Reverse psychology?
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Should It Matter That McCain Didn't Wear A Flag Pin?
From David Turner, Dayton, OH: What about John McCain not wearing a flag pin on his jacket during the first debate. If a Repbulican goes without a flag pin, he's confident in his patriotism and has nothing to prove? And if a Democrat goes without a pin he's unpatriotic or worse? Just wondering.Here is where Rep. Jack Kingston, (R-GA) on Feb. 27th, 2008 said it was "o.k." to question Obama's patriotism for not regularly wearing a flag lapel pin.
Time Magazine ran a story May 14, 2008, questioning whether Senator Obama was flip-flopping on the issue.
But, as David points out, Senator McCain gets no such flack.
Atlantic blog: Are the Negroes responsible for the state of the economy?
Before you call the NAACP on me; this is the actual title of a post by Ta-Nehisi Coates. So there. Actually, check out his main page today, he had some good things there, including a reader's comments about "uppity".
FoxNews.com; always the voice of reason (!!?!) seems to know what brought Wall Street down; "Reckless Mortgages". By greedy, unethical, all-for-nothing insiders? Um, no. The article asserts that it was not unfair and deceptive practices either; but rather, allowing those with less than perfect credit and minorities to buy homes. It goes on to say that all of these (undeserving, it seems to imply) new homeowners artificially boosted the values of homes, by increasing demand.
Now, I can talk about this from first-hand knowledge and experience. I have been a mortgage lender for over 12 years. I am the first to admit that there have been plenty of unscrupulous, greedy, manipulative "brokers" and lenders out there. And almost all of them are gone, now. But we're seeing, finally, that the corporate forces behind these actions, (Ameriquest was one of the first major mortgage companies to fall, hard, with severe predatory lending penalties and class action lawsuits.) are in large part responsible for creating a mentality of nothing-to-lose lending.
However, these companies were also responsible for creating a culture of entitlement. Within the last year, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac began drastically tightening their lending guidelines, most of the time because of pressure from the mortgage insurance companies. The MI companies have been cutting back and are the ones that eliminated, completely, all conventional 100% ("no money down") financing. And they're still making changes. But even with the "mortgage crisis" being a main staple of the nightly news; I still had customers that were seriously ticked that they couldn't finance 100% with extremely low credit scores. So, in a way, raising and raising the minimum credit score and eventually eliminating the programs completely mean, if they ever are restored, that they may be appreciated a bit more.
I have a major issue with tying "little to no verification of income" together with risky/bad credit. NEVER have seriously low credit score borrowers not had to verify their income. As an example; with conventional lending, I cannot think of a time that the lowest credit score available for "convetional low-doc", which was Fannie Mae's "stated" income program, was lower than 620. For those that aren't familiar with credit scores; 620, for years, was the cut off for "standard" (which was the highest tier, they had lower scores risk-priced, with the worst tier being over 4 times the monthly premium as the standard category).
Also, "conforming low-doc", what Fannie Mae did, was NOT a "no doc" loan. In many cases, "assets/reserves", (liquid funds; checking, savings, 401k, etc) had to be documented. A true no-doc loan, with most lenders, has always required a pretty high score. In addition, with most lenders (and I did not ever do business with Ameriquest, WaMU, HSBC, etc), a w2'd job had to be verbally verified, and self employed had to have verification of such from an accountant, business license, etc. So sure, that gave LOTS of leeway, but at the same time, the loans all required the income to be reasonable for the job.
Now, there were plenty of lenders that were the true "sub-prime", doing 2 year adjustable rate loans with THREE year prepayment penalties (pure evil, something I would NEVER have done, ever), that pushed borrowers debt-to-income ratios (the percentage their total payments were to their gross incomes) to unbelievable heights. But as the post by Ta-Nehisi Coates from the Atlantic points out;
People have to be responsible when they sign their names.
I could easily take up 5 pages with my opinions on all things mortgage. So tell you what, post your questions here, or Email me! your questions or comments and I can address them. Whew. Thanks for listening. LT
FoxNews.com; always the voice of reason (!!?!) seems to know what brought Wall Street down; "Reckless Mortgages". By greedy, unethical, all-for-nothing insiders? Um, no. The article asserts that it was not unfair and deceptive practices either; but rather, allowing those with less than perfect credit and minorities to buy homes. It goes on to say that all of these (undeserving, it seems to imply) new homeowners artificially boosted the values of homes, by increasing demand.
Now, I can talk about this from first-hand knowledge and experience. I have been a mortgage lender for over 12 years. I am the first to admit that there have been plenty of unscrupulous, greedy, manipulative "brokers" and lenders out there. And almost all of them are gone, now. But we're seeing, finally, that the corporate forces behind these actions, (Ameriquest was one of the first major mortgage companies to fall, hard, with severe predatory lending penalties and class action lawsuits.) are in large part responsible for creating a mentality of nothing-to-lose lending.
However, these companies were also responsible for creating a culture of entitlement. Within the last year, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac began drastically tightening their lending guidelines, most of the time because of pressure from the mortgage insurance companies. The MI companies have been cutting back and are the ones that eliminated, completely, all conventional 100% ("no money down") financing. And they're still making changes. But even with the "mortgage crisis" being a main staple of the nightly news; I still had customers that were seriously ticked that they couldn't finance 100% with extremely low credit scores. So, in a way, raising and raising the minimum credit score and eventually eliminating the programs completely mean, if they ever are restored, that they may be appreciated a bit more.
I have a major issue with tying "little to no verification of income" together with risky/bad credit. NEVER have seriously low credit score borrowers not had to verify their income. As an example; with conventional lending, I cannot think of a time that the lowest credit score available for "convetional low-doc", which was Fannie Mae's "stated" income program, was lower than 620. For those that aren't familiar with credit scores; 620, for years, was the cut off for "standard" (which was the highest tier, they had lower scores risk-priced, with the worst tier being over 4 times the monthly premium as the standard category).
