Retiring the Straight Talk Express

Crossposted from Left Toon Lane, Bilerico Project & My Left Wing click to enlarge Today McCain has suspended his campaign to "deal with the economic crisis." I guess we need to say good bye to the Straight Talk Express. But no one is buying the horseshit. From THE David Letterman: "You don't suspend your campaign. This doesn't smell right. This isn't the way a tested hero behaves." And he joked: "I think someone's putting something in his metamucil." "He can't run the campaign because the economy is cratering? Fine, put in your second string quarterback, Sara Palin. Where is she?" "What are you going to do if you're elected and things get tough? Suspend being president? We've got a guy like that now!" It didn't end there. It got worse... Then in the middle of the taping Dave got word that McCain was, in fact just down the street being interviewed by Katie Couric. Dave even cut over to the live video of the interview, and said, "Hey Senator, can I give you a ride home?" Perfect. With this stunt on top of the Palin banning of reporters, it is not shaping up as a smart move for McCain. The thing that really keep me scratching my head is why are the GOP control monkeys letting this go on? I swear, to be such a herd of control freaks, you would think they would have tossed McCain out on his ass and installed Romney as their savior. Then again, I am more than happy to see the rotting carcass of the GOP completely implode.

U.S. Army Unit to Deploy On American Streets

Is the United States preparing for civil unrest? As Bush attempts to scare the American people into a bailout plan, as Commander and Chief he is ready to deploy American troops into American cities. Is the United States government expecting civil unrest and the need for crowd control due to U.S. financial collapse? Read More.... Yes, according to Democracy Now.org a U.S. Army Unit is to be deployed in October for Domestic Operations. According to Democracy Now.org beginning in October, the Army plans to station an active unit inside the United States for the first time to serve as an on-call federal response in times of emergency. The 3rd Infantry Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team has spent thirty-five of the last sixty months in Iraq, but now the unit is training for domestic operations. The unit will soon be under the day-to-day control of US Army North, the Army service component of Northern Command. The Army Times reports this new mission marks the first time an active unit has been given a dedicated assignment to Northern Command. The paper says the Army unit may be called upon to help with civil unrest and crowd control. The soldiers are learning to use so-called nonlethal weapons designed to subdue unruly or dangerous individuals and crowds. More> Cross posted at African American Political Pundit.com

I'm From Wall St. And I Am Here To Help You

Crossposted from Left Toon Lane, Bilerico Project & My Left Wing click to enlarge I am not one of those people who want to shrink government to a size where it could be drowned in a bathtub. That said, I have had more than enough "assistance" from the government on FISA, the Patriot Act, the Schiavo debacle and on and on. I do not need any assistance from the government to bail-out billionaires. Cry me a river. One thing I have not seen a lot of chatter about is how we are going to pay the national debt, plus all the non-discretionary line items like Social Security, and Medicare. Once the Treasury is empty, Americans have nothing but personal debt left and there is nothing left to the value of America, what is left to sell, leverage or exploit to pay off the Reaganomics inspired spending? Public land. A few years ago, I read an economic report on the real estate value of national parks and forests in California. For the life of me, I cannot find that report on the web. The base idea (a GOP idea I bet) was to sell off select national parks and monuments like the Presidio and Yosemite to land developers. The report took the value of the land near these parks and calculated the real estate value of these areas and concluded that the value of these lands was sizable - close to a trillion dollars. If this bail-out goes through, will it be the tipping point for the US economy? Will we need to start auctioning off chunks of America's land trust to the highest bidder?

It's All About Money

The Washington Post: Economic Fears Give Obama Clear Lead Over McCain in Poll Turmoil in the financial industry and growing pessimism about the economy have altered the shape of the presidential race, giving Democratic nominee Barack Obama the first clear lead of the general-election campaign over Republican John McCain, according to the latest Washington Post-ABC News national poll. Just 9 percent of those surveyed rated the economy as good or excellent, the first time that number has been in single digits since the days just before the 1992 election. Just 14 percent said the country is heading in the right direction, equaling the record low on that question in polls dating back to 1973. More voters trust Obama to deal with the economy, and he currently has a big edge as the candidate who is more in tune with the economic problems Americans now face. He also has a double-digit advantage on handling the current problems on Wall Street, and as a result, there has been a rise in his overall support. The poll found that, among likely voters, Obama now leads McCain by 52 percent to 43 percent. Two weeks ago, in the days immediately following the Republican National Convention, the race was essentially even, with McCain at 49 percent and Obama at 47 percent. It's still the economy, stupid. It transcends race, age, gender, class, sexual orientation, and ideology. It's the 800-lb. gorilla taking a shit in the corner of the room and people can't ignore the smell anymore. Watching Wall Street go up and down like a speeding, out-of-control roller coaster will do that. Unemployment, foreclosures, the cost of everything spiraling up, up and away. As one of my favorite rap songs goes, "It's all about money, ain't a damned thing funny." In the end, corny as it sounds, the only color that voters are going to care about is going to be green. Translation: "Sure, the n--er, black guy is uppity, but he won't fuck up my 401K." Enlightenment isn't far behind when there's a dollar bill in your wallet dying of loneliness.

Paulson Sends Congress A Nigerian Email Scam

Crossposted from Left Toon Lane, Bilerico Project & My Left Wing click to enlarge At this point, most of you have read about the Paulson plan that does not give one dollar to the PEOPLE with the bad mortgages, yet it costs every American over $3000. Frankly I could put that three thousand to a lot better use than Paulson. Since Paulson has yet to detail what he is going to spend that money on. My rule is, if the Bush Administration is keeping something a secret, it is bad news. This administration has been unable to manage any single fund. Social Security, Katrina, and Iraq have all turned out to be clusterfucks. Why should this be any different? It isn't. Keep in mind, the $700 billion is not a bailout, that is just the downpayment. It is a mortgage for the nation. The only way we are going to be able to pay this off is to start selling off national parks. As harsh as this may sound, but not all businesses deserve to be in business. I realize jobs are at stake, but jobs have been bleeding off for the past 8 years. If we pass this law, the end result will be even worse than the shot term pain if we just let these banks fail.

Running On Empty

The New York Times: At the insistence of the McCain campaign, the Oct. 2 debate between the Republican nominee for vice president, Gov. Sarah Palin, and her Democratic rival, Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., will have shorter question-and-answer segments than those for the presidential nominees, the advisers said. There will also be much less opportunity for free-wheeling, direct exchanges between the running mates. McCain advisers said they had been concerned that a loose format could leave Ms. Palin, a relatively inexperienced debater, at a disadvantage and largely on the defensive. Jesus. When did Sarah Palin's candidacy turn into the Special Olympics of politics? Make up your minds guys, either Sarah {"Killing moose is fun!") Palin can do the job or she can't. Can you say "irresponsible", boys and girls? Forrest Gump would be a better vice-president. At least he had dumb luck on his side. Let's not fool ourselves. Ms. Palin is a vast Black Hole of entitled, mean-spirited stupidity, an unearthly and terrifying anomaly that sucks all intelligence into her cold, black depths. After eight years of Bush, Ms. Palin is exactly what we need. As Will Rogers said, "Stupidity got us into this mess, why can't stupidity get us out?" Here come the new Stupid, same as the old Stupid. God help us.