States has sided with Muslims and/or Arabs.

Indeed, a new opinion poll finds that British attitudes towards the United States are governed by ignorance of the facts on key issues such as crime, health care, and foreign policy. The survey was commissioned by America in the World, a London-based group that hopes to push back against rampant anti-Americanism in the United Kingdom by dispelling widely held myths about the United States.

But Britons are not the only Europeans who hold unbalanced views of the United States.

Read the whole thing.

... more

[Semanticleo]

"The Lost Japanese Soldier analogy does fit Semanticleo well. Besides, I think he knows he is just another minnow in a sea of like minded morons over at the moonbat sites,"

Please continue the simplistic homilies. We love the underestimation.......

Columbo Rules!

[Enlightened]

Not only is the left spectacularly vetting Palin, in the process they are exposing the Obama operatives for the scurrying roaches they are.

Team Obama - Change you gotta see to believe.

From Hot Air - Troopergate

"The investigation, which began after Monegan’s dismissal in July 2008, is being led by outspoken supporters of Barack Obama and members of the Democratic Party. Sen. Elton, the Chair of the Legislative Council donated $2,000 to the Obama campaign but has failed to disclose this to the Legislative Counciland he continues to preside over the Council with respect to the investigation, refusing to convene meetings of the Council at the request of a majority of the Council’s membership. Sen. French the investigation “project manager” failed to disclose to the Legislative Council the comments he made on a radio program criticizing the Governor’s conduct regarding the termination of Monegan as “criminal” prior to being appointed as the investigation “project manager” and even prior to a vote to investigate at all. Sen. French also failed to disclose to the Legislative Council that he had a personal bone to pick with the Governor over the Monegan firing because Monegan was a friend and because he had worked closely with Monegan during the 2008 legislative session regarding attempts to include in the state budget items that Governor Palin had vetoed.

[Enlightened]

Not only are Obama supporters clinically insane, they are verging on illegal as well.

And in the process of trying to destroy Sarah Palin, all indications are they also approve of the Troopers behavior.

And lastly - if Bambi is the CEO of this operation, I'd vote his ass out at the next Board meeting.

[Enlightened]

Well, I do hope McCain mans up - the coming effort to destroy McCain (via Swiftboating) is going to be even uglier than the sadly misplaced attempts to destroy Sarah Palin - here's a taste:

Jonah Golberg/NRO - via Counterpunch

Those who know him well regard him as a deceitful, violent, unstable liar who collaborated with the enemy and then postured as a hero. Meet the Real John McCain in this special, subscriber-only issue of CounterPunch newsletter, reported by Alexander Cockburn, Jeffrey St. Clair and Douglas Valentine.

And this gem:

As for the buy itself, it's a modest one. The spot is running on national cable today (and ran yesterday, too). It's funded by Brave New Films and Democracy For America, the independent group run by Jim Dean, who's Howard Dean's brother.

http://jammiewearingfool.blogspot.com/2008/09/howard-dean-group-tries-swiftboating.html

[Topsecretk9]

The race for Pennsylvania’s 21 Electoral College votes is tied.

The latest Fox News/Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in the state finds Barack Obama and John McCain each attracting 47% of the vote...A week ago, Obama was up by two points after holding five percentage-point leads in August and July.

[bunky]

You may remember the seemingly square, reactionary-like saying from the 50's: communism is an international criminal conspiracy. It sums up nicely what is now happening: the weather underground and the Alinski moles are about to place their guy in the presidency.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

TSK9: Did you see the Barack letter sent out to Virginians today that I posted in the "Barack vs. Barack" thread at 6:34. He is urging Virginians to spend their weekends in PA going door to door.

[PeterUK]

The Telegraph McCain quick off the mark on AIG troubles,Obama supporter Gordon Brown is on the ropes,but not to worry the Large Hadron Collider begins colliding next week.

[kim]

bunky, the calls of McCarthyism will start next week.
===============================

[bunky]

Kim:

Agreed. How does bunkyism sound?

[Quasiblogger]

You know, it suddenly occurs to me that the flurry of articles and "complaints" about lies etc. in McCain ads was all designed to set Obama up as the good guy just repsonding with a blitz of his own attack ads.

[Danube of Thought]

"Those who know him well regard him as a deceitful, violent, unstable liar who collaborated with the enemy and then postured as a hero." Interesting that "those who know him well," although they are not identified, do not include any of his fellow POW's, who have rallied to his support in legions. Compare and contrast with Kerry's comrades-in-arms, and draw your own conclusions.

[Pofarmer]

You know, it suddenly occurs to me that the flurry of articles and "complaints" about lies etc. in McCain ads was all designed to set Obama up as the good guy just repsonding with a blitz of his own attack ads.

So you are saying the Obama whining was setoff to take off the gloves for the 14th time?

I hope he goes as far over the top as they have on Sarah Palin. Dial it up to 11 Barry!!!!

[M. Simon]

RCP has Virginia Tied.

You don't pull your workers out of a tie.