Also, "conforming low-doc", what Fannie Mae did, was NOT a "no doc" loan. In many cases, "assets/reserves", (liquid funds; checking, savings, 401k, etc) had to be documented. A true no-doc loan, with most lenders, has always required a pretty high score. In addition, with most lenders (and I did not ever do business with Ameriquest, WaMU, HSBC, etc), a w2'd job had to be verbally verified, and self employed had to have verification of such from an accountant, business license, etc. So sure, that gave LOTS of leeway, but at the same time, the loans all required the income to be reasonable for the job.
Now, there were plenty of lenders that were the true "sub-prime", doing 2 year adjustable rate loans with THREE year prepayment penalties (pure evil, something I would NEVER have done, ever), that pushed borrowers debt-to-income ratios (the percentage their total payments were to their gross incomes) to unbelievable heights. But as the post by Ta-Nehisi Coates from the Atlantic points out;
People have to be responsible when they sign their names.
I could easily take up 5 pages with my opinions on all things mortgage. So tell you what, post your questions here, or Email me! your questions or comments and I can address them. Whew. Thanks for listening. LT
What Is Behind John McCain's Total Lack Of Eye Contact With Barack Obama
Josh Silver @ TPM has a great take on this, and the comments are the best. Whenever you can start making analogies to primate behavior, you know it's getting good.
I think people really are missing the point about McCain's failure to look at Obama. McCain was afraid of Obama. It was really clear--look at how much McCain blinked in the first half hour. I study monkey behavior--low ranking monkeys don't look at high ranking monkeys. In a physical, instinctive sense, Obama owned McCain tonight and I think the instant polling reflects that. (TPM reader, TB)
Chris Matthews (MSNBC) and Eugene Robinson (Washington Post) discuss:
I think people really are missing the point about McCain's failure to look at Obama. McCain was afraid of Obama. It was really clear--look at how much McCain blinked in the first half hour. I study monkey behavior--low ranking monkeys don't look at high ranking monkeys. In a physical, instinctive sense, Obama owned McCain tonight and I think the instant polling reflects that. (TPM reader, TB)
Chris Matthews (MSNBC) and Eugene Robinson (Washington Post) discuss:
Sullivan: Obama seems calm and cautious but then ... you realize he cleaned your clock.
Andrew Sullivan: Why Obama Won Big.
As I mentioned in a previous post about why TPM thought some were saying McCain won the debate, he points out this, from Nate Silver at fivethirtyeight.com:
The CBS poll of undecideds has more confirmatory detail. Obama went from a +18 on "understanding your needs and problems" before the debate to a +56 (!) afterward. And he went from a -9 on "prepared to be president" to a +21.
As I mentioned in a previous post about why TPM thought some were saying McCain won the debate, he points out this, from Nate Silver at fivethirtyeight.com:
The CBS poll of undecideds has more confirmatory detail. Obama went from a +18 on "understanding your needs and problems" before the debate to a +56 (!) afterward. And he went from a -9 on "prepared to be president" to a +21.
Palintology.
The hope that Democrats would so want a woman in the Executive Branch backfired,
and the photos show someone very out of place with the caliber to people she is expected to be a peer to.
However, a large percentage of the fundamentalist socially conservative GOP base has not abandoned Sarah Palin. Now that she is being almost universally attacked in the media; they are likely becoming more ferociously protective.
Why? For Democrats, it is baffling; not only the appeal of Palin, but how anyone could even consider voting Republican.
Jonathan Haidt, a University of Virginia associate professor of moral psychology, published an essay recently entitled, "What Makes People Vote Republican?" which shows some compelling arguments about how liberals miss the boat in connecting with non-liberals. He points out that conservatives can understand how liberals think, they just don't agree with many of their beliefs. But liberals just can't understand many conservative points of view.
He also links to www.YourMorals.org, which is a very interesting set of quizzes about morality, beliefs, political views, social issues, etc.
and the photos show someone very out of place with the caliber to people she is expected to be a peer to.
However, a large percentage of the fundamentalist socially conservative GOP base has not abandoned Sarah Palin. Now that she is being almost universally attacked in the media; they are likely becoming more ferociously protective.
Why? For Democrats, it is baffling; not only the appeal of Palin, but how anyone could even consider voting Republican.
Jonathan Haidt, a University of Virginia associate professor of moral psychology, published an essay recently entitled, "What Makes People Vote Republican?" which shows some compelling arguments about how liberals miss the boat in connecting with non-liberals. He points out that conservatives can understand how liberals think, they just don't agree with many of their beliefs. But liberals just can't understand many conservative points of view.
He also links to www.YourMorals.org, which is a very interesting set of quizzes about morality, beliefs, political views, social issues, etc.
Who Is Behind The Battleground Poll On Real Clear Politics
Don and I have been perplexed by exactly who was behind this; google searches, etc. weren't helping us. Well, a big "duh" moment; I'd been researching it at my office, and my wireless laptop at home is apparently a tad slower. When I clicked "Battleground" (which just today is called GW/Battleground Tracking, which I would have surely been able to investigate and figure out). Anyhow; today, I click on the +2 McCain GW/Battleground link on RCP, and voila; it's a many page pdf. I only realized it when my laptop briefly flashed the cover page before going to the poll data page. Everyone else may have already figured this out, but I know Don and I had been puzzled. So if nothing else, Don, here you go. :)
Assessment by TPM As To Why Some Say McCain Won The Debate (When The Polls Did Not)
This makes a lot of sense to me. All of the general polls show Obama winning the debate from what I have found so far. But quite a few pundits disagree. Even David Yepsen from our paper, The Des Moines Register; handed it to McCain. Why?
Here's part of this article:
Obama’s eye contact was directly with the camera, i.e. the voters at home. McCain seemed to be speaking literally to the people in the room in Mississippi, but figuratively to the punditry. It is no surprise that a small majority of pundits seemed to have thought that McCain won, even when the polls indicated otherwise; the pundits were his target audience.
Here's part of this article:
Obama’s eye contact was directly with the camera, i.e. the voters at home. McCain seemed to be speaking literally to the people in the room in Mississippi, but figuratively to the punditry. It is no surprise that a small majority of pundits seemed to have thought that McCain won, even when the polls indicated otherwise; the pundits were his target audience.
VP Guiliani? Romney? Some InTrader-s Seem To Think So
Yes, for a while we were seeing Hillary in the positive zone, as recently as last week (obviously someone thinking/hoping that Biden would drop out and she would swoop in).
Now, it appears that thinking is going towards Guiliani or Romney on the GOP side. I can find a ton of examples of pundits saying McCain keeping Sarah or replacing her both are likely to be bad for him, which means ultimately he's viewed as swimming upstream no matter what he does at this point. ??? LT
Now, it appears that thinking is going towards Guiliani or Romney on the GOP side. I can find a ton of examples of pundits saying McCain keeping Sarah or replacing her both are likely to be bad for him, which means ultimately he's viewed as swimming upstream no matter what he does at this point. ??? LT
More Debate Opinions (Who Won?)
Rod Dreher, Conservative Republican: Obama
http://blog.beliefnet.com/crunchycon/2008/09/liveblogging-the-mccainobama-d.html
Ross Douthat: McCain
http://rossdouthat.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/09/a_win_for_mccain.php
CNN Poll: Obama (Males split evenly, Women preferred Obama)
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/27/debate.poll/index.html?iref=mpstoryview
MSNBC: Live Poll: Obama
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26906945/
Newsweek: Stumper Blog: McCain (sort of)
http://www.blog.newsweek.com/blogs/stumper/archive/2008/09/26/mccain-won-but-will-it-matter.aspx
And, what I am VERY disappointed about:
Des Moines Register: McCain
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080927/OPINION01/809270337/1001/NEWS
http://blog.beliefnet.com/crunchycon/2008/09/liveblogging-the-mccainobama-d.html
Ross Douthat: McCain
http://rossdouthat.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/09/a_win_for_mccain.php
CNN Poll: Obama (Males split evenly, Women preferred Obama)
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/27/debate.poll/index.html?iref=mpstoryview
MSNBC: Live Poll: Obama
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26906945/
Newsweek: Stumper Blog: McCain (sort of)
http://www.blog.newsweek.com/blogs/stumper/archive/2008/09/26/mccain-won-but-will-it-matter.aspx
And, what I am VERY disappointed about:
Des Moines Register: McCain
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080927/OPINION01/809270337/1001/NEWS
TPM: Initial Polls Show Obama Winning The Debate
And, in the commentary on the site, here's an observation from the poster debbiedoesnothing;
(click title to see full post)
've already posted this in a couple of other threads but I think Palin's off the ticket and Giuliani's on. Just a hunch.
(click title to see full post)
've already posted this in a couple of other threads but I think Palin's off the ticket and Giuliani's on. Just a hunch.
Palin was remarkably absent from the spin machine after the debate, which is normally a VP's job. Biden did a great job on Countdown while nobody's heard from Moose girl.
We all know McCain needs another gimmick to distract people. Palin's going to give a tearful goodbye speech about how she didn't know how vicious the press would be in attacking her family and it's taking a toll on her children, and as a good Christian mom, she has to put her kids first.
She has to do it in a way that her evangelical base won't hold it against McCain. He'll play the whole thing for a sympathy vote for himself.
Veterans Organizations Have Had Serious Issues With McCain
As ThinkProgress documented, McCain’s so-called “perfect” record has been roundly criticized by prominent veterans groups: He received a grade of D from the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America and a 20 percent vote rating from the Disabled Veterans of America; Vietnam Veterans of America noted McCain had “voted against us” in 15 “key votes.”
Louisiana State Representative Studies Paying Poor Women $1000 To Have Their Tubes Tied
“he is studying a plan to pay poor women $1,000 to have their Fallopian tubes tied.” LaBruzzo worries that people receiving food and housing assistance “are reproducing at a faster rate than more affluent, better-educated residents”:
Friday, September 26, 2008
Sentence Writing, A Brief Grammar Lesson
I saw a post today entitled: The 15 things you should never do on Facebook. http://www.bspcn.com/2008/09/26/top-15-things-you-should-never-do-on-facebook/ An entry was about "lazy grammar and spelling mistrakes". (yes, it said mistrakes). So that has been on my mind. Seeing these two blog posts from Orange Crate Art about punctuation made me think about our punctuation conversation over New Year's at my in-laws. So here you go. (And you may now correct all of my improperly placed punctuation marks; as I'm sure there are plenty to be found.)
Some lessons:
http://mleddy.blogspot.com/2007/04/how-to-punctuate-sentence.html
and,
More "lessons".
http://mleddy.blogspot.com/2007/04/how-to-punctuate-more-sentences.html
Some lessons:
http://mleddy.blogspot.com/2007/04/how-to-punctuate-sentence.html
and,
More "lessons".
http://mleddy.blogspot.com/2007/04/how-to-punctuate-more-sentences.html
John King talks about McCain's "Campaign Suspension"
As this article states; how could McCain have taken down his ads for 72 hours when the campaign suspension was only annouced 57 hours ago?
What Kissinger Really Said About Iran
I believe that Senator McCain said that Henry Kissinger did not say that he would meet with Iran with no conditons. Correct me if I'm wrong. But here's what Kissinger actually did say:
Kissinger, speaking Monday at George Washington University along with four other former U.S. State Department secretaries, said the next president should initiate high-level discussions with Iran "without conditions," ABC News reported.(click title for full story)
Kissinger, speaking Monday at George Washington University along with four other former U.S. State Department secretaries, said the next president should initiate high-level discussions with Iran "without conditions," ABC News reported.(click title for full story)
During The Debate
InTrade numbers are not looking good; 1:27pm yesterday, the price spread was +17.1, it's been falling today, it was +11.3 at 9:04pm, now at 9:44pm it's only +7.7.
Ok, here's blips from different live blogs I'm seeing right now, during the debate. (by the way, I'm leaving these in the EST format; and have changed the inTrade times in this post to EST; so they are consistent.
UPDATE 9/28/08: This post was just too long. I'm going to cut/paste the rest of the post in to a comment; and I'll title it, "REST OF POST". So if you want to read some interesting live-blogging commentary from the debate; it will be in the comment link below. LT
Ok, here's blips from different live blogs I'm seeing right now, during the debate. (by the way, I'm leaving these in the EST format; and have changed the inTrade times in this post to EST; so they are consistent.
UPDATE 9/28/08: This post was just too long. I'm going to cut/paste the rest of the post in to a comment; and I'll title it, "REST OF POST". So if you want to read some interesting live-blogging commentary from the debate; it will be in the comment link below. LT
You did NOT just slam ethanol, did you Senator?
BROOK SAID IT, and Nate on www.fivethirtyeight.com liveblog of the debate concurs....
8:29 CDT: [Nate] McCain, calling out ethanol subsidies as a bad thing, would seem (correctly) to have recognized that he's lost Iowa.
8:29 CDT: [Nate] McCain, calling out ethanol subsidies as a bad thing, would seem (correctly) to have recognized that he's lost Iowa.
"I'm Speechless"
Conde Nasts Portfolio.com; Zubin Jelveh posts a transcript of Katie Couric's conversation about her Palin interviews. Then Zubin tries to explain Sarah's interesting logic about how the bailout will work.
As he says,
As he says,
Before I try to find the words to rip into this, maybe I can try to see what Palin is really saying.
Let's break it down:
First, Palin suggests the bailout is tied to health care reform which will "shore up the economy." How are these connected? Through the mechanism of "those who are concerned."
Hmmm...
OK, let's stay open-minded..... (click the title to read the whole post)
IRELAND???
O.K., let's all go to Ireland. Where does this $700 billion come from if we're not bringing ANY money in?
GOOD POINT!!!! The tax rate has to be this high because of the loopholes; 35% is the rate, but if the majority of the income is hidden/written off or otherwise shielded from the tax, what is the true tax rate?
GOOD POINT!!!! The tax rate has to be this high because of the loopholes; 35% is the rate, but if the majority of the income is hidden/written off or otherwise shielded from the tax, what is the true tax rate?
Intriguing Ross Douthat column/commentary from MAY 2008 re: Sarah Palin
Apparently she was the ideal choice for many Republicans, months and months ago, and many of the discussions/debates had already been had internally long before it was on most of our radar. I'm just fascinated by this exchange, a brief example:
....Here's an important piece of advice: If it looks like it's going to be McCain/Palin anyway (and that should be a "no brainer" for Team McCain)....
...because, no matter who Obama picks, Palin is by far (and I mean far) the best pick for McCain and the GOP, especially in this time of GOP woes. ......
Posted by Ted May 27, 2008 5:57 PM
....Here's an important piece of advice: If it looks like it's going to be McCain/Palin anyway (and that should be a "no brainer" for Team McCain)....
...because, no matter who Obama picks, Palin is by far (and I mean far) the best pick for McCain and the GOP, especially in this time of GOP woes. ......
Posted by Ted May 27, 2008 5:57 PM
Huckabee Blasts McCain
Mike Huckabee said that Sen. John McCain made a "huge mistake" by even discussing canceling the presidential debate with Sen. Barack Obama, according to the AP.Huckabee believes a debate before the American people is "far better than heading to Washington" to huddle with senators.
The ongoing Trig Palin Debate.
A few days ago, Howard Kurtz in the Washington Post published two private emails that Andrew Sullivan wrote to the McCain campaign and Michael Goldfarb re: putting to rest the debate over whether Sarah Palin is truly Trig's mother.
Here is the link to that story http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/09/the-crime-of-co.html
Yesterday, the Post did get confirmation from McCain's campaign that Trig is Sarah Palin's son. Part of their evidence was that there were a TON of pictures of Palin pregnant after she made the announcement. But Kurtz was forced to add an update to correct the quote, because he failed to fact-check the "ton" of pictures statement. There are, from what everyone can find, only two circulated pictures of Palin pregnant. And there's a pretty scary quote from Michael Goldfarb here too; go back to the title link and read it from there.
Here is the link to that story http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/09/the-crime-of-co.html
Yesterday, the Post did get confirmation from McCain's campaign that Trig is Sarah Palin's son. Part of their evidence was that there were a TON of pictures of Palin pregnant after she made the announcement. But Kurtz was forced to add an update to correct the quote, because he failed to fact-check the "ton" of pictures statement. There are, from what everyone can find, only two circulated pictures of Palin pregnant. And there's a pretty scary quote from Michael Goldfarb here too; go back to the title link and read it from there.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
White Privilege
Found this on the Rod Dreher's "Crunchy Con" site after the last post. Much like what David sent me the other day; very good points.
A good excerpt (click title for full post)
White privilege is being able to attend churches over the years whose pastors say that people who voted for John Kerry or merely criticize George W. Bush are going to hell, and that the U.S. is an explicitly Christian nation and the job of Christians is to bring Christian theological principles into government, and who bring in speakers who say the conflict in the Middle East is God's punishment on Jews for rejecting Jesus, and everyone can still think you're just a good church-going Christian, but if you're black and friends with a black pastor who has noted (as have Colin Powell and the U.S. Department of Defense) that terrorist attacks are often the result of U.S. foreign policy and who talks about the history of racism and its effect on black people, you're an extremist who probably hates America.
A good excerpt (click title for full post)
White privilege is being able to attend churches over the years whose pastors say that people who voted for John Kerry or merely criticize George W. Bush are going to hell, and that the U.S. is an explicitly Christian nation and the job of Christians is to bring Christian theological principles into government, and who bring in speakers who say the conflict in the Middle East is God's punishment on Jews for rejecting Jesus, and everyone can still think you're just a good church-going Christian, but if you're black and friends with a black pastor who has noted (as have Colin Powell and the U.S. Department of Defense) that terrorist attacks are often the result of U.S. foreign policy and who talks about the history of racism and its effect on black people, you're an extremist who probably hates America.
Wow. When the "Crunchy Con" calls the Palin interview a train wreck.....
Rod Dreher's been a Palinite, but I think the fog has lifted. He says, "She makes George W. Bush sound like Cicero".
Margaret Carlson is on Countdown, and Keith Olberman just said listening to her is like Mad Libs. I think she's memorized so many talking points, that she hears a trigger word and repeats a memorized line....
Margaret Carlson is on Countdown, and Keith Olberman just said listening to her is like Mad Libs. I think she's memorized so many talking points, that she hears a trigger word and repeats a memorized line....
C'mon Joe! (A Big Biden Boo-Boo On CBS Evening News)
I know Joe Biden is very intelligent, and without a doubt could and will mop the floor with his Republican opponent. And, I'm sorry the AP story on this is on Fox News' website.
But this will be brought up, (though McCain seems to be eating himself alive all on his own; so I'm not sure what at this point could harm him more than his own campaign) and so it's worth checking out.
But this will be brought up, (though McCain seems to be eating himself alive all on his own; so I'm not sure what at this point could harm him more than his own campaign) and so it's worth checking out.
Go Rachel Maddow, the ONLY one that called out Bush, who told Iraq he wants the troops there an extra year for political reasons "back here".
Thank you to my father in law Paul, who saw this on Rachel Maddow's show last night. He watched the news all day, and saw nothing mentioned about it. See this article, Jason Linkins from Huffington Post was just as baffled that this was not covered. Yeah, Rachel!!! She rocks!
Forbes.com, Bad News For The Bailout
Surely that $700 billion dollars (which equals $2300/per each man, woman and child in America, or could buy a laptop for every child in this world, fund universal health care for 7 years, fund the entire education budget for 9 years, or buy 4600 McDonald's apple pies for everyone...) came from SOMEWHERE. A complicated formula, sure, but you don't just ask the American people to support giving Paulson free reign of billions of dollars no questions asked... do you?
LT
Click the link (title) for the full article, but....
LT
Click the link (title) for the full article, but....
In fact, some of the most basic details, including the $700 billion figure Treasury would use to buy up bad debt, are fuzzy.
“It’s not based on any particular data point,” a Treasury spokeswoman told Forbes.com Tuesday. “We just wanted to choose a really large number.”
The (always politically incorrect ) Onion
The Onion's Point/Counterpoint of a "Concerned Citizen" and "Sarah Palin"'s response. Priceless.
LT
LT
Let's Compare and Contrast
I have received this from several people via email, most recently from my wonderful brother in law, David, who is a real life (Christian!) Minister. :) LT
If you hadn't seen this yet, I thought you might enjoy it. I've always said that while conservatives seem bent on demonizing Democrats, the Republicans will always be the party of the Pharisees. Feel free to pass this along to your conservative friends. --dpt
If you are in a minority and you're selected for a job over morequalified candidates you're a 'token hire.'
If you're a conservative and you're selected for a job over morequalified candidates you're
a 'game changer.'
Black teen pregnancies? A 'crisis' in black America.
White teen pregnancies? A 'blessed event.'
If you grow up in Hawaii you're 'exotic.'
Grow up in Alaska eating mooseburgers, you're the quintessential'American story.'
Similarly, if you name you kid Barack you're 'unpatriotic.'
Name your kid Track, you're 'colorful.'
If you're a Democrat and you make a VP pick without fully vetting theindividual you're 'reckless.'
A Republican who doesn't fully vet is a 'maverick.'
If you spend 3 years as a community organizer growing your organizationfrom a staff of 1 to 13 and your budget from $70,000 to $400,000, thenbecome the first black President of the Harvard Law Review, create avoter registration drive that registers 150,000 new African-Americanvoters, spend 12 years as a Constitutional Law professor, then spendnearly 8 more years as a State Senator representing a district with over750,000 people, becoming chairman of the state Senate's Health andHuman Services committee, then spend nearly 4 years in the United StatesSenate representing a state of nearly 13 million people, sponsoring 131bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs, Environment and Public Worksand Veteran's Affairs committees, you are woefully inexperienced.
If you spend 4 years on the city council and 6 years as the mayor of atown with less
than 7,000 people, then spend 20 months as the governorof a state with 650,000 people,
then you've got the most executiveexperience of anyone on either ticket, are the Commander
in Chief of theAlaska military and are well qualified to lead the nation should you be called
upon to do so because your state is the closest state to Russia.
If you are a Democratic male candidate who is popular with millions ofpeople you are an 'arrogant celebrity'.
If you are a popular Republican female candidate you are 'energizingthe base'.
If you are a younger male candidate who thinks for himself and makeshis own decisions you are 'presumptuous'.
If you are an older male candidate who makes last minute decisions yourefuse to explain, you
are a 'shoot from the hip' maverick.
If you are a candidate with a Harvard law degree you are 'an elitist-out of touch' with the real America.
If you are a legacy (dad and granddad were admirals) graduate ofAnnapolis, with multiple
disciplinary infractions you are a hero.
If you manage a multi-million dollar nationwide campaign, you are an 'empty suit'.
If you are a part time mayor of a town of 7000 people, you are an'experienced executive'.
If you go to a south side Chicago church, your beliefs are'extremist'.
If you believe in creationism and don't believe global warming is manmade, you are 'strongly
principled'.
If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, and left yourdisfigured wife and married the heiress the next month, you're a Christian.
If you have been married to the same woman with whom you've been wed tofor 19 years and
raising 2 beautiful daughters with, you're 'risky'.
If you're a black single mother of 4 who waits for 22 hours after herwater breaks to seek medical attention, you're an irresponsible parent,endangering the life of your unborn child.
But if you're a white married mother who waits 22 hours, you'respunky.
If you're a 13-year-old Chelsea Clinton, the right-wing press calls you 'First dog.'
If you're a 17-year old pregnant unwed daughter of a Republican, theright-wing press calls
you 'beautiful' and 'courageous.'
If you kill an endangered species, you're an excellent hunter.
If you have an abortion you are not a Christian, you're a murderer (forget about if it happen
while being raped or by incest)
If you teach abstinence only in sex education, you get teen parents.
If you teach responsible age appropriate sex education, including the proper use of birth
control, you are eroding the fiber of society.
If you hadn't seen this yet, I thought you might enjoy it. I've always said that while conservatives seem bent on demonizing Democrats, the Republicans will always be the party of the Pharisees. Feel free to pass this along to your conservative friends. --dpt
If you are in a minority and you're selected for a job over morequalified candidates you're a 'token hire.'
If you're a conservative and you're selected for a job over morequalified candidates you're
a 'game changer.'
Black teen pregnancies? A 'crisis' in black America.
White teen pregnancies? A 'blessed event.'
If you grow up in Hawaii you're 'exotic.'
Grow up in Alaska eating mooseburgers, you're the quintessential'American story.'
Similarly, if you name you kid Barack you're 'unpatriotic.'
Name your kid Track, you're 'colorful.'
If you're a Democrat and you make a VP pick without fully vetting theindividual you're 'reckless.'
A Republican who doesn't fully vet is a 'maverick.'
If you spend 3 years as a community organizer growing your organizationfrom a staff of 1 to 13 and your budget from $70,000 to $400,000, thenbecome the first black President of the Harvard Law Review, create avoter registration drive that registers 150,000 new African-Americanvoters, spend 12 years as a Constitutional Law professor, then spendnearly 8 more years as a State Senator representing a district with over750,000 people, becoming chairman of the state Senate's Health andHuman Services committee, then spend nearly 4 years in the United StatesSenate representing a state of nearly 13 million people, sponsoring 131bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs, Environment and Public Worksand Veteran's Affairs committees, you are woefully inexperienced.
If you spend 4 years on the city council and 6 years as the mayor of atown with less
than 7,000 people, then spend 20 months as the governorof a state with 650,000 people,
then you've got the most executiveexperience of anyone on either ticket, are the Commander
in Chief of theAlaska military and are well qualified to lead the nation should you be called
upon to do so because your state is the closest state to Russia.
If you are a Democratic male candidate who is popular with millions ofpeople you are an 'arrogant celebrity'.
If you are a popular Republican female candidate you are 'energizingthe base'.
If you are a younger male candidate who thinks for himself and makeshis own decisions you are 'presumptuous'.
If you are an older male candidate who makes last minute decisions yourefuse to explain, you
are a 'shoot from the hip' maverick.
If you are a candidate with a Harvard law degree you are 'an elitist-out of touch' with the real America.
If you are a legacy (dad and granddad were admirals) graduate ofAnnapolis, with multiple
disciplinary infractions you are a hero.
If you manage a multi-million dollar nationwide campaign, you are an 'empty suit'.
If you are a part time mayor of a town of 7000 people, you are an'experienced executive'.
If you go to a south side Chicago church, your beliefs are'extremist'.
If you believe in creationism and don't believe global warming is manmade, you are 'strongly
principled'.
If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, and left yourdisfigured wife and married the heiress the next month, you're a Christian.
If you have been married to the same woman with whom you've been wed tofor 19 years and
raising 2 beautiful daughters with, you're 'risky'.
If you're a black single mother of 4 who waits for 22 hours after herwater breaks to seek medical attention, you're an irresponsible parent,endangering the life of your unborn child.
But if you're a white married mother who waits 22 hours, you'respunky.
If you're a 13-year-old Chelsea Clinton, the right-wing press calls you 'First dog.'
If you're a 17-year old pregnant unwed daughter of a Republican, theright-wing press calls
you 'beautiful' and 'courageous.'
If you kill an endangered species, you're an excellent hunter.
If you have an abortion you are not a Christian, you're a murderer (forget about if it happen
while being raped or by incest)
If you teach abstinence only in sex education, you get teen parents.
If you teach responsible age appropriate sex education, including the proper use of birth
control, you are eroding the fiber of society.
Slate Presents McCain's next 10 Hail Mary stunts.
This was pretty funny. Not funny ha, ha, more, "How much more pathetic will his campaign become?"
McCain's Ploy
Kim sent me this article earlier this morning, by Harold Meyers published in the Washington Post.
If you're named John McCain, the answer became apparent yesterday afternoon -- make the solution to the economic crisis all about you. Suspend your campaign. Pull out of tomorrow's debate -- a trivial exercise merely allowing Americans to judge the two candidates side by side. Change the terms of the nation's economic discussion from the course we should take, and the defects of the laissez-faire model that got us here, to the indispensability of John McCain, leader of leaders.
Click the link to read more.
If you're named John McCain, the answer became apparent yesterday afternoon -- make the solution to the economic crisis all about you. Suspend your campaign. Pull out of tomorrow's debate -- a trivial exercise merely allowing Americans to judge the two candidates side by side. Change the terms of the nation's economic discussion from the course we should take, and the defects of the laissez-faire model that got us here, to the indispensability of John McCain, leader of leaders.
Click the link to read more.
Sarah Palin's going to find ya some. (Katie Couric Interview)
Received this from Pam this morning:
Have you watched the CBS News at all either last night or this morning? Katie Couric has been running a series of interviews with Sarah Palin........really hammering her on some serious issues. In my opinion she has made a fool of herself. She just "blabbers" around everything and sounds like a fool. Last night Katie finally said, "Ok, I'm going to ask you one more time...................." she stated the question and I don't think Sarah ever did answer it. She him/haws around....says a lot of words, but says nothing. If you haven't seen any of it, you can catch more tonight on the 5:30 PM national news. Makes you wish Katie Couric was running as VP, not Sarah!
A quick excerpt...
Couric: But he's been in Congress for 26 years. He's been chairman of the powerful Commerce Committee. And he has almost always sided with less regulation, not more.
Palin: He's also known as the maverick though, taking shots from his own party, and certainly taking shots from the other party. Trying to get people to understand what he's been talking about - the need to reform government.
Couric: But can you give me any other concrete examples? Because I know you've said Barack Obama is a lot of talk and no action. Can you give me any other examples in his 26 years of John McCain truly taking a stand on this?
Palin: I can give you examples of things that John McCain has done, that has shown his foresight, his pragmatism, and his leadership abilities. And that is what America needs today.
Couric: I'm just going to ask you one more time - not to belabor the point. Specific examples in his 26 years of pushing for more regulation.
Palin: I'll try to find you some and I'll bring them to you.
CBS is being awfully kind. If you watch the video, she said, "I'll try to find YA some and I'll bring them to YA".
Ya. Oh boy. Golly gee. Shucks.
(CLICK THE TITLE OF THIS POST TO OPEN THE LINK TO THE STORY ON CBS.COM)
Have you watched the CBS News at all either last night or this morning? Katie Couric has been running a series of interviews with Sarah Palin........really hammering her on some serious issues. In my opinion she has made a fool of herself. She just "blabbers" around everything and sounds like a fool. Last night Katie finally said, "Ok, I'm going to ask you one more time...................." she stated the question and I don't think Sarah ever did answer it. She him/haws around....says a lot of words, but says nothing. If you haven't seen any of it, you can catch more tonight on the 5:30 PM national news. Makes you wish Katie Couric was running as VP, not Sarah!
A quick excerpt...
Couric: But he's been in Congress for 26 years. He's been chairman of the powerful Commerce Committee. And he has almost always sided with less regulation, not more.
Palin: He's also known as the maverick though, taking shots from his own party, and certainly taking shots from the other party. Trying to get people to understand what he's been talking about - the need to reform government.
Couric: But can you give me any other concrete examples? Because I know you've said Barack Obama is a lot of talk and no action. Can you give me any other examples in his 26 years of John McCain truly taking a stand on this?
Palin: I can give you examples of things that John McCain has done, that has shown his foresight, his pragmatism, and his leadership abilities. And that is what America needs today.
Couric: I'm just going to ask you one more time - not to belabor the point. Specific examples in his 26 years of pushing for more regulation.
Palin: I'll try to find you some and I'll bring them to you.
CBS is being awfully kind. If you watch the video, she said, "I'll try to find YA some and I'll bring them to YA".
Ya. Oh boy. Golly gee. Shucks.
(CLICK THE TITLE OF THIS POST TO OPEN THE LINK TO THE STORY ON CBS.COM)
Intrade end of day update
As mentioned earlier, I am addicted to Intrade.
Now, last night at 10:30 pm Obama was up 4.1, but at 1:00pm he'd been up 6.2. About noon today, he was up 6.4, he is currently up 12.3. That is the largest fluctuation I remember since I've been glued to it the last several weeks.
09/25/08 12:39am
Now, last night at 10:30 pm Obama was up 4.1, but at 1:00pm he'd been up 6.2. About noon today, he was up 6.4, he is currently up 12.3. That is the largest fluctuation I remember since I've been glued to it the last several weeks.
| ? Contract | B Qty | Bid | Ask | A Qty | Last | Vol | Chge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 355 | 55.5 | 55.6 | 196 | 55.6 | 603.3k | +2.9 | |
| 278 | 44.3 | 44.4 | 4 | 44.3 | 643.2k | -2.9 |
Highlighting some links
Because the links to the right are organized by the dates/times they are updated; I wanted to point out my favorites.
The Daily Dish, which many of you read, has a wealth of up to the minute info. (and check out what happened to Andrew Sullivan today by his colleague at the Washington Post and a friend from the McCain campaign.) http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/09/the-crime-of-co.html
The Onion, for when reality needs a break, this humorous site at times seems more grounded and real that what is actually going on in the "real world".
Real Clear Politics and InTrade. My main obsession; RCP has all the polling information you could ask for, considering the amount of links and stories they publish as well. It is fascinating to see the "Battleground States" turning progressively more and more blue. Don at my office and I check this obsessively. InTrade is linked to the 2008 Presidential Campaign. My current contention is that the trend on this site for who is buying and selling what, and whose price is going up or down, is a bellweather for what will be coming down the pike at RCP. Obama's InTrade shares started going down before the post-RNC Convention fallout; and started rebounding long before the polls showed Barack Obama back in the lead. So prove me wrong; it's just an opinion, I'm doing my best not to build any bridges to nowhere here (or roads for that matter).
LT
For the sites that are constantly being updated, the list to the right will highlight a recent posting, I have not necessarily chosen that specific post for any reason. These are the sites & blogs that I read most often, if you have ones to share, please do so!
The Daily Dish, which many of you read, has a wealth of up to the minute info. (and check out what happened to Andrew Sullivan today by his colleague at the Washington Post and a friend from the McCain campaign.) http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/09/the-crime-of-co.html
The Onion, for when reality needs a break, this humorous site at times seems more grounded and real that what is actually going on in the "real world".
Real Clear Politics and InTrade. My main obsession; RCP has all the polling information you could ask for, considering the amount of links and stories they publish as well. It is fascinating to see the "Battleground States" turning progressively more and more blue. Don at my office and I check this obsessively. InTrade is linked to the 2008 Presidential Campaign. My current contention is that the trend on this site for who is buying and selling what, and whose price is going up or down, is a bellweather for what will be coming down the pike at RCP. Obama's InTrade shares started going down before the post-RNC Convention fallout; and started rebounding long before the polls showed Barack Obama back in the lead. So prove me wrong; it's just an opinion, I'm doing my best not to build any bridges to nowhere here (or roads for that matter).
LT
For the sites that are constantly being updated, the list to the right will highlight a recent posting, I have not necessarily chosen that specific post for any reason. These are the sites & blogs that I read most often, if you have ones to share, please do so!
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Drill, Drill, Drill (Eve Ensler is having Sarah Palin nightmares)
Eve Ensler, the American playwright, performer, feminist and activist best known for 'The Vagina Monologues', wrote the following about Sarah Palin.
Drill, Drill, Drill
I am having Sarah Palin nightmares. I dreamt last night that she was a member of a club where they rode snowmobiles and wore the claws of drowned and starved polar bears around their necks. I have a particular thing for Polar Bears. Maybe it's their snowy whiteness or their bigness or the fact that they live in the arctic or that I have never seen one in person or touched one. Maybe it is the fact that they live so comfortably on ice. Whatever it is, I need the polar bears.
I don't like raging at women. I am a Feminist and have spent my life trying to build community, help empower women and stop violence against them. It is hard to write about Sarah Palin. This is why the Sarah Palin choice was all the more insidious and cynical. The people who made this choice count on the goodness and solidarity of Feminists.
But everything Sarah Palin believes in and practices is antithetical to Feminism which for me is part of one story -- connected to saving the earth, ending racism, empowering women, giving young girls options, opening our minds, deepening tolerance, and ending violence and war.
I believe that the McCain/Palin ticket is one of the most dangerous choices of my lifetime, and should this country chose those candidates the fall-out may be so great, the destruction so vast in so many areas that America may never recover. But what is equally disturbing is the impact that duo would have on the rest of the world. Unfortunately, this is not a joke. In my lifetime I have seen the clownish, the inept, the bizarre be elected to the presidency with regularity.
Sarah Palin does not believe in evolution. I take this as a metaphor. In her world and the world of Fundamentalists nothing changes or gets better or evolves. She does not believe in global warming. The melting of the arctic, the storms that are destroying our cities, the pollution and rise of cancers, are all part of God's plan. She is fighting to take the polar bears off the endangered species list. The earth, in Palin's view, is here to be taken and plundered. The wolves and the bears are here to be shot and plundered. The oil is here to be taken and plundered. Iraq is here to be taken and plundered. As she said herself of the Iraqi war, 'It was a task from God.'
Sarah Palin does not believe in abortion. She does not believe women who are raped and incested and ripped open against their will should have a right to determine whether they have their rapist's baby or not.
She obviously does not believe in sex education or birth control. I imagine her daughter was practicing abstinence and we know how many babies that makes.
Sarah Palin does not much believe in thinking. From what I gather she has tried to ban books from the library, has a tendency to dispense with people who think independently. She cannot tolerate an environment of ambiguity and difference. This is a woman who could and might very well be the next president of the United States. She would govern one of the most diverse populations on the earth.
Sarah believes in guns. She has her own custom Austrian hunting rifle. She has been known to kill 40 caribou at a clip. She has shot hundreds of wolves from the air.
Sarah believes in God. That is of course her right, her private right. But when God and Guns come together in the public sector, when war is declared in God's name, when the rights of women are denied in his name, that is the end of separation of church and state and the undoing of everything America has ever tried to be.
I write to my sisters. I write because I believe we hold this election in our hands.
This vote is a vote that will determine the future not just of the U.S., but of the planet.
It will determine whether we create policies to save the earth or make it forever uninhabitable for humans.
It will determine whether we move towards dialogue and diplomacy in the world or whether we escalate violence through invasion, undermining and attack.
It will determine whether we go for oil, strip mining, coal burning or invest our money in alternatives that will free us from dependency and destruction.
It will determine if money gets spent on education and healthcare or whether we build more and more methods of killing.
It will determine whether America is a free open tolerant society or a closed place of fear, fundamentalism and aggression.
If the Polar Bears don't move you to go and do everything in your power to get Obama elected then consider the chant that filled the hall after Palin spoke at the RNC, 'Drill Drill Drill.' I think of teeth when I think of drills. I think of rape. I think of destruction. I think of domination. I think of military exercises that force mindless repetition, emptying the brain of analysis, doubt, ambiguity or dissent. I think of pain.
Do we want a future of drilling? More holes in the ozone, in the floor of the sea, more holes in our thinking, in the trust between nations and peoples, more holes in the fabric of this precious thing we call life?
Eve Ensler
September 5, 2008
Please see the direct link to this story on Huffington Post.
WELCOME!
Hello!
I decided that after weeks of non-stop emails with friends and family, I would put something together to be more one stop shopping. The enthusiasm that has surrounded this historic campaign is amazing, and there is so much out there to read, see, hear, learn.
Please continue to forward stories, links, blogs, etc. to my email and I will get them posted. I have kept his fairly private, in that it is not on the public listing, etc. So feel free to share anything you think others might want to read or should read. (Such as the Eve Ensler letter that Pam sent me today!)
I welcome suggestions; this is all new to me. :)
Linda
I decided that after weeks of non-stop emails with friends and family, I would put something together to be more one stop shopping. The enthusiasm that has surrounded this historic campaign is amazing, and there is so much out there to read, see, hear, learn.
Please continue to forward stories, links, blogs, etc. to my email and I will get them posted. I have kept his fairly private, in that it is not on the public listing, etc. So feel free to share anything you think others might want to read or should read. (Such as the Eve Ensler letter that Pam sent me today!)
I welcome suggestions; this is all new to me. :)
Linda
***In most cases; if I am referencing or posting a published story; the title of the post will be an actual link to the source. If I have an errors or problems with links, etc. please let me know!)***
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